Purpose The purpose of this paper is to investigate physiological indices related to comfort and health condition, based on which corresponding electronic equipment are selected and applied. A wearable monitoring system using sensor and liquid crystal display (LCD) techniques are then designed. Sensors are used to collect and transmit recording required signals from the wearer. A microcomputer with the type of AT89C52 is used to record and analyze the collected data. LCD is applied to display the health and comfort condition of the wearer. Design/methodology/approach A novel wearable monitoring system for the measurement of physiological indices and clothing microclimate is proposed in this study in order to monitoring both health and comfort condition of the wearer. Findings The proposed system provides reference for the application of sensor and display technologies in the field of smart clothing, which can be further applied to infant and child care, health care, home entertainment, military and industry. Originality/value This paper, first, investigated a framework of a wearable monitoring system considering both comfort and health condition and summarized the related physiological indices. The requirements of both comfort and health condition monitoring are analyzed to select appropriate electronic elements.