More than Just Appearance: Management of Clothing-Related Odor in Everyday Life

Abstract

Framed within Entwistle’s perspective of dress as “situated bodily practice” and olfactory impression management, we explored the topic of odor in clothing. A series of eight focus group interviews were used to explore the types of odors that can adhere to clothing, commonalities among clothing or textile properties that accentuate odor, and odor management practices to control, reduce or avoid odor building up in clothing. We found that many different sources of odor can permeate clothing fabrics and most odors are deemed unpleasant and unwanted. Odors arising from the body, particularly from sweat, were the most commonly cited source of odor. As part of everyday routines, individuals undergo a series of separate and interconnected odor management practices to prevent, control, or eliminate odor in their clothing. Among these, laundering clothing was the most common practice. However, individuals also attempted to control odor at the source, using the “sniff test” to assess odor and actively avoid certain items of clothing known to be persistently odorous. We also found that odor management included a progressive delegation of odorous clothing from one’s “civilized wardrobe” to other uses where odor may not matter or odor was unavoidable. It is clear that part of the embodied practice of selecting, wearing and caring for clothing, odor acts as a sign for interacting appropriately within the social world.

Keywords:

• Clothing
• odor management
• situated bodily practice
• laundering

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Rachel H. McQueen

Dr Rachel McQueen is an Associate Professor in Clothing and Textiles in Human Ecology at the University of Alberta. Her research program on textile odor takes a holistic approach to the human/textile interactions and examines sensory science, chemistry and microbiological aspects of understanding textile malodor. [email protected]

Jennifer E. Kowton

Ms Jennifer Kowton is a Graphic Designer and Masters student in Material Culture within Human Ecology. Her research is rooted in consumer behavior, which is influenced by her experience in marketing. More specifically, she is interested in consumer relationships to material objects. [email protected]

Lauren M. Degenstein

Ms Lauren Degenstein is a Masters student in Clothing and Textiles researching circularity through product stewardship in the fashion industry. Her research interests include sustainable behavior related to consumer clothing practices and addressing the environmental impacts of the fashion industry through systems change. [email protected]