Photos here!!

During this interview process, I was interested in brand-name clothing and the reasons that people wear certain brands in particular. I was also interested in the sourcing of fashion and style, and I wondered which factors affected one’s knowledge of what was “in-style.” Another interesting topic that came up was the accentuating (or hiding) of certain parts of the body.

Meet Dorcas, an 18 year old female from Chicago who is a current Wellesley student. When asked, she replied that she doesn’t look to mimic anyone with her style, and that brand names don’t matter to her. The brand names that she does have, such as True Religion and Lucky Brand jeans, were given to her as hand-me-downs or gifts from family members. She believes that the True Religion jeans look good on her because they accentuate her butt. When she is trying to look sexy for a party/night out or cute for a wedding/holiday party, she wears clothing that will emphasize her butt.

Now meet Olivia, an 18 year-old Wellesley student from Great Barrington, Massachusetts. When deciding what clothing to buy, she does not look to accentuate certain body parts, and actually tries to hide certain parts of her body. A favorite item from her wardrobe is a pair of black corduroy Christopher Blues pants that she got on sale for $120 at a boutique called Glad Rags in Lenox, Massachusetts. She bought these pants because they were casual, yet could still be dressed up for evening use. The reason she wears these pants a lot is because they “fit now;” Olivia has recently lost a lot of weight accidentally due to extreme stress. Her other pants no longer fit her which is why she bought these recently in a different size– however, she bought them to fit tightly, and they are already becoming looser as she continues to lose weight.

Usually, when Olivia goes shopping, she looks for clothing that hides her butt, thighs, and stomach. Specific types of clothing she has for this purpose are long, oversized cardigans. Not only are they warm, but they hide these parts of her body (although her stomach has recently become less of an issue due to the weight loss).

Something that I found interesting about Olivia slipped out later in the interview. She confessed that she actually likes to emphasize her wrists; this is something I had never heard before and wasn’t expecting. She explained that she likes to show her wrists because she likes the large veins on the underside of them. She wears bracelets to accentuate her wrists, and also to make her fingers look “less pudgy.”

When discussing brands, Dorcas was reluctant to list any, and said she didn’t have any favorites and would not buy a piece of clothing just because it was a name brand; this was until I asked her about the several PINK sweaters she had in her closet. Dorcas said that PINK (by Victoria’s Secret) is a brand she likes because their sweaters hide her stomach, and she is comfortable while still looking cute.

Olivia, on the other hand, listed a plethora of brands that she likes. According to her, brand names are important for certain items only; for instance, she’ll wear a no-name shirt with a brand-name blazer. She likes Anthropologie because “it’s an eclectic mix of different styles,” J crew because “it’s timeless,” Jack Wills because “it’s a little funky, it’s a little foreign, and no one else is wearing it,” St. John because “it’s classic pieces and it’s expensive but I buy it at a thrift store in Connecticut where it’s less expensive.” In addition to these brands, Olivia also listed Kate Spade as a favorite for dresses, Vineyard Vines for “preppy golf stuff,” Rebecca Taylor, Lacoste, Marc Jacobs, Juicy, H&M, Cynthia Steffe, and Ralph Lauren for golf clothing. Olivia remarked that being a golfer does influence her everyday style during golf season. In addition to striped shirts and vests, she likes to wear glittery tops, dresses, and tunics, and prides herself in being preppy, girly, and unique. She often buys special pieces from small boutiques and thrift stores, and her mom alters them if necessary.

Olivia’s style is interesting because she mixes in pieces that are not a lot of money with pieces that are quite expensive; for instance, one outfit consisted of a $4 skirt from Barney’s that her mother altered for her, and a $150 top that she bought at a boutique to match the skirt. She also spends more money on clothing than shoes, and has an array of the same Payless flats in different colors. Her idea was that if you mix in 1-2 nicer pieces and walk with confidence, then no one will notice your Payless flats.

A common trend I noticed in both of the interviews was the influence of mothers in personal style and knowing what clothing did/did not look good. Dorcas said that she learned how to dress through trial and error, and through her mother telling her what was good or not. Olivia also knows what looks good on her because her mother will tell her if she looks bad in something. When asked how she knows a certain tunic compliments her, she replied, “Well, my mother had me buy it in 2 colors, so I’m assuming it doesn’t look awful!” Both Dorcas and Olivia reported shopping with their mothers the most often.

Other style influences included magazines. Olivia reported that about 30% of her style influence comes from magazines like In-Style, Cosmo, Teen People, Teen Vogue, and Seventeen. She also has a lot of store catalogues from Vineyard Vines, J Crew, and Madewell.

Dorcas did not attribute much of her style to influence from magazines. Other ideas about how to dress came from friends. For instance, Olivia recently found out from a friend that you can’t wear regular underwear with leggings, for fear of having panty lines. She explained, “I bought a thong. I need to gain the courage to wear it. I shoved it somewhere in here (drawer). I haven’t even touched it yet; it’s frightening, it’s frightening. I can’t even look at it right now.” In addition, Olivia remarked that she often dresses up for French class because the teacher usually dresses up in a preppy style and she doesn’t want to seem like a “slob.” When she dresses up in a tunic, cardigan, and heeled boots for French class, she feels like she put effort into the outfit and should therefore put effort into the class. Also, since the outfit isn’t super comfortable, she is less likely to fall asleep. When socializing with girls, Olivia said she is more likely to wear something crazy, but in a group of guys she would pay more attention to her makeup and wear something a little less “outlandish.”

Overall, clothing choices for both Dorcas and Olivia seemed to be based on comfort, the hiding or accentuation of certain body parts, and the specific situation for which they were dressing; validation for clothing choices came primarily from their mothers. While Olivia was going for a certain “preppy and girly” look, Dorcas described her style as “comfortable and cute.” It was interesting to see how brand-name clothing played (or didn’t play) roles in the fashion choices in their wardrobes.

 –Amanda Lee

I interviewed two people whom I believed could provide a good insight into how to dress country, but are from two different parts of the country.

Joanna LaPerriere

The first, Joanna LaPerriere, is a “fifth-generation Wyomingite”. She, like her mother, and her grandmother, (and so on for generations), was raised in Wyoming and considers it to be her true home.

https://docs.google.com/a/wellesley.edu/file/d/0B5hzje8BkVYtNGgwZFgzUG5YOWc/edit

When Joanna came to Wellesley, she decided to bring her cowboy boots and Stetson hat with her. Her boots, she informed me, were a graduation present which she asked for, instead of the typical high school graduation ring. Even though she has owned her boots for only a short amount of time, they are very important to her as a symbol from home. She wears them on a regular basis, and does not think of it as anything out of the ordinary to do so.

https://docs.google.com/a/wellesley.edu/file/d/0B5hzje8BkVYtMlRjSzdQQVlPSTg/edit

On the other hand, Joanna does not wear her hat as often as she does her boots. Not because it is anything uncommon, but simply out of personal preference because it is such a large hat. However, when she boarded the long flight from home to Wellesley, she wore her hat on the plane in order to avoid having it be flattened in her suit case. When she arrived at Boston-Logan airport, people gave her weird looks, she says. She thinks that it is because it is uncommon for people in the Northeast to see someone wearing a big cowboy hat, whereas at home no one would think to look twice. She claims that even while she was at Denver airport, she did not get the same looks as in Logan.

https://docs.google.com/a/wellesley.edu/file/d/0B5hzje8BkVYteEJUUjNqTTJhems/edit

Although those two pieces are iconic in country dress, Joanna believes that “dressing country” is more than just the boots or the hat individually. It is a combination of things, the outfit as a collective. It is the style of jeans and type of shirt too. Wearing boots with jeans isn’t necessarily country; “if you don’t wear the whole look, it just kind of looks every day”, says Joanna.

https://docs.google.com/a/wellesley.edu/file/d/0B5hzje8BkVYtRVBnVkxldXp5dnc/edit

She personally learned how to dress from her family, and says that in her entire life, she has never seen anything but cowboy boots on her grandfather’s feet. She puts her own spin on her country look though, which is something that she got from her father. Even though she would wear a typical button-down, which could be seen as part of the country style, she describes some of the shirts as “artsy” because they’re classier than typical work clothes, but still the same style.

Although Joanna knows the style well enough to tell the difference between what is true country or not (such as an Easterner simply wearing boots, for example), she chooses to put her own spin on it to better represent herself and what she has garnered from her family. Each person has a slightly different style, though the differences may not seem so distinct to the unknowing eye. Big buckles, for example, are typically only worn by people in rodeo, or at least by a person with family that has participated in rodeo, because they earned the buckle. This way, they are representing something about themselves or their family, within the parameters of the dress style.

Estefania Lamas

The second person I interviewed is Estefania Lamas, a Mexican-American who lives in the southwestern region of Texas.

In general, Estefania expressed the same sentiments as Joanna about how to dress country. She also has her own set of cowboy boots, but unlike Joanna, decided not to bring them from home because of their bulkiness. Her boots, she told me, were her mother’s boots and were passed down to her. Therefore, her boots also hold something of value for her; they are more than just a pair of boots.

What I found most interesting though is that when asked if they would be able to tell the difference between real cowboy boots and other styles of boots if they were shown a line-up of several different types of boots, both were adamant that they would be able to. In fact, not only were each able to name several brand-names of boots, but thought that the answer was an obvious yes.

https://docs.google.com/a/wellesley.edu/file/d/0B5hzje8BkVYtV0JBcEg2X0U1SGM/edit

In the case of Estefania, she showed me more dresses and spoke more about wearing a dress than about jeans and a button-up like Joanna did. This is not to say that Joanna does not wear dresses in a country style or that Estefania does not wear jeans and a button up shirt. Rather, it simply indicates what is more common in their respective regions and this difference could most likely be attributed to the difference in climate.

https://docs.google.com/a/wellesley.edu/file/d/0B5hzje8BkVYtQzFkdUFaVDdGcms/edit

If wearing a pair of jeans and a shirt instead of a dress, Estefania named a specific brand of jeans, Miss Me jeans. She says that this brand of jeans are very highly acclaimed by women, and are very expensive. She does not own a pair of these jeans mainly because they are not her style, due to that the jeans have rhinestones embedded into them and are very flashy. This style of jeans, she says, and Joanna also mentioned during her interview, are very rodeo-y, or glitzy country.

https://docs.google.com/a/wellesley.edu/file/d/0B5hzje8BkVYtNG9UQ3JZVmRtbXM/edit

However, Estefania’s considers her style to be more Tex-Mex, not only because of her nationality, but because of the region of Texas in which she lives. This red “reboso” which she showed me is like a scarf from Mexico, but is worn more so as a shawl, which helps in the cold and adds a little of her own style to her outfit; it brings a piece of home.

https://docs.google.com/a/wellesley.edu/file/d/0B5hzje8BkVYtV1ZicGQtNldlNUk/edit

Lastly, unlike Joanna, Estefania also showed me a bag/purse which she described as country. The bag’s big buckle is typical of country dress, and the color and material of the bag gives it a “rugged” look, which Estefania likes very much.

Keeping all of this in mind though, Estefania strongly felt that it was important to keep in mind that some parts of Texas, like the town where she lives, have become more rural and urban. As a consequence, she feels that the country style of dress is not as pronounced as in other parts of Texas, or other states like Wyoming. The style of dress is more prominently seen in ranching or farming culture, which she is not a part of. Nonetheless, she owns “country-style” clothes and knows how to dress country because she likes the style.