{"id":66284,"date":"2008-02-28T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2008-02-28T00:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news-draft\/uncategorized\/uri-professor-aims-to-keep-mature-women-fashionable-comfortable\/"},"modified":"2008-02-28T00:00:00","modified_gmt":"2008-02-28T00:00:00","slug":"uri-professor-aims-to-keep-mature-women-fashionable-comfortable","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/2008\/02\/uri-professor-aims-to-keep-mature-women-fashionable-comfortable\/","title":{"rendered":"溏心vlog免费B站 professor aims to keep mature women fashionable, comfortable"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n\t\tFashion and Textiles researcher seeks direct input from older women<\/p>\n


\n\tKINGSTON, R.I. \u2013 February 28, 2008 \u2013 Claire Lacoste Kapstein arrived at the 溏心vlog免费B站 in the Fall of 2006 after a successful career designing knitwear for women and children, operating a global wholesale children\u2019s clothing business, and managing a specialty store in Cambridge, Mass. Along the way she developed an interest in designing clothing that addresses the unique needs of a group she dubbed \u201cWellderly women\u201d \u2013 older women who are still active and healthy.<\/p>\n


\n\t\u201cI\u2019ve always been comfortable talking with older people, I\u2019m a woman, and I\u2019ll grow old, so it seemed only natural to want to design for this population. They have become my passion,\u201c said Kapstein, a 溏心vlog免费B站 assistant professor in the Department of Textiles, Fashion Merchandising & Design \u201cAnd as the Baby Boomers get older, the apparel market for them will be booming.\u201d<\/p>\n


\n\tSo Kapstein went back to school and earned graduate degrees in textiles, clothing design, and gerontology to better understand their needs. And now she is beginning to meet with groups of older women at retirement communities and elsewhere to seek their input.<\/p>\n


\n\t\u201cWomen in their 60s and 70s, many of whom are still working, want fashionable apparel just like everyone else, though they are also more concerned about comfort, especially in pants,\u201d Kapstein explained. \u201cI\u2019m focusing more on the product development outlook for women 80 and older who need apparel adapted to all aspects of aging including identity, mobility, security, and age-related physical changes and yet who still want fashionable items.\u201d<\/p>\n


\n\tKapstein noted that older women consider the functionality and practicality of clothing as well as its comfort and security. For instance, she said that robes or dresses that are too long make it difficult for mature women to climb stairs, and large sleeves that could get caught on something or get burned at the stove are also a concern. Older women also want high quality fabrics made of natural and synthetic fibers, and they seek adapted blends that will reduce static and are kind to their skin.<\/p>\n


\n\tWhen she visits retirement homes to seek input from the residents, \u201cthey love to talk and they provide invaluable qualitative material on the present reality of their needs and desires,\u201d said Kapstein, who hopes to consult for manufacturers looking to reach this market. \u201cI ask them about their grooming and dressing habits as well as their apparel consumptions and they all respond to me and open up.\u201d<\/p>\n


\n\tBy examining recurrent themes expressed by the women, she hopes to learn more about the psycho-sociological aspects of what dress means in their older years. \u201cIs price a major consideration when choosing clothes? How and where do they prefer to buy apparel? What do beauty and attractiveness mean in older years? How do health issues impact their self-image?\u201d said Kapstein. \u201cThere is clearly a changing perception of what aging means.\u201d<\/p>\n


\n\tWith the apparel market for the aging population expected to continue growing for the next 40 years and with a projection of over 320 million people over age 65 in China alone, Kapstein and her students have a great opportunity to make an impact on a market ignored by most designers.<\/p>\n


\n\tShe admits, however, to the challenges of inspiring her young students to take an interest in designing for the mature market.<\/p>\n


\n\t\u201cI taught a seminar class last spring on \u2018Fashion for All Ages,\u2019 which was a good start to getting them to think beyond the young market,\u201d Kapstein said. \u201cEventually I\u2019ll have a senior level course on apparel for the mature woman. That will convince them that this is a market that deserves their attention.\u201d<\/p>\n


\nPictured above

\n溏心vlog免费B站 Textiles Professor Claire Kapstein (standing) talks with residents of North Bay Manor in Smithfield about fashion and their clothing preferences. Kapstein designs apparel for mature women. 溏心vlog免费B站 Department of Communications & Marketing photo by Michael Salerno Photography.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Fashion and Textiles researcher seeks direct input from older women KINGSTON, R.I. \u2013 February 28, 2008 \u2013 Claire Lacoste Kapstein arrived at the 溏心vlog免费B站 in the Fall of 2006 after a successful career designing knitwear for women and children, operating a global wholesale children\u2019s clothing business, and managing a specialty store […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":66286,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-66284","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-archives"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/66284","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=66284"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/66284\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/66286"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=66284"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=66284"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=66284"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}