Fabric Drape Modeling
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We have made sets of skirts in a straight and a flared pattern in five different fabrics which vary in fiber content, weave structure and weight. We then scan each garment on a dress form and also photograph it. In the future, Steve Marschner from Cornell's Computer Science Department and his group will use the scan data and digital versions of the patterns to analyze the mathematics of fabric drape.

Scans of flared skirts (denim on the left and lightweight cotton on the right) rotate, showing the differences in drape. (Image: Cornell Body Scan Research Group)
The same skirt is constructed in different fabrics. On the left is a denim model and on the right, a lightweight cotton. (Image: Cornell Body Scan Research Group)