Degree Type
Honors Capstone Project
Date of Submission
Spring 5-1-2006
Capstone Advisor
Not Listed
Honors Reader
Not Listed
Capstone Major
Marketing
Capstone College
Management
Audio/Visual Component
no
Capstone Prize Winner
no
Won Capstone Funding
no
Honors Categories
Professional
Subject Categories
Arts Management | Marketing
Abstract
The purpose of this thesis is to answer the research question, does living in a more fashion-forward culture divergent from one’s own for an extended period of time cause that individual to emulate the style of dress of the divergent, more avant-garde culture? More specifically, this thesis embodies a review of literature that delves into two topical areas, sociology of dress and the history of London as a fashion capital to decipher if these areas under review can explain the transformation observed.
The primary research design was the use of descriptive research in the form of a self-administered, convenience, non-probability survey. The respondents were female students between the ages of 18 and 21 years old studying abroad inLondon,Englandfor the spring semester at the London College of Fashion.
Through analysis of the research conducted, it was found that 56.9% of those surveyed changed their style of dress after studying abroad in Londonfor three to four months, while 43.1% didn’t change at all. The data collected and analyzed indicates that 86.2% of those surveyed perceived their style of dress to be more avant-garde or \British at the completion of their semester abroad.
Conclusively, the majority of subjects who answered the research questions changed their style of dress. Scrutiny of the data also determined that the number of subjects who changed their style of dress compared to those whose did not equated to 13.7% more subjects proving that being in an avant-garde culture different from America has a considerable impact on style of dress.
Based on the research and the review of literature conducted by the author there are numerous theoretical reasons for the subjects’ drastic change in style of dress. One reason involves the role, the environment and in turn conformity plays in an individual’s style of dress and self perception. Another delves into the idea of self-monitoring in relation to ones’ self-confidence. Alternatively, the significance and rigidity of social class historically and its effect on dress in Americacompared to that of Great Britaincould have contributed to the shift in style of dress. Lastly, the fashionable image and the history of Londonand New Yorkas fashion capitals could have strongly impacted the dress and self-perception of the students surveyed. However, all of these plausible reasons require further research and added detail to the survey conducted to prove if they, in fact contributed to the drastic transformation in dress under discussion.
Recommended Citation
Wilson, Erin, "The London Experience: A Study in the Persuasiveness of Dress" (2006). Honors Capstone Projects - All. 628.
https://surface.syr.edu/honors_capstone/628
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