| Abstract |
| The purpose of this survey study is to provide basic information for the construction of brassieres that are well-fitting and comfortable for the Korean and the American women in their 30s through the comparison and identification of their bra wearing behaviors, purchasing preferences, breast shapes, awareness of brassiere size and dissatisfaction factors of wearing bras.
The question on the bra wearing behaviors revealed that the American women tend to wear bras more frequently and longer hours than the Korean women on a daily basis and prefer their bras to fit just right without any room to spare. For the expected benefits of wearing a bra, the responses, `making breasts look ample and natural` and `pushing breasts upward` were considered as the most important benefits of wearing bras by the Korean and the American women, respectively. For the questions on preferred bra types, molded bra cup, wired bra, normal width shoulder straps and side bands, and back hook closure were the most commonly selected bra component types among all respondents. In relation to back shapes, `U-shape` was the most preferred bra back shape by the American women, while `straight line`was the most preferred type among the Korean women.
When asked about breast shapes, the largest number of Korean women perceived their breasts to be in `Conical` shape (38.71%), while most American women chose `SaggingⅠ`(47.17%) as their self-perceived breast shapes. As for bra size, 75A(23.46%) and 36C(11.32%) were the most common among the Korean and the American women, respectively. Most respondents from the both countries reported `wire` as the most uncomfortable part of bras. About 47.21% of the Korean respondents answered `size and fit` for the question concerning problems encountered after purchasing and wearing a bra, while about 66.98% of the American respondents found `uncomfortable` to be most problematic.
The results of this study suggest that there are some aspects of bras that are needed to be improved in order to construct brassieres that are appreciated by consumers from the both countries. |
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| Key Words |
| 브래지어, 착용실태, 선호도, 한국여성, 미국여성, Brassiere, Wearing behavior, Preference, Korean women, American women |
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