Anthropometry and sizing

The need for finding solutions to the problem of garment sizing has been
recognized for a long time but the sheer magnitude of time, human
resource and money required to conduct anthropometric surveys acted as
a deterrent.

Although garment designers have historically used body measurements

as a basis for development of body blocks, most knowledge in the fi eld
has been generated empirically and has no scientifi c basis. It is for this
reason that the conventional size charts do not yield a satisfactory fi t of
garments for a large section of the target population.

Garment designers have very little knowledge of the principles of

anthropometry or for that matter ergonomics.

With the focus of industry shifting rapidly from fashion clothing to high
tech and high value added functional clothing, the need to understand
and appreciate the basics of ergonomics as well as anthropometry, has
become critical for all present and future designers.
In clothing design, as in all fields of design, the concept of inclusive
design is gaining popularity.

This concept is based on the premise of understanding the differences

between the shape, size, strength, activities and the psychological
requirements of various divergent groups present in a population.

It is about designing products based on their specific requirements rather

than designing for the normal or the average.

Since clothing is an intimate part of the human body, application of the

principles of ergonomic design can greatly enhance the performance as
well as efficiency of clothing and related products for all members of a
population.

Anthropometry, apparel sizing and design are important elements

in manufacturing quality clothing products.
It details the comprehensive process of sizing system development
beginning from the collection of human data, which is the
anthropometric survey, to the statistical analysis of the anthropometric
data for a concrete sizing system and then the importance of designing
the clothing incorporating the fit of different body shapes.
 Anthropometry
•Anthropometry may be most simply and comprehensively defined as the
conventional art or system of measuring the human body.

•Anthropometry is a quantitative, systematic representation of the

individual for the purpose of understanding his physical variation.

•Anthropometry is the discipline that studies the dynamic and static

dimensions of the human body, the procedures and techniques to carry out
measurements and statistical analysis.

•Objective of anthropometry is to study and analyse the shape and size of

human bodies, and use this knowledge to design products that fit the
requirements of users .
•The term ‘Anthropometry’ is derived from a combination of Greek words
Anthro/anthropo (meaning human) and metricos / metreein/ metron (meaning
•measurement).
SIZING UP AUSTRALIA - THE NEXT STEP Chapter 2: Literature Review Defining the method and scientific parameters for the Australian Body Sizing Survey
ANTHROPOMETRY. COMPARATIVE ANALYSIS OF TECHNOLOGIES FOR THE CAPTURE OF ANTHROPOMETRIC DIMENSIONS -Rosmery Narino Lescay1, Alicia Alonso
Becerra1, Anaisa Hernandez Gonzalez1 February 30, 2017
 Techniques of anthropometry
The scientific methods and techniques of anthropometry may be subdivided into the
following sections:
• Craniometry indicates the measurement of the skeletal brain-cavity and face
MANDIBULOMETRY-The objective behind Craniometry and Mandibulometry is to
study the form and shape of human (or Primate) cranium and mandible,
Respectively.

• Osteometry is the measurement of the skeletal parts particularly of the long and
short bones.

• Somatoscopy is being used for observations on the living man. Somatoscopy

concerns the systematic visual observation of physical features of various parts of
human body for accurate description.

• Somatometry means the measurement of the living body including head and face.
Somatometry is made of two words ‘somato’ which means living and ‘metric’
which refers to measurement, so in simple terms it means measurement of living
beings. Therefore, Somatometry a division of anthropometry is defined as a
systematic technique to measure living body including head and face.
http://www.yourarticlelibrary.com/essay/anthropology/anthropometry-scope-and-methods-of-anthropometry/41863
 Uses of anthropometric data
Some of the uses of anthropometric data:
• Sports science (often used for assessing athletes or potential athletes),
• Medicine and public health (often used for assessing the health of
individuals and/or populations)
• Forensic anthropology (for identifying age, cause of death, disease
presence etc.) and
• Engineering or design anthropometry (used for design and assessment
of worn products and built environments)
• Medisign – which is the design of product for use in medicine
An anthropometric database is defined as a “collection of individual body
measurements (anthropometric data) and background information
(demographic data) recorded on a group of people (the sample)”
(International Standards Organisation
(ISO) 2010).
SIZING UP AUSTRALIA - THE NEXT STEP Chapter 2: Literature Review Defining the method and scientific parameters for the Australian Body Sizing Survey
 Classification of Anthropometry
Structural Anthropometry deals with simple measurements of static
human also called static anthropometry.
Tools and methods for collecting these measures have been classified as
• Linear measures which yield data in the form of distance between two
points taken both in standing or sitting postures like Vertical measurements
center front waist length, cervical height, crotch height etc.
Girth measurement upper arm girth , bust waist hip , neck head etc.
Arch / segment lengths across back , across shoulder , across chest etc.
Sitting posture – crotch depth or under arm length.
• Multi-probe method which use a combination of linear methods with
other tools to map the body’s contours.
• Body form methods which give information about the surface, shape
and volume of the body.
Functional anthropometry deals with compound measurements of
moving human is also called Dynamic anthropometry.
Anthropometry and the design and production of apparel: an overview D. GUPTA, Indian Institute of Technology, Delhi, India A,S&D Chap;ter 2
Anthropometric techniques
• Traditional anthropometrical methods, human measurers decide the landmark
locations and take measurements manually using traditional tools such as
calipers and a tape measure. These instruments are not very expensive, but
such traditional methods require time to complete the measurements for each
person and are prone to error.
• New technologies non- contact human body measuring systems i.e.3D body
scanners, with which the 3D body surface shape and landmark locations can be
obtained, and one- dimensional (1D) measurements can be calculated from
these data. Body scanners are much more expensive than traditional tools, but
more people can be measured in a limited time compared to the traditional
methods
Anthropometric methods for apparel design: body measurement devices and
techniquesM. KOUCHI , National Institute of Advanced Industria, A,S&D
CHAPTER 3
 Anthropometric measurement types
Four main measurement types for engineering anthropometry.
• A 1-D measurement provides one number only, e.g. waist
circumference is 750mm. This provides a size value for the
measurement, but no specific location information in either 2-D or 3-D
space.

• A 2-D measurement provides two numbers and typically provides 2-

D location in a plane. This might be a point location extracted from a
scaled photograph, extracted from a photographed silhouette of a person
with a background grid etc. X,y coordinates

• A 3-D measurement provides three numbers and provides location

information in 3-D as well as size. has 3 co-ordinates, x, y and z that
exactly pinpoints its location in relation to every other point.

• A 4-D measurements consist of 3-D points that are tracked

sequentially over time, capturing the body in motion. This is sometimes
called dynamic or biodynamic data.
SIZING UP AUSTRALIA - THE NEXT STEP Chapter 2: Literature Review Defining the method and scientific parameters for the Australian Body Sizing Survey
 1D measurement
The strength of traditional 1-D measurement is
• Have been used for hundreds of years, are well- established, abundant, easily
collectable, readily available
• Easy to use and Easy communicate relative size information
• Good for comparing samples of populations in a general way.
• Helpful for selecting subjects, cases or fit models.
• Requires only mean and standard deviation from the original data set
Weaknesses.
First, while the strength of 1-D is the ability to understand relative size, it is also
the weakness, because the relative size only applies to the dimension that has
been measured.
The use of 1-D data for design purposes in aggregate form, such as averages or
percentiles, can potentially be dangerous no average man.
SIZING UP AUSTRALIA - THE NEXT STEP Chapter 2: Literature Review Defining the method and scientific parameters for the Australian Body Sizing Survey
ANTHROPOMETRY. COMPARATIVE ANALYSIS OF TECHNOLOGIES FOR THE CAPTURE OF ANTHROPOMETRIC DIMENSIONS -Rosmery Narino
Lescay1, Alicia Alonso
Becerra1, Anaisa Hernandez Gonzalez1 February 30, 2017
https://dined.io.tudelft.nl
2-D measurement might be considered the worst of both 1-D and 3-D. They are
not as good at providing relative size information as 1-D because the missing third
dimension in the calculation of distances results in additional random error. They
are not as good as 3-D in providing location information because the missing third
dimension results in additional random error.
Furthermore 2-D requires specialized equipment
The techniques of two-dimensional anthropometry allow you to get insight in the
correlations between two different body dimensions.
Multivariate analysis like PCA
2D measurement
SIZING UP AUSTRALIA - THE NEXT STEP Chapter 2: Literature Review Defining the method
and scientific parameters for the Australian Body Sizing Survey
ANTHROPOMETRY. COMPARATIVE ANALYSIS OF TECHNOLOGIES FOR THE CAPTURE OF
ANTHROPOMETRIC DIMENSIONS -Rosmery Narino Lescay1, Alicia Alonso
Becerra1, Anaisa Hernandez Gonzalez1 February 30, 2017
https://dined.io.tudelft.nl
Strengths
• The outstanding strength of 3-D measurement is the ability to capture a
complete 3-D copy of the subject. This copy can be used to describe the contour
shape, the proportional shape, extract 1-D measurements for relative size,
extract 3-D skeletal landmarks for biodynamic modeling, and more.
• Two copies of the same person can readily be compared for examining changes
over time due to pregnancy, ageing, growth, or the impact of a load on the
posture, or the location of apparel when functioning properly, etc. In addition,
accurate 1-D or 2-D data can be extracted if you have a 3-D file, but an accurate
3-D form cannot be made from 1-D or 2-D.
Weakness
• 1-D data extracted from a 3-D scan, even highly accurate data, are not the same
measurement and are therefore not comparable to the traditional
measurement taken on a live person
• Expensive
3D measurement
SIZING UP AUSTRALIA - THE NEXT STEP Chapter 2: Literature Review Defining the method
and scientific parameters for the Australian Body Sizing Survey
ANTHROPOMETRY. COMPARATIVE ANALYSIS OF TECHNOLOGIES FOR THE CAPTURE OF
ANTHROPOMETRIC DIMENSIONS -Rosmery Narino Lescay1, Alicia Alonso
Becerra1, Anaisa Hernandez Gonzalez1 February 30, 2017
https://dined.io.tudelft.nl
• The strength of dynamic or 4-D measurement is that it captures people doing the
activities of interest and enables an understanding of the effect of age, load,
apparel, etc. on the ability to live and work safely and effectively. 3D motion
analysis system, equipped with multiple cameras, is used to record the
measurements in various postures in static as well as video mode for analysis
• The most successful application of dynamic measures, so far, has been in design of
sportswear for world champions. Swimwear and other sport garments designed
using such data have been shown to reduce muscle fatigue, enhance body comfort,
reduce impedance and even lead to enhanced performance.
• The weakness is that only a relatively few points can be tracked. It is generally not
possible to measure the body in motion with the same kind of accuracy as when it is
held in a static pose because of the variation in the way in which a task is performed
even by the same individual. Also, it is quite complicated to track the location of body
landmarks while the body is in motion
• Difficult and cumbersome to us
• Expensive
4D measurement
SIZING UP AUSTRALIA - THE NEXT STEP Chapter 2: Literature Review Defining the method
and scientific parameters for the Australian Body Sizing Survey
ANTHROPOMETRY. COMPARATIVE ANALYSIS OF TECHNOLOGIES FOR THE CAPTURE OF
ANTHROPOMETRIC DIMENSIONS -Rosmery Narino Lescay1, Alicia Alonso
Becerra1, Anaisa Hernandez Gonzalez1 February 30, 2017
https://dined.io.tudelft.nl
 Variability in Anthropometric data
Variability in human dimensions
– Measurement conditions
• Time of day -recorded can also introduce variability as body dimensions can
change with the time of day. Dimensions can be different if recorded just before
or after a meal. The body tends to be shorter by up to 2 cm in the evening
• Clothing worn Different types of clothing can have different effects.
Measurements recorded on a nude or minimally clad body are the most accurate
but may not always be possible in conservative societies. Suitable adjustment for
clothing has to be made in each case
– Age- Dimensions increase with age and then start decreasing around 40 years .
Around 40 years of age most people start to shrink in stature. The average
weight of adults increases from ages 20–45 and starts to decline from age 50-60
there is an increase in hip breadth.
– Ethnicity and nationality -Different ethnic groups have different physical
characteristics
– Occupation Prolonged practice or involvement in any one type of activity can affect
the development of muscles in a particular manner
– Special conditions -Special health conditions such as pregnancy or disability change
the body shape and dimensions
Anthropometry and the design and production of apparel: an overviewD. GUPTA, Indian
Institute of Technology, Delhi, India A,S&D chapter 2
Errors in Anthropometric data
• Measurement conditions
– key landmarks misrepresented
– instruments not calibrated
– Changes posture during measurement-A stoop or an extra stiff stance can
yield significantly varying results.
– Human error
• Personal
• Parallax
• Observational
Anthropometric methods for apparel design: body measurement devices and techniquesM.
KOUCHI , National Institute of Advanced Industria, A,S&D
CHAPTER 3
Anthropometric design approach for clothing
• Design for all
• Design for More/ Design for several sizes /Design for the range
– Design for the average. This provides a reasonable fit for the majority, near
the middle of the distribution
– Design for the extremes. In this, very small or larger sizes might exist (e.g.
markets segmented into ‘petite’, ‘plus size’, the very young or the older
markets).
• Made to-measure bespoke tailoring
• One size fits all
• Design for adjustability
Anthropometry and the design and production of apparel: an overviewD. GUPTA, Indian
Institute of Technology, Delhi, India A,S&D PAGE 34
Sizing systems, fi t models and target markets J. BOUGOURD University of the Arts
London, UK SIZING CLOTHING CHAPTER 4