Matching the fit of individual garments to individual consumers

• US 20060287877A1
• Filed: 04/26/2006
• Published: 12/21/2006
• Est. Priority Date: 04/27/2005
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Mipso
• Original Assignee: MyShape, Inc.
• Inventors: Lambert, James P., Wannier, Louise J.
• Granted Patent: US 7,398,133 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 700/132
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/02 Marketing; Price estimation or determination; Fundraising
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0601 Electronic shopping [e-shopping]

Abstract

A method and system for specifying the fit of garments and matching the fit of individual garments to individual consumers is disclosed. In one embodiment, a method includes categorizing human body shapes based on dimensional and demographic body measurement data sampled from the human population, and statistically analyzing the measurement data to determine the appropriate number of discrete body shapes, as well as the range of measurement values characteristic of each body shape. The method includes assigning to each body shape a shape code, which is a unique name and/or symbol and/or curve representing that shape. In one embodiment, a recommendation engine is employed to specify and match the fit of individual garments to individual consumers.

Claims

1. A method of fitting garments to individuals, the method comprising:

receiving body dimensions for a consumer;

determining a first garment categorization for the consumer based on the consumer'"'"'s body dimensions; and

comparing the first garment categorization to at least one garment categorized with a second garment categorization to determine if there is a match.

2. The method of claim 1, further comprising upon a request from the consumer, providing one or more garments with a matching second garment categorization to the consumer.

3. The method of claim 1, further comprising measuring a plurality of dimensions of the at least one garment to generate the second garment categorization.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein receiving the consumer'"'"'s body dimensions comprises receiving a plurality of upper body dimensions.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein receiving the consumer'"'"'s body dimensions comprises receiving a plurality of lower body dimensions.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein determining the first garment categorization comprises determining a difference between at least some body shape dimensions and dimensions of the at least one garment.

7. The method of claim 1, wherein determining the first garment categorization comprises determining a difference between a three-dimensional curve representation of the consumer'"'"'s body and a three-dimensional curve representation of at least one garment.

8. The method of claim 1, further comprising receiving profile data for the consumer, wherein the first garment categorization is determined using the consumer'"'"'s body dimensions and the consumer'"'"'s profile data.

9. The method of claim 8, wherein the consumer'"'"'s profile data comprises at least one clothing fit tolerance, or clothing designer tolerance, or color tolerance, or clothing style tolerance, or clothing material tolerance, or use tolerance, or country of garment origin, or garment care, or garment brand.

10. The method of claim 1, further comprising prioritizing a plurality of garments each with a second garment categorization that matches the first garment categorization within a predefined range of tolerance.

11. The method of claim 1, further comprising providing an output identifying at least one garment having a second garment categorization that matches the consumers first garment categorization.

12. The method of claim 1, wherein the first garment categorization comprises a body fit code associated with the body shape of the consumer.

13. The method of claim 1, wherein the second garment categorization comprises at least one body fit code associated with a plurality of consumer body shapes.

14. A method of specifying a garment'"'"'s fit, the method comprising:

receiving dimensions for a garment;

receiving garment profile data that identifies a style or manufacturer of the garment;

determining a first garment categorization based on the garment'"'"'s dimensions and the garment'"'"'s profile data; and

comparing the first garment categorization to at least one consumer categorized with a second garment categorization to determine if there is a match.

15. The method of claim 14, wherein the garment'"'"'s profile data comprises data describing the garment.

16. The method of claim 15, wherein the data describing the garment comprises at least one clothing fit tolerance, or clothing designer tolerance, or color tolerance, or clothing style tolerance, or clothing material tolerance, or use tolerance, or country of garment origin, or garment care, or garment brand.

17. The method of claim 14, wherein the garment'"'"'s dimensions are based on computer design coordinates.

18. The method of claim 17, wherein the coordinates comprise three-dimensional coordinates that define one or more curves of a garment.

19. The method of claim 14, wherein determining the first garment categorization comprises categorizing the garments according to differences between the body measurement data and the garment dimensions according to predefined dimension variations.

20. The method of claim 14, wherein comparing comprises filtering the first garment categorizations and the second garment categorizations to determine a garment presentation priority.

21. The method of claim 14, wherein the first garment categorization comprises at least one body fit code associated with at least one consumer body shape.

22. The method of claim 14, wherein the second garment categorization comprises a body fit code associated with the consumer.

23. A system for matching one or more garments to at least one consumer, the system comprising:

a body categorization engine capable of determining a consumer'"'"'s body category based on a plurality of the consumer'"'"'s body dimensions and one or more consumer garment preferences;

a garment categorization engine capable of determining a garment'"'"'s body categories for one or more garments based on dimensions of the garments and at least one garment attribute associated with one or more garment preferences; and

a garment matching engine capable of processing the consumer'"'"'s body category and one or more of the garment'"'"'s body categories to determine which of the garments fit the consumer.

24. The system of claim 23, wherein the body categorization engine is configured to categorize a plurality of consumer body shapes into a plurality of different body fit categories.

25. The system of claim 23, wherein the consumer garment preferences comprise at least one clothing fit tolerance, or clothing designer tolerance, or color tolerance, or clothing style tolerance, or clothing material tolerance, or use tolerance, or country of garment origin, or garment care.

26. The system of claim 23, wherein the garment categorization engine is configured to categorize a plurality of garments into a plurality of different body fit categories.

27. The system of claim 23, wherein the consumer'"'"'s body category comprises a body fit code.

28. The system of claim 23, wherein the garment'"'"'s body categories comprises at least one body fit code.

29. A method of presenting a consumer with garments that fit the consumer'"'"'s body, the method comprising:

categorizing a plurality of human body shapes into a plurality of different body categories generated from a plurality of body dimensions and a plurality of consumer garment preferences;

categorizing a plurality of garments into a plurality of garment categories generated from dimensions of the garments and a plurality of garment profiles; and

identifying the garment categories that are within a tolerance range of respective body categories.

30. The method of claim 29, wherein categorizing the plurality of human body shapes comprises providing the tolerance range for each of the body categories.

31. The method of claim 29, wherein categorizing the plurality of garments comprises comparing the garments dimensions to the plurality of body dimensions to determine one or more body fit categories that the plurality of garments belong to.

32. The method of claim 29, further comprising presenting a consumer with garments that fit their body, or their preferences, or their body shape.

33. The method of claim 29, wherein the body categories comprise a plurality of different body fit codes.

34. The method of claim 29, wherein the garment categories comprise a plurality of different body fit codes.