Thousands of workers have been dislocated from jobs in the textile and apparel industries as a result of recessions and structural changes in the economy. Because of the large concentrations of female workers in these industries, women have been particularly vulnerable to dislocation. This study examined job dislocation and factors that affect women's reemployment or retraining for other employment. Subjects were women (N=120) who had been dislocated from textile or apparel manufacturing plants and were unemployed, reemployed, or enrolled in classroom-based job training at a county vocational technical institute in 1985 and 1986. Subjects were interviewed face-to-face or completed questionnaires. Results showed that the job training group was significantly different from the unemployed and employed groups, and that variables related to the stage of life cycle were primarily responsible for these differences. The job training group was younger and had more children at home. These findings suggest that younger women who had a number of years remaining in the job market and also faced the economic demands associated with earlier stages of the family life cycle, were more likely to believe that it was worthwhile to retrain for future jobs, and that older women were more likely to believe that retraining for their remaining years in the job market was of little value. (ABL)