Biography
Susan P. Ashdown, Emerita Professor, joined the College of Human Ecology faculty in 1991 on completion of her Ph.D research at the University of Minnesota on the topic of perception of apparel fit. Previous to this she completed her MA degree in functional apparel design at Cornell. She taught at Cornell from 1980 to1988 in the College of Arts and Sciences and from 1991 to 2018 in the College of Human Ecology. The questions that informed her research and teaching focused on body variation and the sizing and fit of apparel. She also investigated the use of half scale dress forms developed from body scans in academia and the apparel industry.
She recently was the revising editor for the 4th Edition of Draping for Apparel Design by Helen Joseph-Armstrong. She transformed the text, preserving Joseph-Armstrong's comprehensive range of information and basic methods but made it more relevant to the learning styles and the challenges facing the modern apparel student.
Joseph-Armstrong, H., & Ashdown. S. P. (2022). Draping for apparel design. (4th ed.). New York: Fairchild. Editing author for the 4th Edition.
Vuruskan, A & Ashdown, S. P. (2017). Modeling of half-scale human bodies in active body positions for apparel design and testing. International Journal of Clothing Science and Technology. Volume 29, Issue 6, pp. 807-821.
Ashdown, S. P. (2014). Creation of ready-made clothing: The development and future of sizing systems. In M.-E. Faust & S. Carrier, Designing apparel for consumers: The impact of body shape and size (pp. 17–34). Cambridge, UK: Woodhead Publishing.
Ashdown, S. P., (2013) ‘Not craft, not couture, not ‘home sewing’: Teaching creative patternmaking to the iPod generation’, International Journal of Fashion Design, Technology and Education, 6, (2), 112-120 http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/17543266.2013.793747
Petrova, A. & Ashdown, S.P. (2012). Comparison of garment sizing systems. Clothing and Textiles Research Journal 30(4), pp 315-329.
Ashdown, S.P. (2011) 'Improving body movement comfort in apparel,' book chapter in Comfort in Clothing, editor Song, G., Woodhead Publishing Limited, Cambridge, UK.
Ashdown, S.P. & Loker, S., (2010) ‘Mass customized target market sizing: Extending the sizing paradigm for improved apparel fit,’ Design Practice, 2(2), pp. 147-173.
Ashdown, S.P., Editor. (2007) Sizing in Clothing: Developing Effective Sizing Systems for Ready-To-Wear Clothing, Woodhead Publishing Limited, Cambridge, England.
Ashdown, Susan P. (1998) An Investigation of the Structure of Sizing Systems: A comparison of three multidimensional optimized sizing systems generated from anthropometric data. International Journal of Clothing Science and Technology. Vol. 10, #5, pp 324-341.
Member of the Editorial Advisory Board of Fashion Practice; The Journal of Design, Creative Process & the Fashion Industry
Member, International Textile and Apparel Association
1991, Ph.D., Apparel Design, University of Minnesota
1989, M.A., Apparel Design, Cornell University
1971, B.A., Theater Arts, Grinnell College