| Abstract |
- The purpose of this study was to examine and compare annual work
wardrobe expenditures, work wardrobe expenditure influences, and
selected demographic characteristics of women employed full-time in
five occupational categories: professional and technical, managerial
and administrative, sales, clerical, and other.
The survey questionnaire included an itemized list of 37 wardrobe
items in five groups representative of clothing and accessories women
might wear for work and work-related activities. Respondents
indicated the total number of each item purchased and total dollar
expenditure per item. Respondents also indicated annual expenditures
for dry cleaning, alteration and repair; expenditure influences; and
selected demographic characteristics. Following pretesting of the
survey instrument, the mail questionnaire was sent to 825 women
randomly selected from the city directory for neighboring cities
Lewiston, Idaho and Clarkston, Washington, who had been employed
full-time during the previous year (1985) and who agreed by
introductory phone call to participate in the study. Data from a
total of 259 returned, usable questionnaires were included. The
sample included an uneven distribution of respondents: 24.3%
Professional-Technical, 20.5% Managerial-Administrative, 8.5% Sales,
29.7% Clerical, and 17.0% Other.
One-way analysis of variance, post hoc Tukey's test,
Kruskal-Wallis One-Way Analysis of Variance, and chi-square test of
independence were used to test for significance of differences among
occupational categories. Multiple Classification Analysis was used to
test for significance of expenditure differences among occupational
categories after controlling for the influence of significant
demographic characteristics. The Scheffe's test using adjusted mean
expenditures was used to reduce the probability of a Type I error.
Significant differences among occupational categories were found
for educational level, job income before taxes, and total family
income before taxes. Significant differences among occupational
categories were not found for marital status, age, presence in the
home of children 18 years of age and under, years of employment at
present job, and total years of employment.
Significant differences among occupational categories were found
for total work wardrobe, footwear and annual dry-cleaning
expenditures. However, after controlling for the influence of
significant demographic characteristics, significant differences in
total work wardrobe expenditures among occupational categories were
not found.
The average annual 1985 work wardrobe expenditure of study
respondents was $886; average expenditures ranged from $11 to $5925. Average annual work wardrobe expenditures by occupational category
were: Management-Administrative ($1019), Professional-Technical
($967), Sales ($943), Clerical ($912), and Other ($535). Survey
respondents spent about half (50.3%) of the total work wardrobe
expenditure on outerwear, 14.5% on footwear, 14.3% on lingerie, 12.5%
on accessories, and 8.4% on protective outerwear. The mean
expenditure for outerwear was $460; for footwear, $132.
About half of the survey respondents reported annual work
wardrobe dry - cleaning expenditures under $25, about one-fourth
reported spending from $25 to $50, and one-fourth reported spending
$51 or more. Professional-Technical and Managerial-Administrative
respondents tended to report higher annual dry - cleaning expenditures,
and the Other respondents reported annual dry-cleaning expenditures
under $25.
Significant differences among occupational categories for
expected wear life of work wardrobe garments and for work uniform
requirements were found. Most survey respondents reported wearing
work wardrobe garments for 2 to 3 years or 4 to 5 years.
Professional-Technical and Managerial-Administrative respondents
tended to wear work wardrobe garments longer, while the Other
respondents reported the least years of wear life.
Most survey respondents did not wear a uniform for work; however,
about one-half of the Other occupational category respondents and
one-fifth of the Professional-Technical respondents reported wearing a
work uniform most of the time.
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