PHYSICAL AND PERSONALITY CHARACTERISTICS WERE EXAMINED IN RELATION TO CLOTHING CHOICES IN AN EFFORT TO MORE FULLY UNDERSTAND THE REASONS BEHIND THE PERSONAL BEHAVIORAL AND SOCIAL ADJUSTMENT PROBLEMS OF DELINQUENT GIRLS. AN EXPERIMENTAL GROUP OF 22 DELINQUENT GIRLS AND A CONTROL GROUP OF THE SAME NUMBER OF NONDELINQUENTS (MATCHED TO AGE, IQ, AND ECONOMIC AND ETHNIC BACKGROUND) WERE SET UP FOR COMPARISONS AMONG THE FOLLOWING MEASUREMENTS--(1) BODILY CONSTITUTION, (2) RORSCHACH FACTORS (BODY-IMAGE AND PERSONALITY), (3) PERCEPTUAL CHARACTERISTICS, AND (4) CLOTHING FABRIC AND DRESS STYLE PREFERENCES. COMPARATIVE DATA REVEALED THAT THE DELINQUENT GIRLS IN THIS STUDY DIFFERED FROM NONDELINQUENTS IN PHYSICAL CHARACTERISTICS (LARGER WEIGHT/HEIGHT AND BUST). IN ADDITION, THESE PHYSICAL CHARACTERISTICS APPEARED TO BE (1) RELATED TO SEVERAL PERSONALITY VARIABLES AS MEASURED BY RORSCHACH TESTS AND (2) PROJECTED IN PREFERENCES FOR CLOTHING COLOR IN FABRIC CHOICE. THE INVESTIGATOR NOTED THAT DELINQUENT GIRLS APPEARED TO PREFER WARM COLORS, WEAK CONTRASTS, AND LARGE DESIGNS IN CHOOSING THEIR CLOTHING FABRIC, AND IMMODEST AND FEMININE STYLES OF DRESS. IN CONTRAST, NONDELINQUENTS PREFERRED COOL COLORS, STRONG CONTRASTS, AND SMALL DESIGNS, AND MODEST AND MORE MASCULINE DRESS STYLES. (JH)