Manufacturers spend millions of dollars each year to put important product information, such as "80's 2-ply" and "Super 120's", on labels, but they seldom educate consumers the meaning of these designations. Fashion experts rarely talk about basic technical terms perhaps because they know little about technologies. Some fashion writers, including famous ones, dare to take on this task only to give false information. They often mistake yarn size for thread count. They also make wrong recommendations, such as suggesting fabrics made of 2-ply yarns are better than fabrics made of single-ply yarns. Dr. Ivan Chen has sold men's clothing for more than a decade. He has been disappointed with the inaccuracy of many contemporary writings on men's clothing. Dr. Chen wrote this book to correct some of the common fallacies about fibers and fabrics.
About the Author: Mr. Ivan M.C. Chen was born in 1956 in Taipei, Taiwan. He graduated in 1977 from Ming-Chi Institute of Technology. In 1983, Mr. Chen came to the United States to pursue advanced degrees. He earned an MBA from the University of Scranton, PA in 1985 and a Ph.D. in education from the University of Missouri-Kansas City in 1991. Mr. Chen strives for perfection on everything he does. He studies constantly and becomes an expert on whatever he does. He has been able to share his expertise through publications in various professions. He wrote a manuscript, The Psychology of Soldiers, which was recommended by the Ministry of Defense to join the Seventh Military Sciences Golden Statue Award Contest in Taiwan. He published many articles on business and management in prominent magazines and journals in Taiwan when he worked in the industry between 1980 and 1983. He was chosen as one of the keynote speakers to present his doctoral dissertation in the Seventh Conference of Distance Education Association held at the University of Wisconsin-Madison in 1991. After serving tens of thousands of customers in a retail department store for more than ten years, Mr. Chen has gained valuable expertise in menswear. Mr. Chen has been able to understand and explain many phenomena in men's clothing better than any fashion expert. Mr. Chen often provides surprising, yet convincing explanations. Many of his answers are thought provoking and are contrary to common beliefs.