Graduate Thesis Or Dissertation

 

Women's clothing practices for specific occasions at age 65 or older as compared with recall of their practices in their 40's Public Deposited

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  • The elderly population in our society is increasing both in number and proportion, with the life expectancy of women increasing more than men. Their needs have been given increased attention in recent years. Many studies have been done on clothing for older women, but few have dealt with the older woman's clothing practices for specific occasions and whether these practices have changed since she was middle-aged. The major purposes of this study were to determine the types of clothing women 65-74, 75-84, and 85 and over wear for specific occasions compared to the types of clothing they wore when they were in their 40's; and to investigate the relationship of the older woman's present clothing behavior to: perception of self as young, middle-aged or elderly; occupation prior to retirement; marital status; education; degree of social participation; and sex-role concept. In addition, the investigator was interested in finding out if the elderly woman was wearing bifurcated garments, and whether certain physical characteristics were affecting her clothing choices. The sample was randomly selected from Benton County voter registration files and included a total of 102 women age 65-74, 75-84, and 85 and over. Information gathered from interviewing the subjects in their homes was recorded on data collection sheets, scored, coded, and then keypunched on cards to facilitate statistical analysis. The McNemar test for the significance of change was used to determine if there was a significant change in the clothing behavior of women 65-74, 75-84, and 85 and over. A chi-square test was used to investigate relationships between the present clothing behavior of women 65 and over and perception of self, occupation when 55-64, marital status, education, degree of social participation, and sex-role concept. A chisquare test was also used to compare education and sex-role concept. A significance level of .05 was selected for all statistical tests. The proportion of older women in Benton County represented in this study was 65-74 (3%), 75-84 (5%), and 85 and over (16%). The majority of the women perceived themselves as middle-aged, lived in a city (25,000-99,000), were widowed, and had a higher education level than the average in Oregon. It was found that 80.4% of the sample wear bifurcated garments. For each age group, the percentage wearing them was 94.1% (age 66-74), 88.2% (age 75-84), and 58.8% (age 85+). In addition, arthritis was the most frequently mentioned physical problem, and the preferred clothing characteristic for those who have physical problems is a garment with a front opening. There were many significant changes in the clothing behavior of older women from when they were in their 40's to the present. There were 30 significant changes for women 65-74, 22 for women 75-84, and 16 for women 85 and over. A total of 68 significant changes was found in 240 statistical tests, which was high considering that statistical tests were run for every occasion and category of dress even though some categories of dress did not fit the occasion (e.g., bathrobe for church). Inmost instances of significant change, women decreased the frequency with which they were wearing dresses or suits, and increased their frequency of wearing bifurcated garments. There was little relationship found between the present clothing behavior of women 65 and over and: perception of self as young, middleaged, or elderly; occupation at age 55-64; marital status; educational level; level of social participation; and sex-role concept.
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