Correlation Between Economic State and Different Level of Clothing Sales According to Sources of Clothes - Through Research Tool as Google N Gram

Correlation Between Economic State and Different Level of Clothing Sales According to Sources of Clothes - Through Research Tool as Google N Gram

 

20420

Hoeun Lee

 

Abstract

This research examined the correlation between economic state and sources of clothes. The tool, Google N Gram was proven by examining the graphs and Hemline Index theory. When the search word polyester which is cheap sources of clothing was entered in Google N Gram viewer, the feature of the graph was proportional to the graph of unemployment level while the search word silk which is expensive sources of clothing was entered in Google N Gram viewer, the feature of the graph was inversely proportional to the graph of unemployment level. The research showed that the higher the level of unemployment is, the more people like to wear clothes made by cheap sources like polyester while the lower the level of unemployment is, the more people like to wear clothes made by expensive sources like silk based on Hemline Index theory through the tool, Google N Gram.

Ⅰ. Introduction

The research was started from Hemline Index theory(George, 1926). The theory explains the correlation between the economic state and the length of skirts, and it concludes that the worse the economic state gets the more women wear long-skirts or pants rather than mini-skirt. This research examined the correlation between economic state and different level of clothing sales according to sources of clothes through research tool as Google N Gram.

A lot of apparel companies are experiencing stormy passage whenever they launch every new collection because consumers are changeable. Most of their consumers are latent consumers who do not decide the consumptions according to the name of brand. To get maximal potential consumers, marketing strategy about which clothing sources will be used in each cloth is really important, and this research gives the way of success in sales of clothing according to economic state and the sources of clothing.

Ⅱ. Literature Review

According to "A Study of Verification on Fashion Theory around Relation Theory of Skirt Length and Stock Index, Hemline Index- Focus on 1980 to 2013 years (Seonsook Kim, Dept. of clothing & textiles, Dajeon University)", George(1926) suggested Hemline index theory as a fashion cycle theory, and he explained the theory about fashion cycle of mini-skirt through the explanation about the correlation between financial fluctuation- When the economic state gets worse, women wear long skirt or pants because they cannot buy silk stocking to wear, in contrast, when the economic state gets better, women wear mini-skirt to show off their silk stocking. Though there is no sure that all of the situations in current modern society are suitable for this theory, plenty of other theories suggest Hemline index theory as a valid method to reveal the correlation between the length of skirt and the financial fluctuation(Malm, 2012; Menkes, 2008).

According to "The Analysis of Pant Style Trend to Establish a Fashion Cycle Theory: Focus on 1967 to 2012(Seonsook Kim, Dept. of Clothing & Textiles, Dajeon University)", human beings are easy to receive impetus from and be fascinated by something new and fresh. These kinds of things are accepted by a lot of people consciously or unconsciously and it arouses social conformity process. Then, it is called as style or fashion. Fashion is made on the basis of social conformity phenomenon about something new, so fashion can be the most basic process(Ko & Kim, 2009). Also, fashion can be translated into various senses. Commonly, it can be defined as new and interesting style or the products which are sold in fashion market, but the fashion should be understood as comprehensive concept about social conformity process.

Ⅲ. Research Methods

The research would define the correlation between economic state and different level of clothing sales according to sources of clothes. Before defining it, the research should reveal whether the tool, N Gram which shows frequency of words in books from 1800 to 2008 year, is trustworthy or not.

To reveal it, the research contained the compare between statistics about graph of economic state of the United Kingdom and frequency graph of N Gram about related words. The reason why the graph especially of the United Kingdom was contained is that a lot of terms about style were from the United Kingdom. In fact, most terms about high-fashion were from France, but to clarify the result of the research, the research contained the materials which are in English. Especially, the research contained the statistics about unemployment level. The reason why the research contained the statistics about unemployment was what the research would like to reveal was the level of sales. The level of unemployment is more cognate numerical value with management in sales than any other statistics about economy.

To examine the correlation between economic state and clothing sales according to sources of clothing, the research contained the N Gram graph about the words that are kinds of sources of clothing. The research used some sources that each of it has different unit price to compare the words frequency that appears in N Gram and level of sales according to economic state which includes the level of unemployment.

Ⅳ. Results & Discussions

To reveal the correlation between Hemline Index theory and Google N Gram graphs, and to reveal whether the research tool, Google N Gram is trustworthy, the research contained graphs about comparing the Google N Gram graphs of long skirt, mini-skirt and pants with the graph of unemployment level in the United Kingdom.

The graphs below are from Google N Gram; from 1940 to 2008 to clarify the contents with the graph of unemployment and in corpus of British English to subdivide into the United Kingdom and the United States of America.

 

These graphs above are Google N Gram graphs about long-skirt and pants in British English from 1940 to 2008. In the aggregate, N Gram graphs about those two are proportional to the graph of unemployment. It means that when the business is bad, people like to wear long skirt or pants. These graphs not only support Hemline Index Theory but also build the trust about research tool, Google N Gram.

Google N Gram graph about long skirt is almost proportional to the graph of unemployment, but the graph about pants is slightly different with the graph of unemployment. The reason why the graph of pants is different with the unemployment graph is that not only women wear pants but also men wear pants. Thus overall feature of the graph is gradual and there is no many heavy curves. However, the graph shows upward movements as the time goes on. This can be showed that Google N Gram is suitable for examining the level of interest to some degree.

 

This graph above is Google N Gram graphs about mini-skirt in British English from 1940 to 2008. In the aggregate, N Gram graph about mini-skirt is inversely proportional to the graph of unemployment. This graph also supports Hemline Index theory. The reason why the word mini-skirt appears in middle phase of 1960s is that in early phase of 1960s, designer Mary Quant designed mini-skirt for the first time with declaring that she does not want to wear long skirt like her mother. Since then, general feature of graph is inversely proportional to the unemployment graph. Though in early phase of 2000s the frequency of the word mini-skirt increased as compared with century right before, it can be affected by trend. In the current society, most of the celebrities loved by people like to do co-ordinate their fashion mainly with mini-skirt or hot pants. People can be affected by them with the development of mass media, and it is the reason why the graph in 2000s increased slightly.

This graph above is Google N Gram graphs about polyester which is cheap source of clothing in British English from 1940 to 2008. In the aggregate, N Gram graph is proportional to the graph of unemployment. It can be showed that polyester carries out same function as the graph feature about long skirt and pants. It means when the business is bad, people are more interested in cheap sources of clothes like polyester. To examine whether when the business is bad, people are less interested in expensive sources of clothes, this research contained the Google N Gram graph of silk which is expensive sources of clothes.

 

This graph above is Google N Gram graph about silk which is expensive source of clothing in British English from 1940 to 2008. In the aggregate, N Gram graph about silk is inversely proportional to the graph of unemployment. It can be showed that silk carries out same function as the graph feature about mini-skirt. It means when the business is bad, people are less interested in expensive sources of clothes like silk.

 

Ⅴ. Conclusion & Limitations

The research showed that the tool, Google N Gram and its graphs are trustworthy and the higher the level of unemployment is, the more people like to wear clothes made by cheap sources like polyester while the lower the level of unemployment is, the more people like to wear clothes made by expensive sources like silk based on Hemline Index theory through the tool, Google N Gram.

However, there are also some of limitations. The research contained materials only about the United Kingdom and from 1940 to 2008. Though Hemline Index theory is trustworthy, this research stands on the basis of the tool Google N Gram. Google N Gram is just the frequency of the words in books. Then it means that the graphs from Google N Gram viewer cannot be showed that all of features of the graphs contain serious meaning in them. The reserch cannot be showed completely trustworthy because the research only used Google N Gram viewer as a tool without any other tools. However, in style of fashion, the spread of information or introduction is really important. In that way the Google N Gram viewer is useful to examine the popularity of particular clothes and sources.

Also the research contained only two graphs about two different sources of clothing. The reason why the two sources were selected is that those two are representative sources in cheap and expensive price range. However, the process of representative sources of clothing was subjective. Although they showed different features of graphs, there is possibility to be differed according to kind of sources even they are in same price range.

However, the research can suggest the way of success in sales of clothing according to economic state and the sources of clothing in current cut-throat society. In a follow-up study, the research had better contain the correlation among sources of clothing that can be worn in same season and economic state. Then, the clothing companies can establish marketing strategies for each season standing on the basis of the follow-up study.

Ⅵ. References (APA style)

Kyoung Hwa Kim, Kyung Ae Kim. (2005). A Study on Mini-Skirts in Mass-media the early 21st century. JOURNAL OF THE KOREAN SOCIETY DESIGN CULTURE, 11(2), 168-181.

Young Ja Lim, Tae Young Park. (2004). A Study on Formative Characteristics of the Mini Skirt Style in the Contemporary Fashion since the 2000s. Journal of the Korean Society of Costume, 54(6), 27-41.

Jin Sook Yang, Hyo Won Kwak. (2010). A Study on Fabric Pattern Design of Fast Fashion -Focusing on the Case of FOREVER21 Brand-. JOURNAL OF THE KOREAN SOCIETY DESIGN CULTURE, 16(2), 347-355.

Seonsook Kim. (2014). A Study of Verification on Fashion Theory around Relation Theory of Skirt Length and Stock Index, Hemline Index -Focus on 1980 to 2013 years-. Journal of the Korean Society of Clothing and Textiles, Vol. 37, No.4, 584-597

Seonsook Kim. (2013). The Analysis of Pant Style Trend to Establish a Fashion Cycle Theory: Focus on 1967 to 2012. Journal of the Korean Society of Clothing and Textiles, Vol. 37, No.6, 786-798

Seongwook Kim. (2012). Present Condition of Youth Unemployment in the United Kingdom. International Labor Brief, 10(9), 53-59.