www.ijird.com February, 2021 Vol 10 Issue 2 INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF INNOVATIVE RESEARCH & DEVELOPMENT DOI No. : 10.24940/ijird/2021/v10/i2/FEB21005 Page 18 Clothing Fit Preferences and Dressing Behaviour of Undergraduate Students: The Case of Public Universities in Ghana 1. Introduction Generally, man is considered as a social being, and has some basic needs in life such as food, clothing and shelter. Clothing is one of the most important needs of life. Clothing is seen as any skin or body covering while dressing connotes the process of act of covering the body with clothing and accessories (Alexander, Connell & Presley, 2015). An individual’s way of dressing plays an important role in enhancing his or her status in society and personality. However, if not well handled, one’s dressing can damage his or her status and persona in the society. This means, socio-culturally, students dressing code is influenced by their physical body, the cultural set-up of their community, and the universe at large. Therefore, to understand the preference of students with regard to clothes that fit them, clothing retailers need some reasonable knowledge, into understanding their customers’ clothing fit preference, as well as investigating into the desires of their clients in order to understand their dressing behaviour. Sociologically, dressing that is perceived to be unfit or deviates from the societal norms, especially as it affects the religious and moral values of the society, is considered to be inappropriate. This phenomenon has influenced the clothing retail environment of university students, where demand promotes high levels of differentiation. However, the high level of dynamism in the clothing taste and preference of Ghanaian university students is creating some difficulties to clothing retailers who offer only locally Ghanaian made products (Azuah, 2017). This situation is making it difficult for retailers who offer only local products to compete effectively with their counterparts, who are offering foreign products to consumers. This competitive intensity has occasioned a need for retailers to discover the right market placement as well as generating a variation between home-made clothing products offered with that of their foreign competitors (Azuah, 2017; Essel & Amissah, 2014). Furthermore, by means of further global fashion products being made accessible to the Ghanaian retail markets, and with the advent of online shopping, the Ghanaian customer is developing an even greater appetite for clothing styles ISSN 2278 – 0211 (Online) Frances Yayra Sefenu Assistant Lecturer, Department of Fashion and Textiles Studies, Cape Coast Technical University, Ghana Abdul-Jaleel Saani Lecturer, Department of Education and Psychology University of Cape Coast, Ghana James Amonoo Principal Library Assistant, Sam Jonah Library University of Cape Coast, Ghana Abstract: The study investigated clothing fit preferences and dressing behaviour of undergraduate students, focusing on public universities in Ghana. The study employed descriptive cross sectional survey design. The accessible population was all undergraduate students in four premium public universities in Ghana who were 93,457 as at 2019/2020 academic year. This comprised of 57,105 (61.1%) males and 36,352 (38.9%) females. A sample size of 400, made up of 245 males and 155 females, was obtained. In relation to sampling procedure, the multi-stage sampling procedures were used. A questionnaire, with a reliability coefficient of .827, was the instrument used. Both descriptive and inferential statistical tools were used to analyse the data. The study revealed that gender has no effect on clothing fit preferences of undergraduate students, however, in relation to dressing behaviour, it has an effect. Also, aesthetic, economic, and functional/comfort factors contributed 79.7 percent to dressing behaviour of the students. The study concludes that clothing fit preferences are able to influence positively students’ dressing behaviour. The study recommends that those who matter in the University or the powers that be must establish a form of a resocialisation programme to enlighten students on the desirable dressing behaviour on campus in order for them to adopt or adapt meaningful clothing fit preferences. Keywords: Aesthetic, clothing fit, comfort, dressing behaviour, economic, preferences