The aging of the world population, that is, the increase in the ratio of the elderly in the population, has led to an increase of interest in old age generally. The number of people above the age of 60 was 370,000,000 in 1980, but it is estimated that it will be 1,100,000,000 and 1 in 7 people will be older than 60 by 2025 (Meeks, 1994). At the World Old Age Summit in Madrid in the year 2002, it was suggested that there will be more people in the world over 60 than under 15 by the year 2050 (Anonymous, 2002).
Turkey, as a developing country, has experienced a considerable increase in the number of elderly people. The number of people over the age of 60 was 1.8 million in the year 1960, and reached 4 million in the year 1990. It exceeded 5 million in 1995 (Anonymous (1993) and Anonymous (1995)). According to 1995 data, average life expectancy has reached 68 years in general: 70 years for women, 66 years for men.
Aging, a natural phenomenon in human life, is a normal process causing changes in a person's physiology, mental ability and social relations (Thoren, 1996). We should emphasize that this process causes problems resulting from changes in body systems, as well as socio-cultural and economic problems.
Clothing, an important issue throughout human life, plays an even more important role in the life of members of particular consumer groups. The elderly population is one of these groups, due to physical and social changes. Clothing, one of the basic physiologic needs, provides social status as well as providing comfort and protecting the body from external unwanted influences. Clothes give a richness to a person's appearance from both the physical and emotional point of view (Chowdhary, 1991). Clothing is even more important in old age because elderly people want to set up new social connections, create an image and, especially, hide the imperfections that result from the physical changes caused by old age. Some factors—physical changes in the body and the available styles to meet their needs, affect their preferences and behaviours in the area of clothing consumption (Dinkins, 1993).
In the light of this knowledge, and taking into consideration the prolonging of human life, it is certain that the clothing issue will affect more and more elderly people and it is equally certain that elderly people will gradually create a bigger and wider market.
Degenerative changes take place during old age. Changes happen at differing rates. One of these changes is the diminishing of cartilage elasticity. Muscle atrophy is the most recognised symptom of old age. While the water ratio of a baby's body is 80%, it diminishes to 50–60% during old age. After 65 years of age, motor functions diminish noticeably, and sensitivity to external stimulations decreases. Corruptions occur at the tips of the bones, and some changes occur at the joints. This kind of alteration causes traumatic effects and mobility difficulties. Moreover, the balance and timing of the movement and the body posture worsens. In particular some movements, such as body flexion and rotation, become difficult (Hogge et al., 1988). Weakening of the reflexes and slackness of the neck muscles decrease productivity. Elderly people are affected not only by the weakening of nerve–muscle coordination, but also by changes in general body appearance.
In the light of the above, it can be said that anatomic, physiologic, pathologic, psychologic and social dimensions of changing due to old age affect clothing requirements (Park, 1989).
1.1. Anatomical changes
Anthropometric investigations aimed at determining anatomical changes in the body and their results determine the measurements of garments to be used in old age and are effective in matching a garment to the body (Rosenblad-Wallin and Karlsson, 1986).
Degeneration occurs in the vertebral column and the discs, body posture becomes bent forward, body height decreases because of changes in the discs and the water loss which occurs in the cartilage tissue of the vertebra during old age. Body height begins to decrease after 50 years, and continues to decrease by 2.5 cm every 5 years. After 75 years of age, the decrease reaches 5 cm every 5 years. Furthermore, shoulders become more narrow and the pelvis clearly widens. With aging, some changes occur in the shape of the chest. The ratio between chest width and depth diminishes and shoulders drop from the neck-line, so the sleevehole widens more than normal. A difference between front and back length occurs because of this body flexion. Comparative analyses with other populations indicate significant differences in the body dimensions (Kathiyal and Tettey, 2000).
1.2. Physiologic and pathologic changes
Physiologic and pathologic changes in old age also affect clothing requirements. Physical movements become more sluggish, muscle movements slow down, motor ability decreases and the number of movements needed to do a job increase (Kalinkara, 2001). Since balance disorders and dizziness are common problems in old age, it is necessary to design a garment which can be put on easily in a sitting position and where the back part, sleeves and sleevehole are wide.
1.3. Psychologic changes
The psychological aspects of the changes in old age are also very important. Psychologic health is a comprehensive term including psychologic comfort and discomfort, self-confidence and mental health. Appearance is very important from the point of view of the self-esteem and confidence of elderly people (Kaiser, 1983; Huck and Bunhotal, 1997). Psychologic disorders may occur if they experience shyness, timidity, discomfort or unease due to finding their clothes different from other people's.
1.4. Social changes
Experiencing the loss of social roles due to aging is inevitable. The individual can receive messages from his or her surrounding that he/she is old, and those messages can negatively affect his communication with his social environment. Clothing has a very important role to play in enabling an individual to live in peace both with him/herself and with other people, and, moreover, in solving the social adaptation problem. As part of their outer appearance, people can utilise clothing as a way of presenting a socially acceptable image.
Therefore, it is apparent that ergonomic garments are necessary for elderly individuals. The aim of this investigation is to develop an ergonomic garment design through determining the clothing problems of men older than 65 years. A questionnaire has been prepared and given to elderly men in order to determine their demands, needs and problems in the area. An ergonomic garment design has been prepared in the light of the information obtained.
Developments and changes in economic and social structure lead to the production of ready-to-wear garments having a lot of special characteristics. Every year a higher percentage of people are buying these products. How, it is undeniable that consumers encounter a number of problems. Some of the most important problems are: inadequate quality and the non-availability of certain styles and sizes. To solve these problems, it is necessary to determine both functional suitability and the importance of human needs.
Garment design, in particular with people having normal body measurements in mind, has been developed by companies in the ready-to-wear sector. However, elderly people's needs and garment-related problems have not been taken into consideration. From now on, their problems and needs should be taken into consideration because the elderly population has been gradually increasing.
Ready-to-wear garment companies can offer new products meeting the needs of this community by taking into consideration their clothing problems. To achieve this, it is necessary to determine some goals. In particular, ease of use and problem solving should be at the forefront of the study.
It is necessary to understand elderly people's movements and static positions well in order to facilitate movement by functional garments (Eggleston et al., 1994). A full understanding of how the body curves in different positions, the angular movements of the joints and the way the outer lines of the body change can make it easier to design a garment that is appropriate to purpose and environment.
Most elderly people cannot hold their hands above their heads (Hogge and Baer, 1986). Therefore, it is thought that garments with front buttons or openings at the back can be more accessible than those which are put on over the head from the point of view of servicability and health.
A wide armhole can facilitate comfortable movement for this garment designed for elderly people, due to the sloping of the shoulders during old age.
Elderly people have difficulty while bending down (Schwarz, 1998). Therefore, the lower parts of lower garments should be designed to be easily wearable and also fully equipped with assisting devices. To put on the lower garment easily, the opening has been kept wide. Furthermore, this wide opening provides comfort while using the toilet.
To secure the garment, fastenings such as button loops have an advantage in that their more simple functionality and lower levels of force in closing facilitate use by elderly people. Furthermore, the type, number, location, and time required for opening and closing of fastenings are important issues in elderly people's use of a garment (Huck and Bunhotal, 1997). To provide such functional simplicity, velcro has been used for the fastenings.
Movement limitations and pain cause a decrease in elderly people's movement. They prefer to rest mostly either sitting or lying down (Siu and Fan, 1990). Therefore, garments which are appropriate to a sitting or lying position can provide comfort. Garments should be designed for easy dressing and undressing while sitting, because elderly people may suffer from dizziness and loss of balance. Furthermore, the metabolism rate slows down and their sensitivity to thermal changes increases during old age. Moreover, skin becomes thin, dry and more sensitive (Harwood et al., 1997). Fabric selection thus becomes very important. Comfort can also be provided through the use of materials which are smooth and elastic, porous and allowing changes in temperature and the free flow of air. The garment designed has wide openings which provide ease of dressing and undressing while sitting. Moreover, it has been produced in lycra-cotton fabric so as not to irritate elderly people's sensitive skin.
Elderly people have difficulty in finding suitable garments due to the structural changes in their bodies. Furthermore, particular problems can inhibit their choice of garments and their freedom to dress as they need. This condition may lead to emotional stress and a feeling of inadequacy (Reich, 1976). Appearance and a proper fit are as important as functional issues to elderly people's self-confidence. Fabric, colours, accessories and model specialities should be chosen to please the user. To provide an aesthetic appearance, a casual sewing style has been used for this design.
If we take into consideration the economic crisis in Turkey, it is apparent that many elderly people are on low incomes. So, keeping the cost of garment design for this special consumption group as low as possible is an important matter for consideration. Lowering the costs can be achieved through serial production.
As a result, the data obtained showed that one of the most important expectations of elderly individuals was comfort and ease of use. As existing garments cannot provide sufficient comfort while involved in activities such as dressing and undressing, using the toilet and cleaning, it was concluded that a special garment design was necessary.
This investigation has been designed to determine demands, needs and problems in regard to clothing and to design an ergonomic garment. A further investigation determining if an ergonomic garment design facilitates elderly men's activities of daily living or not will be useful. Furthermore, investigations can be planned for other special consumer groups, such as people with disabilities and out of standard body sized individuals, by using the method of this investigation.
