Dress Practice Interview

Description of interviewee:

Age: 19

Gender: Female

Occupation: Student

School: New York University

Major: Politics

Hometown: Hong Kong

Interests and Hobbies: Social Media, Music, Video Editing

Religion: Christian

Relationship: Friend

Personality: Social, Outgoing

 

 

Transcription of the Interview:

 

C: Cathy         I: Interviewee

(Translated from Cantonese to English)

 

C: What do you wear usually?

 

I:  I don’t actually know, it depends what I’m doing that day. I’ll dress nicer if I’m going to school, but if I’m just grabbing coffee from Starbucks, I’ll go out like this (in pajamas), it’s right downstairs. Wait, it’s more important as to who I’m meeting though, hahaha.

 

C: So, you will dress nicer when you are meeting your male friends right?

 

I: Is that even a question? Of course! *giggles* Hold on, I will stay anonymous right?

 

C: Yea, kind of. I won’t tell your name but there will be information about you, but say whatever you want, no one will know who you are. No one will have time to figure it out.

 

I: *Giggles* Great! (Pause) Do I need to show you each of my clothing? Introducing them?

 

C: No, you don’t have to, just pull out a few that you always wear and briefly explain why you always wear them. Like that jacket, I remember you always wear that one.

 

I: Oh, this one? Do I always wear this? Guess I’ll need to change it up a bit. It’s hard to say, it matches with most of my other clothes, well, most of the things are black and white. And I really like the red lining, it adds something to the entire look. And it’s perfect for these kinds of weather when it’s too cold to wear short sleeves but too hot to wear a coat.

 

C: What do you usually wear it with?

 

I: Anything high-waisted, either black skinny jeans or skirt. That’s all I wear, that’s my typical look you know?

 

(…)

 

C: Can you tell me more about how you get ready in the morning? Like what you first do when you wake up?

 

I: I woke up and head to the bathroom, brushing my teeth and washing my face and then make breakfast and eat and change.

 

C: How long does it take usually?

 

I: An hour and a half, an hour? I’m not sure. It depends if I’m showering in the morning or not, oh, and I also need to do my makeup before I leave, that’s a must.

 

C: I can’t believe you forgot about your makeup *giggles*. So how long does it take you to decide what you wear? Do you make the decision the night before?

 

I: Sometimes I do, but a lot of the times I will end up changing my decision, you know the weather is just too unstable. Well, it doesn’t take long for me to choose what to wear, it’s always those combinations. T-shirt and high-waisted jeans, this and high-waisted skirt, black on black most of the time.

 

C: You can’t forget about those heels. So, you are very quick when deciding your outfit.

 

I: Yea, I’ll say so, unless I’m dressing for some special occasions.

 

(…)

 

C: Wait, next question… How do you organize your closet? I can tell it is a lot cleaner than the last time I came here.

 

I: Yea, I just cleaned it a week ago! It was such a mess before, everything is piled up and it’s so hard to search for stuff I wanted to wear. You see this (the rack), I got it last week from Ikea, because I have so much clothes and that entire rod fell onto the ground.

 

C: Oh really? That’s why you put everything on the ground, is it fixed now?

 

I: Yea, I called the maintenance and they put it back together. I called them so many times this summer, first it was this and then the shades (…)

 

C: So, how did you organized it?

 

I: I hanged the jackets and dresses up on the hangers, and also those that gets wrinkles easily. And pants and skirts down here in the storage boxes, and t-shirts and other stuffs. And purses and handbags back here. Oh, and these are just clothes that I have worn but haven’t washed, and also to temporarily store clothes that cannot fit that rack.

 

C: That really a lot of clothes, I’m impressed how you managed to carry them all here!

 

I: I forgot to show you, I have another closet. (Brought me to another storage room) Here these are my winter coats! I know that’s a lot.

 

C: *Speechless* For a second, I was wondering about what you will wear in New York’s winter. But you really have a lot of coats! Do you wear all these?

 

I: Not all of them actually, sometimes *giggles*

 

(…)

 

C: I see you have a lot of clothes, but what percentage of the clothes here that you actually wear? I don’t think I have ever seen you wearing this dress before.

 

I: I guess 30%? 40%? Definitely less than half *giggles*. I used to wear the others, I just don’t wear them now.

 

C: Why don’t you wear the rest? Or at least you can just donate them away or sell them, I just sold a few of my clothing to a thrift shop a few days ago.

 

I: A lot of times I just throw them away, but you should bring me there later, if it’s not too far. (…) Some of these are too big, since a lose some weight after the contest, and some are just not in style anymore. Like this dress, it’s just too dressy, like you going to a ball or something, I can’t really wear it on a daily basis.

 

C: If it’s too big, why don’t you just get rid of it? You won’t gain weight back again, right? Hopefully.

 

I: *giggles* Yea, I should get rid of them. I hope I’ll never be able to wear those again, but I bought this in Italy with my mom and it’s so precious, maybe not this.

 

(…)

 

C: Do you feel like your style changed after you came to New York?

(Both of us went to the same college in Boston before we transferred here)

 

I: Yes, definitely. It changed a lot. You still remember we have the 8am classes and we all arrive in hoodies and sweatpants and slippers. Who have the time to care about what they wear in that college? In addition, there’s no actual need to dress nice in that school.

 

C: That’s true, but still, you were definitely the best dressed among all of us. You are the only one wearing heels, no one else wear heels. (…) How does your style now differ from before?

 

I: I became more aware of what I wear, and what is trending. I just have way more clothes than before, I can go shopping every day. I definitely wear clothes that make me look fitter and skinner, and taller I guess. And I dress more professionally than casually, I used to dress like I’m going to the gym every day.

 

(…)

 

C: I know you always wear black and is there a reason behind that?

 

I: Because I like it. Black is my favorite color, black color matches all the other black color items, it looks good on anyone.

 

C: Since when do you start wearing black?

 

I: When I was still in high school, three, four years ago. And all of a sudden, I just own more and more black color clothing and then I fell into this loophole and never came out again. But I think I am getting more colorful now, my wardrobe used to be entire black, you know it.

 

C:  Right, that was your typical look, I can recognize you from across town. *giggles* You do agree that wearing black makes you look cooler right?

 

I: Not really cooler but more mature I’ll say. People always thinks I look young, I think black makes me look older. It’s more like a color for adult and grownups.

 

C: Yea, you’re right. You never see a little kid wearing all black. (…) what does your mom think when you’re wearing all black? Because my mom does not like it, she thinks I should dress more youthfully since I’ll have plenty of chances to wear all blacks later in my life.

 

I: My mom doesn’t really mind me wearing all black, she says I look good in black. I guess I look slimmer in black. But she does tell me to wear mostly black but not totally black, because it looks like what I wear to a funeral. So, I always have a hint of red or gold on my shoes or bags.

 

 

Summary:

 

I visited my friend in her apartment which she shared it with her roommate, I chose my friend to be interviewed because she is one of the only few people that I know who is neither a New School student nor an art student. It is not my first time going to her apartment, but it is my first time going through her clothes in her walk-in closet.

I decided to make the interview more like a casual conversation than a formal interview, because it will be less awkward and more interesting. I first took some pictures of her closet and then we started the interview. Apart from the six questions mentioned above, I asked her about a few specific clothing she has that caught my attention. One of which is the colorful, vintage looking denim jacket that she has, I found it being a very odd piece to be in her closet. She then told me that she got the jacket last year, but she didn’t really get a chance to wear it even though she really likes the print on the jacket. She bought it because she was interested in the vintage style look and she wanted to give it a try, but she still isn’t too into the vintage trend. Then I shared my own experiences of impulse buying to her and realizing that both of us have a lot of clothes in the closet that we barely touched.

We then started talking about the purses and handbags she got since it occupies a large section in her closet. She shared with me that a lot of her purses are gifts from her parents when they were travelling. There are also some handbags that she seldom uses it, she finds that some designs look really cool but really hard to match it with an outfit. She shared with me a lot about how she got each clothing, the stories behind each dress. There is one that is especially remarkable. There is a dress she bought in Hong Kong, she tried it on in the store and it looks really good on her, but somehow when she went back home it looks like a completely different dress. And later she became aware that the mirror is concave that makes people look skinner, so she felt so betrayed and never wear that dress again.

After the interview, I realized that I learned a lot more about a person just through the clothes they have. I haven’t had such a meaningful conversation with my friend before, and I realized that we had gone off topic a few times, but I still think I have got most of what I need from the interview.