mispronouncing haute couture: a teacher’s journey through

Mispronouncing Haute Couture: A Teacher’s Journey through the Literacies of Fashion

By

Maria Teresa Leos, B.S., M.S.

A Dissertation

In

Curriculum and Instruction

Submitted to the Graduate Faculty

of Texas Tech University in

Partial Fulfillment of

the Requirements for

the Degree of

DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPY

Approved

Dr. Sally McMillan

Chair of Committee

Dr. Rene Saldana

Dr. Patricia Watson

Dr. Zane Curry

Mark Sheridan

Dean of the Graduate School

August, 2014

Texas Tech University, Maria Teresa Leos, August 2014

ii

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

For our narrotologists readers we might tell a story—perhaps a personal account

of how our relationship brought us into the space of these ideas. For

autoethnographers, we would face our account with glimpses into our particular

motives, desires, and fears. In contrast for the theoretically oriented we might

begin with a discussion of Althussier’s concept of interpellation, or Bahktin’s

ventriloquation. At the same time, we might wish to honor our academic mentors,

those guardians of intellectual conscience to whose many works we owe

considerable debt. (Gergen & Gergen, p. 12-13)

First, I want to thank my Maker, my Teacher, and my God for providing me this

opportunity and the staying power to reach this milestone. Often times the end of the

road appeared unreachable. However, I want to thank you, Father God, for walking with

me on this journey.

I also want to acknowledge my parents, Martin and Ophelia Leos, for believing in

me and providing me with financial and moral support, and constant prayer throughout

this process. To my twin Elena, brother-in-law David, and to my nieces Carisa and

Katelyn: Thank you for keeping me accountable and perpetually motivating me to keep

working despite my wanting to give up at times. Carisa and Katelyn, I can still hear your

little voices asking, “Tia, what chapter are you on now? How many pages have you

written?” To Aunt Socorro and Uncle Oscar: Thank you for being my kitchen table

audience on the numerous times I read you excerpts from this work.

To my Chair, Dr. Sally Mcmillan: I thoroughly enjoyed working with you. I

thank you for allowing me the freedom to try innovative approaches in telling my story


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and for perpetually encouraging me along the way. It was during our coffee shop visits

that I truly came to appreciate and value your creativity, expertise, and knowledge in

authoethnography. Your role as both facilitator and mentor was invaluable in all the

stages of writing this autoethnography.

Dr. Patricia Watson, I am deeply indebted to you for advising me throughout my

graduate courses and dissertation proposal and for fostering in me a love for reading

which I did not previously possess. From the beginning you have been a strong support.

You have also taught me to be a “gatherer and hunter” of articles, a skill which will be

most beneficial for future scholarship.

Dr. Rene Saldana, I thank you for serving on my committee. You have been an

inspiration to me as a Latino scholar and writer. I am always encouraged after reading

one of your novelas. Thank you for motivating us (your students) to be readers and

creative writers of narratives.

Dr. Zane Curry, it is a dream of mine come true to have you serve on this

dissertation committee. If you recall, you would have been my thesis Chair years ago,

had I pursued a Master’s degree in Fashion Design. Thank you for being a part of this

dissertation journey. You have been a true mentor, colleague, and friend.

To my dear friend and colleague and editor, Shirley Webb: Thank you for your

prayers, your late night editing, and your constant encouragement. You have been

gracious to “travel” with me and have been a tremendous help during this entire journey.

Finally, Dr. Lee Duemer, Dr. Richard Molina, and Dr. Elsa-Diego Medrano:

Thank you for your encouraging words and the many helpful dissertation tips you have

provided along the way.


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TABLE OF CONTENTS

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ................................................................................................ ii

TABLE OF CONTENTS ................................................................................................... iv

ABSTRACT ..................................................................................................................... viii

I. INTRODUCTION ........................................................................................................... 1

Background of the Problem ............................................................................................ 6

Problem Statement ........................................................................................................ 10

Research Questions ....................................................................................................... 10

Significance of the Study .............................................................................................. 11

Key Terms ..................................................................................................................... 12

Theoretical Framework ................................................................................................. 13

Assumptions .................................................................................................................. 15

Concluding Words ........................................................................................................ 15

II. REVIEW OF LITERATURE....................................................................................... 17

Reflective thinking ........................................................................................................ 17

Teacher Identity Research ............................................................................................. 22

Reflective Practice Studies ........................................................................................... 25

Professional Identity and Reflective Practice inthe Fashion/Creative Arts .................. 31

Multiliteracies Perspectives .......................................................................................... 38

Research on Teaching Fashion and Literacy ................................................................ 41

III. METHODOLOGY ..................................................................................................... 49

Background to the Study ............................................................................................... 50

Purpose of the study ...................................................................................................... 52

Autoethnography as Methodology ................................................................................ 52

Multiple Lenses ............................................................................................................. 54

Research Design............................................................................................................ 55

Data Sources ................................................................................................................. 56

Reflexive Journal .......................................................................................................... 57

Interviews ...................................................................................................................... 58

Student Artifacts ........................................................................................................... 61

Archival Data ................................................................................................................ 62


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Data Analysis ................................................................................................................ 63

Trustworthy Data .......................................................................................................... 65

Summary ....................................................................................................................... 67

IV. THE PRIOR SELF, THE PAST SELF, & THE PROSPECTIVE SELF ................... 68

The Prior Self ................................................................................................................ 69

Introduction to Literacy ............................................................................................ 69

Hello!! Scholastic Books!! ........................................................................................ 70

Struggling with Literacy ........................................................................................... 71

Summers at the Public library ................................................................................... 73

Dressing up Darcy..................................................................................................... 74

The Sewing Machine ................................................................................................ 75

Fashion Fundamentals .............................................................................................. 77

In a league of my own ............................................................................................... 78

Daring with Daisy Print ............................................................................................ 79

España La Moda ....................................................................................................... 80

Meeting Todd Oldham .............................................................................................. 83

AutoCAD Class ........................................................................................................ 84

The Senior Style Show.............................................................................................. 87

Cowboy Hats, Cowboy Boots, and Country Music .................................................. 89

A Graduate Student ................................................................................................... 90

Legally Blonde .......................................................................................................... 91

What is epistemology? .............................................................................................. 92

A Leap of Faith ......................................................................................................... 93

Lacking Luster and Literacy ..................................................................................... 94

Construction Basics .................................................................................................. 95

Learning the Fashion Lexicon .................................................................................. 96

Fashion Chemistry .................................................................................................... 97

Credible Designers .................................................................................................... 99

Softball and Fashion ................................................................................................. 99

A Fashion Literacy Classroom................................................................................ 100

Design Tour 2010 ................................................................................................... 101

Growing Pains: Teaching Portfolio Review .......................................................... 102

Transition from University to High School ............................................................ 103


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The Present Self .......................................................................................................... 104

The Genesis ............................................................................................................. 104

It’s More Than Just Vogue ..................................................................................... 105

Coco Chanel ............................................................................................................ 106

What is a maquiladora? ........................................................................................... 107

Celebrating Vogue: The Past, The Present, and The Future .................................. 108

The Prospective Self ................................................................................................... 109

Around the World in a Day ..................................................................................... 109

Fashion Forward ..................................................................................................... 110

Fashion Fiction and Forecasting ............................................................................. 111

A Pioneer in Fashion Literacy ................................................................................ 111

V. FINAL CONCLUDING THOUGHTS ...................................................................... 113

Personal Development in Fashion: Molding Identity and Pedagogy as Fashion

Instructor ..................................................................................................................... 114

Fear of Failure ......................................................................................................... 114

Perceptions of the Fashionista ................................................................................ 116

Fashion Design Struggles ....................................................................................... 117

Fashion Rigor: The Fashion Student is a True Polyglot ......................................... 118

Fashion Success ...................................................................................................... 119

Personal Development in Literacy: Molding Identity and Pedagogy as a Fashion

Instructor ..................................................................................................................... 120

Literacy as Inspiration............................................................................................. 120

Gaining Confidence in Literacy .............................................................................. 121

Fashion and Literacy Informing Teaching in the Fashion Collegiate Classroom ...... 122

Acknowledging Multiliteracies ............................................................................... 122

Innovation ............................................................................................................... 123

Improving Literacy in the classroom ...................................................................... 124

Literacy and Real World Application ..................................................................... 125

An Introspective Look: The Implications .............................................................. 126

Recommendations and Concluding Words ............................................................. 127

REFERENCES ............................................................................................................... 129

A. STUDENT INTERVIEW SCRIPT ............................................................................ 140

B. HISTORY OF AUTOETHNOGRAPHY .................................................................. 142


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C. DEFINING OF AUTOETHNOGRAPHY ................................................................. 144


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ABSTRACT

Popular media often characterizes individuals in the world of fashion design as

shallow, frivolous, and lacking intellect. Rather, a fashion designer’s job encapsulates

knowing the technical aspects of designing, as well as the literacies specific to the

discipline. In spite of this reality, fashion instruction emphasizes demonstrations at the

expense of attention to fashion literacy. Although research in the areas of multiple and

disciplinary literacy are prevalent in the current literature, little research on fashion

literacy is available. This autoethnography chronicles a fashion educator’s journey

towards reconceptualizing and integrating literacy instruction and critical thinking into

her instruction. The researcher engages in interactive interviews with her fashion

students to record how they experienced a literacy rich curriculum. The following

research questions were examined:

1. In what ways has my personal development in the world of fashion shaped my

identity and practice as a fashion instructor?

2. In what ways has my personal development in the area of literacy shaped my


3. In what ways has my development in these two disparate fields informed my

teaching in the collegiate fashion classroom?

Personal narratives, a reflexive journal, and instructional and personal artifacts were

collected as archival data. In addition, semi-structured and informal interviews were

conducted with former students. Data was analyzed by using a constant comparative

method to construct narratives and writing through inquiry in order to identify emerging

themes. The findings indicated that negative perceptions of fashion and fashion students


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prompted the author to include literacy-rich curriculum. However, the researcher

discovered that, in addition to their content areas, fashion students were well-versed in

multiple disciplines. Students mentioned they drew inspiration for their designer

collections from literacy texts and multi-literacy assignments. Fashion students further

mentioned the literacy assignments that were most instructive were those that applied real

world knowledge such as researching fabrics and textiles, learning the fashion

terminology, and writing paraphrased instructions for their construction notebooks.

Students identified the fashion instructor as a literate fashion professional who also

helped them to become literate professionals.


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CHAPTER I

INTRODUCTION

In this autoethnographic study, I examined the development of my own identity as

a fashion professional and instructor. Autoethnography is a genre of writing, often times

narrative, in which “texts are usually written in the first person and feature dialogue,

emotion, and self-consciousness as relational and institutional stories affected by history,

social structure, and culture” ( Holt, 2003, p. 2). As my narrative unfolds, it is my hope

that others will experience my journey with me. I have been deeply bothered and

affected, at times when family, friends, and others in my life have greatly underestimated

the intelligence and flexibility it takes to be successful in the field of fashion. My

students and I have experienced unfair judgment, and I want my students to transcend

these negative perceptions, and to be proud of their career choice in fashion as they grow

professionally. My students’ experiences, coupled with my own, propelled me to tell my

story through this narrative inquiry. I have been informed about my teacher identity

through retelling my narratives and interviewing students to determine how my using

literacy as a tool to teach fashion affected their learning.

I introduced this inquiry with a memory of the interplay between fashion and

literacy that occurred in my own undergraduate studies. Looking back at my

mispronunciation of haute couture, I realized that this particular incident was important

to both my professional and academic growth, and that explicit literacy instruction and

supports could strengthen students’ confidence and competence. Years later, as an


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instructor, I became more convinced of the wisdom in and effectiveness of merging my

worlds of fashion and literacy instruction.

I looked around the sterile fashion illustration laboratory. How ironic

that this place where I had learned the elements and principles of design was devoid of

color, graphics, or text. I then recalled the faces of my former classmates, their eyes full

of anticipation waiting to see who Dr. Drew would call next.

By now, my underarms were perspiring, as I had volunteered to be the last to

present. Last minute questions swarmed through my head as I waited my turn: Had I

forgotten to put on my deodorant? When was it going to be my turn? Had I completed the

style sheet for the bolero jacket with trinkets? What was my opening line? Why was I

worried about this presentation? I had researched my topic, I was wearing

the Spanish ensemble I designed, and I had prepared for this presentation. What could

possibly go wrong?

As I ran through the entire presentation in my head, Dr. Drew’s voice

interrupted… “Teresa Leos, we are ready to hear about España La Moda.” When I

heard Dr. Drew’s perfect Spanish as she introduced me, my apprehension ballooned.

How can this individual with Non-Latino roots pronounce my name so beautifully and

faultlessly?

The fact that she was my favorite professor, one who looked like Designer

Barbie and who always chose me to write the fashion show commentaries, put additional

pressure on me.

I knew this professor would expect me to present flawlessly!


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I took a deep breath and began the presentation with gusto: “España La Moda,

the Fashion of Spain, is a collection inspired by the traditional Spanish cultural

costuming and by my favorite designer, Christian Lacroix. I have chosen to exhibit this

designer grouping by embellishing each with contemporary flair.” I had all eyes on me.

I was confident and in the zone – that is, until I stumbled on pronouncing a key word in

the fashion lexicon: haute couture. I said, “Hot-tay Ko-sher, which means high

fashion.” I had just mispronounced haute couture! My face turned volcano red as Dr.

Drew quickly corrected me. I knew that if I were asked to do so, I would not be able to

elaborate on it either. I was even still wondering,” What Lacroix meant by high

fashion.”

Needless to say, the momentum I begin my presentation with had vanished. I

stuttered and stumbled my way through the rest of the presentation—the one I had

worked arduously to prepare.

I never expected this moment of humiliation to serve as a catalyst of inquiry, or

as life changing event that precipitated my journey as a literate fashion professional.

However, I need to provide a little more of my narrative as I discuss the genesis of my

journey of identity and my interest in fashion literacy. My dream had always been to…

Spend long hours incessantly rehearsing on a fashion runway underneath an

elephantine-sized canopy in Bryant Park; maneuvering through a maze of backstage

Vidal Sassoon hairstylists and make-up artists applying hair extensions, airbrushing faux

tans, or using the boldest MAC make-up products; and winding my way through

paparazzi- filled streets, waiting to shoot the latest trends and hoping to get a glimpse of


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the newest face in fashion—it all sounds so superficial and glamorous, but being a

fashion model was what I dreamt of pursuing after completing high school.

To my mind, high school had been a wasteland of useless information such as the

Pythagorean Theorem, the memorization of the prologue of The Canterbury Tales in Old

English, and the elements of the periodic table. I had earned countless 0’s on mechanic

grades for writing fragments and run on sentences in my English compositions, all of

which could have earned me a truly negative digit had it not been for the opportunity to

redeem my grade through resubmissions.

I wanted a career where I didn’t have to think so hard. I wanted a career that

would bring me instant fame. I wanted to be the next Tyra Banks, the next top model.

However, who was I kidding? At the height of 4’11 and a mere two inches above

dwarfism, who would hire me? Disappointed that I had to let go of my aspirations of

being a senior model on the cover of Vogue magazine, I began to focus on a more

suitable career. A career inventory I took in high school indicated that fashion was truly

in my blood when fashion design was highlighted as a perfect match and an ideal career

for me to pursue.

According to family and friends, I would be investing money in a discipline that

was perceived as frivolous, a waste of time, or simply a hobby. My sister often

characterized fashion design as less rigorous than other disciplines, particularly

business, which was her major. My parents were also concerned that I was wasting my

academic scholarship on a degree that would take me nowhere except to make me an

official member of The Starving Artist Club.


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The fall of 1989 was the nascence of my career as a fashion design student. I

chose a discipline that requires students to be prolific in the craft. In my neophyte stage,

I had never designed a garment except those, as a little third grader, I had cut and hand

stitched pieces of fabric to clothe my Barbie. My stick- figure drawing skills were

rudimentary in comparison to my colleagues, who illustrated like professionals. As a

seminal designer I began with the basics. I learned where the power switch to the sewing

machine was and how to properly sew a straight seam. I was learning how to decipher

patterns, to read specification sheets, to comprehend commercial and industry

measurements, to read design details in fashion illustrations, to construct apparel, to

illustrate, and to write trend and item analysis reports, to design fashion collections to

feature in local and state style shows, and to write commentary for style show

productions.

Without realizing it, I was gaining a deep conceptual knowledge of the fashion

discipline through reading about it, writing about it, talking about it, understanding it,

and doing it (McConachie & Petrosky,2006). I learned there is rigor and depth to

fashion design after sleepless nights working on projects, studying, writing designer

reports, and practically failing Fashion Fundamentals, a theoretical fashion course. My

preconceived notion that fashion design required little effort diminished after a year of

studying it. And—most important—I learned the essential role literacy plays in becoming

a successful designer.

Approximately fifteen years later, I began teaching fashion for a university. To

my dismay, the negative perceptions of fashion students had changed little in the interim.

My students complained that friends and peers tended to label them as intellectual


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lightweights. I asked my students what their friends were saying about their majoring in

fashion design. One of them replied, “ My friends say,’ All you do is shop all day.’” I

looked up at my audience of 70 students, and many were nodding in agreement. I was

disappointed in what I heard. I wanted to understand and look at the reasons or factors

for such stereotyping.

BACKGROUND OF THE PROBLEM

Popular media often characterizes individuals in the world of fashion design— or

the discipline as a whole— as shallow, frivolous, lacking intellect, trivial, absent-minded

and ridiculous (Bernard, 1996; Griffiths, 2000; Niessen & Brydon, 1998; Yuniya, 2005).

Historically, fashion has been ignored, neglected, and even scorned by scholars as a

subject unworthy of research. Apparently fashion and/or clothing as subjects for research

have not always been accepted in social science disciplines. It was considered a topic

with no content and bearing no intellectual elements (Yuniya, 2005). Other reasons why

fashion has been treated with such disdain among those in academe is that it is linked

with external ornamentation of women (Yuniya, 2005). At the turn of the 20th century,

women were considered spectacles in their garish garments, yet, they still remained

culturally invisible (Niessen & Brydon, 1998). Despite several attempts by researchers

(Griffiths, 2000; Niessen & Brydon, 1998; Yuniya, 2005), to bring integrity to the

discipline, the stigma of fashion as a ridiculous and a trivial pursuit still existed (Bernard,

1996). Fashion has also often been portrayed as a trade profession rather than an

intellectually stimulating one, primarily because the focus in fashion is on the product

rather than the process.


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In reality, the scions of fashion possess more depth than their stereotypical

portrayals. One of the major forces of fashion, Ian Griffiths, designer for Max Mara and

chair of London Fashion School, is one of the few who has spoken in eloquent defense of

his profession:

Students of fashion, so frequently labeled as shallow and frivolous, are required to

be polyglots, able to inform their understanding from texts using language and

ideas of anthropology, social, cultural, economic and art history, literature,

sociology, psychoanalysis, psychology, semiotics, structuralism, Marxism,

feminism, and others.(pp. 73-74)

Griffiths (2000) also stated that the fashion expert is multidimensional. Griffiths (2000)

opined that there has been a negative label placed on fashion design students, a label that

has been wrongfully categorized without consideration of what a designer is capable of

achieving, especially through the use of texts. Contrary to belief, the fashion student is

more than a glamorous spectacle, a shopper, a seeker of inspiration through fashion

magazines, or an illustrator of apparel on paper dolls. The fashion student is expected to

be a researcher and writer (Shreeve, Bailey & Drew, 2004). A fashion design student’s

job encapsulates knowing the technical aspects of designing, as well as the literacies

specific to the discipline.

For example, one characteristic of a fashion designer is the ability to create

dialectical images (Evans, 2000). French designer and former couturier for Christian

Dior—John Galliano—is a fashion exemplar known for expressing these dialectic images

through his eclectic historical pastiches (Evans, 2000). In seasonal fashion shows,

Galliano is known for randomly juxtaposing historical fashion collections of costumes


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featuring Marie Antoinette, Empress Theodora, and Queen Isabella of Bavaria, by

displaying them side by side on the runway (Evans, 2000). Galliano confirms that

designers are required to read and research as a part of the design process in order to

produce their fashion collections: “Creative research is the secret or trick which

underlines all original design“(Seivewright, 2007, p. 7). Research is a vital tool, a

journey, the initial investigation, that can take weeks and eventually months to collate, as

the design process unfolds and a designer’s creative vision is unveiled, “as well as a

narrative to a collection” (Seivewright, 2007, p.7).

Only recently, however, has fashion aligned with the social sciences as a

respected research genre, and writing about it has gained some measure of credibility

(Niessen & Brydon, 1998). Due to this fairly recent paradigm shift, there is still little

research on design literacy, particularly fashion literacy. Research that explores what

this paradigm shift can mean for fashion instructors, in terms of their pedagogic

philosophies and professional identities, is almost non-existent. Therefore, my own

story—of a fashion instructor whose professional journey led her to see the need for

incorporating literacy instruction in the design class—holds the potential to provide

valuable insights for fashion design instruction.

The most common approach used to teach fashion is strictly through

demonstration. At first, my classroom teaching mirrored that of my apparel design

colleagues. I would demonstrate a task to my students and then ask them to repeat it,

requiring very little introspection as to how the learning process was occurring or with

few references to the instructional texts.


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Later, however, I challenged these conventions by including literacy teaching

strategies. I came to concur with Austerlitz and James (2008) who opined, “It is argued

that critically reflecting, from concept through process to final production, is an

inescapable part of designing, innovating and making” fashion (p. 209). Guthrie,

Wigfield, Humenick, Perencevich, Taboada, and Barbosa (2006) posited that stimulating

tasks are hands-on approaches such as laboratory activities, experiments, projects which

should be used conjointly with reading the content so that students are motivated to

engage in their texts. Through their engagement of authentic learning, students are better

able to comprehend what they read and to construct their understanding from these texts.

As a fashion instructor, I began to evolve from one who taught solely by

demonstrations, as demanded by my supervisor, to someone who grew bold enough to

challenge these practices. I had overheard conversations referring to the frivolous

fashionista, and at times—to my chagrin—I had been no exception to those who held

these assumptions. As I reflected on those three years of collegiate teaching, I questioned

whether I had been successful at teaching the content, engaging my students, and

incorporating literacy into the fashion curriculum. Had my inclusion of literacy in the

pedagogy benefitted my students in learning fashion? Were my students perceived as

frivolous fashionistas? Were we demanding reading and writing as rigorous as other

disciplines? Were my students learning to be literate professionals? Who was I as a

fashion literate instructor? Was I meeting students’ literacy needs as I taught the fashion

pedagogy?


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PROBLEM STATEMENT

Even within the fashion field itself, there is little understanding of the many areas

of knowledge and responsibility that are integrated into the lives and work of fashion

professionals. The widespread stereotype of the “frivolous fashionista” has not only

impacted how fashion education is viewed, but it has also negatively informed the self-

concepts of both students and instructors alike within higher education majors such as

fashion design. Mired in a negative perception of fashion design and education, it is

difficult for instructors to adequately prepare students to be confident and literate

professionals, to challenge restrictive instructional traditions, and to fully develop as

fashion design educators. Understanding of the role that attention to literacy strategies

can play within the professional growth of fashion students and preparation is limited.

RESEARCH QUESTIONS

My story of identity construction, reform, and development stemmed from the

conversations that questioned the academic legitimacy of the fashion discipline, that is,

the restrictive tradition that demands teaching fashion design through demonstration

rather than incorporating texts and literacy strategy. The fact that I had mispronounced

haute couture as a student and have since required students to research the subject, my

decision to foster students’ becoming literate fashion professionals, and my belief in the

need to advocate for literacy led me to this inquiry. While the heart of this study lies on

writing identity, to some extent is it based on foundations of multiliteracy. Through this

autoethnographic study involving interactive interviews with students, I answered and

was guided by the following research questions:


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1. In what ways has my personal development in the world of fashion shaped my


2. In what ways has my personal development in the area of literacy shaped my


3. In what ways has my development in these two disparate fields informed my

teaching in the collegiate fashion classroom?

SIGNIFICANCE OF THE STUDY

Professors in higher education or educators in a K-12 classroom who are adopting

new pedagogical practices or are looking for innovative approaches to reinvent their

teaching practices may find reading this teacher journey to be informative. It will

advocate reflection for others, who like myself, need to take responsibility for their

own pedagogical practices. It will benefit instructors who need guidance on

approaches for reflective practice. Fashion Design departments, particularly those

who need to see the importance of reconceptualizing fashion design instruction, may

find this study to be of relevance, as well as those departments who need to rethink

how they teach the fashion vernacular and content to their students. Also, this study

is significant to educators who need insights regarding how to assist their students in

constructing identities as literate, confident professionals. It will help fashion design

students, as well as students from other fields, to comprehend the importance of

learning the literacies specific to their respective disciplines. Furthermore, students

will benefit from this study as they understand the concept of being proficient users of

their respective lexicon in order to become credible professionals in their field of

knowledge.


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KEY TERMS

For the purpose of my study, I included some operational definitions for the readers’

clarification:

Autoethnography: A qualitative methodology in which the researcher becomes a data

source along with the research participants.

Content Area Literacy: Literacy specific to a content area of study.

Disciplinary Literacy: Literacies that are used within a particular discipline and which

require a specific lexicon.

Disciplinary Vocabulary: Terminology that is particular and specific to one academic

arena.

Fashionista: Marketing term that is used to describe a fashion expert or fashion

aficionado.

Fashion collection: Garments grouped together with a common theme.

Fashion Literacy: Literacies and vocabulary specific to fashion.

Haute Couture: Custom designed apparel that is labor intensive and tailored with high-

end fabrics and accessories. It is the oldest form of designing and making clothing,

exclusive to Paris, France.

Multiliteracies: Out-of-school literacies which are engaging to students.

Reflexive Journal: A journal that includes the researcher’s or participant’s introspective

thoughts.

Stimulating tasks: Hands-on activities such as experiments, projects, laboratory activities

that are used in tandem with texts.


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Triangulation: The process of using three or more data sources to insure trustworthy

data.

THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK

Through this journey of seeking identity as a part of the fashion culture,

particularly how the construction of a personal and professional identity has informed an

instructor’s pedagogical practices using content area literacy approaches to teaching, a

story is told. Therefore, my dissertation is grounded in both narrative and personal

identity theoretical perspectives drawn primarily from four theorists to inform my

thinking: Heewon Chang (2008), George Kelly (1955), Laurel Richardson (2000), and

William Pinar (1976).

Chang (2008) argued that although self has been perceived differently in disparate

time periods and cultures, what has remained constant is that self has been reliably

connected to others in regard to culture. For this reason, I have chosen to write my story

from multiple perspectives that include my past, my present, and my future and to

interweave my story with that of my students by noting what was mentioned in their

interactive interviews and incorporating it into my narrative. I also adopted Kelly’s

(1955) Personal Construct Theory (PCT). He suggested that individuals reflect on their

personal achievements in order to derive what are the most significant and pivotal

moments of life.

Richardson (2000), a feminist writer, advocated that research should stem from

one’s own experiences and used her personal knowledge and stories to assist with the

research process (Ellis, 2004; Richardson, 2002). She averred that much qualitative

research, with its passivity in terms of authored voice and passive subjects, is uninspiring


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and needs to be enlivened text relevant and engaging to its intended audience.

Richardson further averred that this can be achieved by writing as inquiry. Through

writing as inquiry (Richardson, 2000), it is my intent that my personal narrative will tell

the story of how my professional identity was constructed—a story I hope readers will

gain knowledge from, as well as resonate with some of my personal experiences.

Through the adoption of Pinar’s (1975) Currere, an approach of retelling events

and “writing from a biologic basis,” I chose to articulate my story with reflections of the

past, the present, and the future (p.7). Pinar (1975) described his biographical account as

one that was linear yet multi-dimensional. Pinar further observed that if events in his life

were charted and written as a timeline there was coherence in his story, and while it may

not have been an analytical story, it was one that had been experienced nonetheless.

As a data source, Pinar (1975) wrote and recorded every one of his experiences

pertaining to his research topic despite how esoteric or unrelated the information may

have appeared to be to the topic at hand. In this manner he could encapsulate a holistic

approach that was multi-dimensional in nature and could move his biography to another

vantage point if he deemed necessary (Pinar, 1975). Staying in alignment with Pinar’s

Currere (1976), this study includes three sections: The Prior Self, The Present Self, and

The Prospective Self. In The Prior Self, I ruminated on my past as a student, learning

what it means to be literate; and, as a fashion student, learning new knowledge and the

literacies that were specific to fashion design. The Prior Self also included my

experiences as a Language and Literacy graduate student and as a fashion instructor

striving to teach students content area literacy, specifically the literacies pertaining to


15

fashion. In The Present Self, I told stories pertaining to my current position as Family

Consumer Sciences Educator who started a fashion program at the local high school.

Finally, in the Prospective Self, I reflected on how I imagine myself as a future scholar

and what I have learned as a fashion literate professional striving to improve my

pedagogy. All of these theoretical perspectives served as a guide for how my story

unfolds.

ASSUMPTIONS

A basic assumption of this research was that I would be able to conduct this study

in good faith with three of my former students. I also assumed that my findings would

affirm my identity as a fashion literate instructor and confirm the importance of literacy

in fashion. Furthermore, I assumed that throughout this study my perspective of those in

fashion as literate polyglots would be confirmed. I was convinced that autoethnography

was the best methodological approach to reveal my findings of my study, and the best

means by which to record my journey from student of fashion to an instructor of fashion.

Finally, I anticipated learning a great deal through examining my personal journey and

through noting my students’ perceptions of me as an instructor and an advocate of

literacy in fashion.

CONCLUDING WORDS

While the need for heightened awareness of scholarship integral to fashion design

exists for those outside of the fashion profession, the need is even more significant for

those within it. Fashion design students need a strong sense of professionalism and

instruction that explicitly attends to literacy strategies and points to literacy involved in


16

conventional methods or multiliteracy which can improve design education. Such

explicit literacy instruction can also inform students’ professional identities in positive,

long lasting ways. My own story and systematic observation point to quiet yet important

connections between students’ literacy experiences in fashion design coursework,

students’ self-concepts and competence, and the larger reputation of fashion design.

This journey has compelled me to take ownership of the investigation of my own

teaching practices, to discuss the importance of literacy in fashion design instruction, and

to examine my professional growth as both a teacher and literate fashionista. Essential to

making meaning of identity were the following: (1) my reflexive journal, (2) student and

personal artifacts, and (3) semi-structured interviews. To construct my teacher identity, I

incorporated narrative and personal identity theoretical perspectives as well as a

conceptual framework pertaining to self. Autoethnography is the methodology of choice

for my particular study. The journey and my research have culminated in my firm

resolve to make literacy an integral part of the fashion pedagogy.

The following is an outline of my study: Chapter One includes an introduction of

the study, Chapter Two is the Review of Related Literature, and Chapter Three includes

the Methodology. Chapter Four is an autoethnography written in narrative format,

particularly as a reflexive journal chronicling my past, my present, and my future.

Finally, Chapter Five is a narrative including the findings, discussions, conclusions,

implications, recommendations, and significance of the study.


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CHAPTER II

REVIEW OF LITERATURE

This review of literature includes multiple sections of related literature which are

specific to this narrative inquiry. The literature begins with definitions and the overall

concept of reflective thinking. Then the literature proceeds to focus on teacher identity

research highlighting both secondary and higher education professionals investigating

their professional identities. The subsequent section, Reflective Practice Studies, is

devoted to educators who are reflecting on their current pedagogical practices in order to

perfect them. The research becomes more specific to the study and highlights

professional identity and reflective practice in fashion and the creative arts. Another

section provides research on multiliteracies, unconventional content-area literacy

approaches to teaching literacy that require out-of school literacies to engage students. It

is one of the literacy approaches used by the researcher. Finally, the concluding section

is dedicated to research on teaching fashion and literacy.

REFLECTIVE THINKING

In order to study the development of teacher identity and current instructional

practices, reflection on one’s personal development and past pedagogical practices is

fundamental. Within the past ten to fifteen years, a plethora of commissions,

foundations, educational boards, and school districts across the state and nation have

recognized reflective inquiry as an important aspect of learning that both educators and

students alike should strive toward (Rogers, 2002). Rogers (2002) wrote that “thinking,

particularly reflective thinking or inquiry, is essential to both teachers’ and students’


18

learning” (p. 842). Reflection is instrumental for practitioners because it affords them the

opportunity to investigate and approach the following areas they may find problematic:

modifying unfamiliar content; valuing the disparate perceptions of students and others;

comprehending other’s perceptions of the educator; dealing with work stress and its

impact on personal life; and “how to counteract seemingly given social, cultural, and

political structures” (Bolton, 2010, p. 4). With the use of improved self-reflection,

university practitioners can also address their actions, practices, inherent theories,

espoused theories, and theories already in practice (Herzog, 2004). While reflection is

initiated by the educator, reflective thinking is a process that affects the lives of both

educators and those around them, particularly the students; therefore, reflection should be

explicitly taught and facilitated (Bolton, 2010).

Autoethnographical studies pertaining to teacher and professional reflective

journeys, as well as overall reflective practice studies, have burgeoned in the past decade

(Chang, 2008; Ellis & Bochner, 2000; James, 2007; Rogers & Scott, 2007). This

research genre includes personal writing—also known as life writing, personal narrative,

and life testimonial (Kadar, 1992)—which is a current trend in multiple research areas

(Granger, 2011). Ellis and Bochner (2000) promoted autoethnography as a cathartic,

reflective approach (Ellis & Bochner, 2000) to address pedagogical changes or the

growth of one’s professional identity. Chang (2008) noted this proliferation of auto-

ethnographic articles and self-research studies, noting that “the growing popularity of

contemporary self-narratives rides on the back of postmodernism that values voices of

common people, defying the conventional authoritative elitism of autobiography” (p.32).


19

James (2007) also highlighted the fact that notable researchers such as John

Dewey and Donald A. Schon have made substantial contributions to the study of

reflective practice. A former attorney convert- teacher, Malcolm Combe (2013),

underscored the popularity of Dewey and Schon and their contributions to reflection:

“The importance of reflection in learning has been espoused or implicitly acknowledged

by other thinkers and teachers such as Dewey, Schön, Race, Brockbank and McGill”

(p.1). Dewey, in particular, revolutionized reflective practice. As a matter of fact,

“feedback thinkers” modeled their work after that of Dewey (Schon, 1992). Dewey

(1933) valued reflection, encouraged it, and considered it a “road to learning” (Rogers,

2002, p 850). He considered reflection as “active, persistent, and careful consideration of

any belief or supposed forms in the light of the grounds that support it and the future

conclusions to which it tends” (p. 7). Dewey was a firm believer in schools which

encouraged educator thinkers to ruminate on their current school and life experiences

(Simpson, 2006). Dewey further held schools responsible for fostering reflective

practices in students so that they would continue to grow professionally, post-graduation

(Simpson, 2006). Not only did Dewey promote reflection as an educational goal, he

further averred that it should be a means of teaching (Simpson, 2007), that educators

should consider and review their current teaching practices as well. In other words,

teachers should also be reflecting on what is being “read, studied, heard, discussed, seen,

and taught” (Simpson, 2006, p. 21) in their respective classrooms.

Rodgers (2002) observed that while reflective thinking is clearly what educators

should achieve, the term reflection has “suffered a loss in meaning” during the past

fifteen years, and that a definitive systematic approach to reflection is ambiguous (p.


20

843). Dewey is said to have filled the void by providing the most fundamental definition

for reflection and a systematic approach for educators to follow, which—in contrast—

has been missing in contemporary literature (Rogers, 2002). In John Dewey: Peter Lang

Primer, Douglas J. Simpson (2006) quoted John Dewey’s definition of reflection as an

“active, persistent, and careful consideration of any belief or supposed form of

knowledge of the light of the grounds that support it and the further conclusions to which

it tends” (p.22). Reflective thinking involves the feedback process, described as a

“recursive cycle that involves invention, observation, reflection, and action” (Sterman,

1994, p.294).

While Dewey is acknowledged with the nascence of reflective thinking in

education, Schon also made improvements to research pertaining to reflective practice.

Schon’s work historically founded and traditionally supported by Dewey’s research,

envisioned learning as largely dependent on experience and reflection within practice and

theory as that which should inform one’s practices (Imel, 1992). Schon, who applied

Deweyan concepts in other fields, also stimulated interest in reflection in that he provided

tenets for professionals to follow while they reflect so that they can improve their current

practices in their working environments (McAlpine & Weston, 2000). According to

Schon, educators can participate in reflection-in-action, a rumination that is “continuous

or synchronous” with teaching. In other words, reflection-in-action is reflection that

occurs concurrently while an educator is teaching (McAlpine &Weston, 2000, p. 365;

Schon, 1983, 1987). Combe (2013) credited Schon’s reflective paradigm as “[bringing]

an almost unknowing professional artistry to bear and effectively think on the spot while

engaging with a brand new problem” (p. 1).


21

Other interpretations and definitions of reflective practice have been offered by

researchers such as Osterman and Kottkamp (1993), who defined this process as a means

for educators to become self-aware of their overall performance as an educator while

seeking opportunities for growth through continual professional developmental

opportunities. In Reflective Practice for Educators (2004), the authors described the

process of reflective practice as “challenging, demanding, and often trying” (Osterman &

Kottkamp, 1993). With reflective practice, the educator must make a conscious effort to

pinpoint the problem. This can feel unnatural to the educator, particularly when the

practitioner is investigating their own pedagogical practices and may uncover

problematic teaching areas during the reflection process (Osterman & Kottkamp, 1993).

Nevertheless, it is during reflective practice that educators can identify problems, analyze

them, and find solutions for them (Kumaravadivelu, 2001).

Researchers Camburn (2010) and Rogers (2002) recognized that during the

adoption of new pedagogical practices, educators should be involved in professional

development or the practice of active reflection. In fashion education, the Personal

Construct Theory (PCT) was employed to encourage professional reflection. The PCT is

an identity theory that requires individuals to reflect on their own personal achievements

in order to construct meaning as to what is most significant in their own personal and

professional growth (Kelly, 1955). Adopted by fashion professors and instructors at the

London College of Fashion, this theory was translated into a reflective thinking approach

so that students could monitor their own academic achievement (James, 2007). The

findings indicated that fashion students preferred using journals to provide reflective

statements; however, they wanted explicit instruction on how to write these reflections.


22

Other students reported they believed the learning log or journals to be more instrumental

to the fashion instructors. When asked to define Personal Professional Development

(PPD), the majority of students defined it as holistic learning that encompasses both

personal and professional growth of individuals. Reflective practices also contribute to

matters of teacher and student identity. The subsequent section is dedicated to teacher

research and reflective practice studies.

TEACHER IDENTITY RESEARCH

What is identity? How does it differ from professional identity? According to

Mead (1934) identity formations occur depending upon an individual’s social contexts

and the stages of life an individual experiences. Erickson (1968) emphasized that the

term identity has many constructs and to define it in one definitive statement would be a

disservice:

Identity and identity crisis have in popular and scientific usage become terms

which alternately circumscribe something so large and so seemingly evident that

to demand a definition would seem so petty, while at other times they designate

something so narrow for purposes of measurement that the overall meaning is

lost, and it could just as well be called something else. (p.15)

Erickson (1968) named identity as something that is not possessed but is perpetually

developing throughout one’s lifetime. There are important maturation stages that occur

during identity construction, particularly during adolescence and young adulthood.

What is understood is that identity formation is not an overnight epiphany. It takes a

lifetime to discover one’s self. It is through reflective practice that one can better


23

understand the nuances of self, whether one is examining their personal and social

identity or their professional identity.

Studies on teacher identity have increased in the last decade (Beijard, Meijer, &

Verloop; 2004). Considerable research (Beijard et al., 2004; Day, 2007; Palmer, 1997;

Rogers, 2002) has revealed that a teacher’s personal life, such as events and experiences,

are intimately interconnected with that of their professional performance. A teacher’s

biographical account is imperative in conceptualizing their identity: it is particularly

instrumental during the process of identity formation (Beijard et al., 2004). While there

is no explicit definition offered for teacher identity, it is a term that stemmed from

professional identity. In teacher identity studies (Beijard et al., 2004),the term

professional identity is defined as a teacher’s perceptions of their role within their

profession as well as perceptions of themselves within their occupational culture.

In his book, The Heart of a Teacher: Identity and Integrity in Teaching, Parker

Palmer (1997) best described the substantial role that teacher identity plays in teaching

students: “Face to face with my students, only one resource is at my immediate

command: my identity, my selfhood, my sense of this “I” who teaches—without which I

have no sense of the “thou” who learns” (p.1). Palmer (1997) advocated one simple

premise: “good teaching cannot be reduced to technique; good teaching comes from the

identity and integrity of the teacher” (p.1).

Dahlin’s (1994) study revealed that teacher journals can act as vehicles for

problem solving, a means for reflection, and a record— justifying innovative classroom

practice—all of which inform professional identity. Margaret, the teacher participant of

the study, had established her identity as a teacher who was “compassionate, fun and


24

clear” (p.1). Her identity and insights had evolved through the act of reflective

journaling. What is especially interesting about Dahlin’s study is that it also

demonstrated that not only was Margaret’s teacher identity constructed through reflective

journaling, but it was also established through her attention to the identities of her

students. It was Margaret’s practice to take the opportunity to know her students on a

personal and professional level, providing structured teaching to her students, yet

allowing for autonomy in the classroom. Dahlin (1994) explicitly described how

Margaret would undergo a process of reflection-in-action by setting goals for herself.

She then relied upon what those classroom reflections revealed to perfect her teaching

practices. Her professional journal, a conduit for writing her daily practices, her

reasoning, and her current reactions about what occurred in class informed her reflection.

In her journal entry, Margaret would outline the possibilities of outcomes to situations

and issues in her classroom. Dahlin’s findings point to the idea that all teachers should

practice reflection. This study also suggested that reflective practice was accomplished

through personal reflective journaling about teaching practices, about reactions to

classroom occurrences, and about planning lessons and goal setting. This study also

revealed the importance of classroom teachers conducting reflective practices that

involve action research in order to justify instructional practices that work in the

classroom, and to claim the knowledge teachers legitimately possess. This finding

emphasized the importance of developing a positive teacher identity.

In order to provide insights for both himself and others regarding his shifting

professional identity as a principal, Carl Henry Dethloff (2005) generated and analyzed

his “personalized accounts of the complexities, interpretations, and reflections of a


25

principal in transition from one elementary school to another elementary school in the

same district” (p.iii). Dethloff (2005) learned that identity transition is a cyclical process

as he himself underwent changes while putting together a system for his school. Thus, it

is by being reflective practitioners that teachers and those in the profession of education

can conceptualize their professional identities.

REFLECTIVE PRACTICE STUDIES

While the vast majority of teacher identity studies concern pre-service educators,

there is very little existing research (Dahlin, 1994; McAlpine & Weston, 2000:

Wlodarsky, 2005) that confirms the habit of reflective instruction as effective for higher

education professors and instructors, as well as veteran public school educators.

Wlodarsky (2005) explored research that supported the importance and necessity of

reflective practice in professional development programs for both college faculty and for

K-12 teachers (p. 3). A later report by Wlodarsky and Walters (2007) indicated that

professors and educators may or may not reform their current practices to befit students’

needs. Further, they noted that the process of reflective practice is multi-dimensional and

does include subtle skills that can be taught and learned. Thus, there is a definite

connection between self-reflection of college faculty on pedagogical practices as

dynamism for reform in educational beliefs and practices (Wlodarsky, 2005).

In his dissertation, A Mathematics Teacher’s Journey of Identity Construction and

Change, Anthony Stinson (2009) provided a personalized account of what it is like to

teach math using reflective teaching practices, in contrast to recitation, the more

conventional and dominant form of instruction in the mathematics discipline. Stinson

(2009) declared, “This dissertation is about a journey of change in instruction fostered by


26

a change of identity as a mathematics teacher” (p.ii). With the standards-based

movement and discourse calling for much needed reform in mathematics, Stinson (2009)

wanted to improve his teaching, the impetus for this particular research study. Stinson

noted that initially his teaching mirrored that of his mathematics colleagues. He gave his

students mathematical equations on the board, assigned homework from textbooks,

required students to ask questions regarding previous day assignments, and reworked the

mathematical equations students found to be problematic (Stinson, 2009). However,

Stinson eventually began to see this traditional pedagogical approach to be ineffective for

his students.

Stinson’s research is significant because it spotlighted a teacher who took

ownership over improving his teaching practices and who took the time to record the

process of his metamorphosis. Drawing from identity theory, Stinson noted that

reflection was essential to improved instruction because teacher identity is “a state of

being” and one that is perpetually forming yet recognizable (Stinson, 2009). In

particular, Stinson (2009) noted that the process of autoethnography afforded him the

opportunity to take an introspective look and obtain a deeper meaning of self. Stinson

was also able to articulate the process of constructing his identity and the pedagogical

changes that occurred during the course of the research. Stinson (2009) used memory,

videotaped lessons, student commentary, and a reflexive journal as supportive data

sources to construct narratives for his study. His findings indicated that a teacher’s

identity can be interwoven by multiple characteristics that at times work concurrently

with one another. Furthermore, Stinson’s (2009) findings underscored the importance of

teacher’s considering varying learning styles and the fact that teaching conceptually, as


27

well as the mathematical computations can benefit student learning in math. Though

changing one’s practices to meet student needs can be a rigorous, Stinson (2007) proved

that it can be successful, and that the process can be given a voice by writing about it

through narrative inquiry.

Another voice for educational reform with connections to teacher identity was

Dethloff (2005). The focus of Dethloff’s study concerned a principal who updated his

practice as an administrator by reflecting on past experiences. With the demands of

accountability in student achievement during a time of standards-based reform, Dethloff

(2005) argued that principals should be fully aware of the complexities of their positions.

He insisted that they must be multi-faceted in organizational and instructional leadership

because their job encapsulates teaching, managing, and supervising both students and

faculty. According to Dethloff (2005), “Individuals cannot be properly prepared for the

role of principal in the 21st century if they do not completely understand the conditions

and demands surrounding the position” (p.6). The roles they would be asked to play, the

professional identity they would need to develop, in tandem with transitioning to a new

school, could be overwhelming for any principal trying to make the shift (Dethloff,

2005).

Dethloff’s (2005) autobiographical research provided insights regarding teacher

reflection. He opined that instruction requires particular reflective behaviors. For

instance, there were certain behaviors he expected of his staff, which he considered to be

non-negotiable criteria: (1) all learners would be provided with meaningful learning; (2)

staff members would treat all students, parents, peers with respect; (3) adults and children

would be provided with opportunities to learn; and (4) all decisions made would be


28

handled with integrity and courtesy and for the betterment of student learning. Thus, the

Stinson (2009) and Dethloff (2005) studies indicated that the implementation of

structured reflective practice contributed to content area instruction in a way that enabled

the educator or those in administration to reflect on what was working and where reform

was needed; how to adapt instruction and school environment to fit the needs of their

students; and how to make learning relevant. Their research (Dethloff, 2005; Stinson,

2009) included narratives of individuals who took ownership in their effort to become

more dynamic educators and leaders of their classroom and campus. It is only by being

fully immersed in our subculture that we can completely understand it.

Reflection on feelings and experience, two influential factors in the construction

of knowledge, are instrumental to learning and can result in reformative instructional

practices (McAlpine & Weston, 2000). The authors’ (2000) research was based on

exemplary professors and their views of reflection as it related to their teaching. Their

research participants were selected based on their excellent teaching, which determined

by the following: numerous accolades, positive student course evaluations, peer

recommendations, minimum of ten years’ teaching experience, and having taught a

course for multiple semesters. The authors provided a complete analysis of the reflective

processes of six university professors, including their daily planning and pedagogical

practices. According to McAlpine and Weston (2000), reflection is a process that can

occur before, simultaneously, retroactively, and asynchronously to instruction.

When the analysis was complete, McAlpine and Weston (2000) held a

symposium with the exemplary professors to provide feedback based on their analysis.

Their findings indicated that the exemplary professors knew and understood their


29

students as a community of learners, as well as individually. Furthermore, the professors

relied heavily on experiential knowledge, knowledge that is based on previous

experiences to monitor or adapt pedagogical decisions (McAlpine & Weston, 2000). It

was also discovered that the professors formulated decisions based on “tacit knowledge,”

ie., knowledge based on feelings and not taken from a specific principle or drawn from

experiences (McAlpine & Weston, 2000, p. 373). Using these forms of knowledge, the

professors were able to construct goals, to fashion lesson plans, to monitor student

learning, and to foster reform by modifying curriculum (McAlpine & Weston, 2000).

Beijaard, Verloop, and Vermunt (2000) conducted a study which differed from

the previous studies. They looked primarily at identity perceptions of veteran secondary

teachers, all the while focusing on these teachers’ prior and current perceptions about

teaching. Unlike previous researchers, they examined this issue as separate from a study

of their reflective practices. The authors postulated that a teacher’s perception of

professional identity affects their self-efficacy and professional development, as well as

their disposition to change and to implement innovative teaching pedagogy (Beijaard et

al., 2000).

According to Beijaard et al. (2000), the term identity in the teaching profession

refers to the teachers’ expertise in subject matter, pedagogy, and didactic discourse. The

authors (Beijaard et al., 2000) define teacher as a subject expert, teacher as a pedagogical

expert, and teacher as a didactical expert. By tradition, excellent teachers were perceived

as having knowledge in the content in which they taught and having some training in

their field. However, the authors discovered that teaching students not only requires the

teacher to be a subject expert but to be the transmitter of knowledge as well. Therefore, it


30

is a job requiring an educator to wear multiple hats, or roles in the classroom. They

include being the facilitator of learners, the classroom manager, and the content expert.

The pedagogical expert is one who is responsible for the education of students

while also learning how to communicate and establish rapport with the student (Beijard et

al., 2000). In addition to providing a definition for the pedagogical expert, Beijard et al.

(2000) made this strong statement: “Teaching cannot be reduced to a technical or

instrumental action that results in learning gains with students. This didactical side of

teaching must relate to the pedagogical side with ethical and moral features” (p.751).

With traditions of teacher-centered notions of education being replaced with

emphasis of student-centered learning, the didactical expert’s role has also been

dramatically revised. According to the authors (Beijard et al., 2000) a didactical expert is

a teacher that to some extent relinquishes control to students by being a facilitator of

learning rather than the perpetual authoritarian—that is, by allowing students autonomy

and the opportunity to construct their own interpretations to texts. Thus, Beijard et al.

(2000) provided definitions for the content expert, pedagogical expert, and didactical

expert—contextual components essential to the framework of their study.

Beijard et al. (2000) mixed-method study revealed that most teachers saw

themselves significantly different from when they first began teaching. Also, the

majority of participants envisioned themselves as having combined expertise in subject

matter, form of delivering the content, and teaching strategies. It was also discovered

that content and didactical expertise was equally evident in the teachers’ perceptions, but

pedagogical expertise was less noticeable. As a reflective practice study conducted on


31

veteran secondary education teachers, the study provided yet another lens for viewing

reflection in terms of content— didactical, and pedagogical.

These teacher identity studies served as a part of the literary discourse for

educators who reflected on their practices while constructing their professional identity.

Also, the literature pertaining to the role fashion plays in identity construction is

substantial because one’s apparel choices, one’s perceptions of fashion, and one’s

reflections on how to improve fashion instruction are all aspects of a fashion instructor’s

identity construction. The concept of individual’s identifying themselves through

fashion; the perceptions individuals have of fashion based on the lack of fashion research

and how it affects the identity of fashion professionals; the identity construction of

fashion students through reflective practice; and the usage of fashion portfolios as a

reflective tool are topics mentioned in research in the next segment of this literature

review.

PROFESSIONAL IDENTITY AND REFLECTIVE PRACTICE INTHE

FASHION/CREATIVE ARTS

Fashion, a major force in the construction of one’s identity and one of the most

obvious forms of consumption (Crane, 2012), is a profession where identity is pertinent

whether one is the buyer or seller of fashion. The manner in which an individual chooses

to dress is how one chooses to be identified in society (Collins, 2011). Historically,

clothing has been a form of expression for individuals and a principle means of

identifying oneself in a public space, as well as a visible marker of one’s status or gender

(Crane, 2012). In writing about fashion and identity, Kellner (2003) said that “traditional

societies had relatively fixed social roles and sumptuary codes, so that clothes and one’s


32

appearance instantly denoted one’s social class, profession, and status” (p.264). In

reference to identity through apparel worn, Breward (2000) purported that fashion

historians can look at a portrait as text and read it to determine the status, nationality,

sexual representation, and age of an individual by decoding the textiles and

ornamentation on the apparel worn by the individual depicted in the painting. Witt-Paul

(2011) sagely noted that apparel is a form of redefining and asserting new identities. For

example, the dandy is a symbol of male narcissism (Witt-Paul, 2011); the priest in

adorned vestments is a representation of holiness; the professional in a business suit is

formal and may come across as powerful or even formidable.

In her article, Collins (2011) argued that apparel is a form of concealing yet

revealing one’s self and that seeking membership into particular social groups is the

driving dynamism behind fashion. Collins (2011) mentioned that confessions through

dress can be obvious, particularly when an individual has shifted style of dress to

represent a specific gender or sexual orientation or when a person wears a business suit

daily to demonstrate professionalism. However, Collins (2011) argued that fashion

tended to seek deeper goals, such as an individual gaining acknowledgement through the

public’s gazes, seeking affirmation from others by wearing apparel that is recognizable to

a group of trendsetters, and achieving a transformation as society is welcoming to the

newcomer as a member of the group. Finally, Collins (2011) eloquently abridged the

relationship between fashion and self-identity: “not only is a person seeking recognition

from others in the way [he] dresses, but a fashion confessor is looking to his audience for

interpretation and evaluation- to offer an ultimate appraisal of his worth” (p. 299).


33

Colin McDowell (2012), a British fashion historian, commented on the fact that

conspicuous consumers of fashion will wear a certain label to be identified with the upper

echelon of society. Similarly, a fashion designer will create a label in order to belong to a

specific society. McDowell provided the example of Ralph Lauren, a Jewish American

not born into affluence or royal pedigree, whose collections have been purchased by such

patrons as Lady Diana. Lauren’s fashions are the epitome of breeding, tradition and

affluence because of his classic styling and British aristocratic look. While this

designer’s patrons may not have the manicured lawns, royal breeding, possessions,

exclusive club memberships or Oxford schooling, they can pretend to be a part of the

affluent society when wearing Ralph Lauren. Evidently, fashion plays a role in the

construction of social and professional self- identity.

It is not uncommon to find a fashion historian reading an illustration and making a

concise depiction about the age, status, and other characteristics of individuals simply by

analyzing its apparel or to see a fashion designer translate a specification handout sent

from China, via email, to create a garment as a part of the job description. However,

there is yet to be a book or article published on the identity construction of the fashion

literate or the identity construction of educators in the fashion profession teaching content

area literacy, though multiliteracies in the fashion industry are highly prevalent. Even

rudimentary research relative to identity and fashion literacy was sparse. There were only

a few authors who made mention of the topic. Reponen (2011) remarked that the

majority of what is published in terms of fashion writing is primarily for marketing and

that fashion as content remains superficial to its amassed audience.


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In his chapter of The Fashion Business, Theory, Practice, and Image, Griffiths

(2000) observed that very few practicing fashion designers have written scholarly articles

about fashion design or the developmental process of fashion. While fashion designers

do write books, they are largely consulted by fashion students (Griffiths, 2000). These

books hold little gravitas in academe (Griffiths, 2000). Griffiths (2000) further averred

that he is unaware of a practicing designer who has made significant contributions to the

research of fashion in order to supplement the intellectual discourse on fashion design.

The majority of scholarly research has been written by fashion and art historians.

Griffiths (2000) noted that McDowell, the British fashion columnist and historian,

described the countless designer picture books of the 1980’s as “the bimbos of the

publishing world, beautiful but dumb” (p.52). It’s obvious, then, that the public often

perceives fashion as a remarkable art or spectacle, but not as respected subject matter in

the world of academe, despite the multiple literacies the profession requires.

While research pertaining to fashion and reflective practice is limited, studies

conducted at the London College of Fashion provide important insights on the topic.

James (2007) examined higher education fashion students and their professors as they

discussed reflective practice in fashion learning and teaching. Since the 1970’s, creative

arts education, including fashion in the United Kingdom, has been restructured to meet

the needs of more traditional schooling. Previously, the emphasis in creative arts

disciplines was placed on technical schooling and aesthetic vision (James, 2007). This

alignment with traditional pedagogy warranted the need to create more courses that

included more literacy in the arts. Cultural, theoretical, and contextual studies were also

added to the curriculum. (James, 2007). There was also a need to fulfill Personal


35

Development Planning (PDP) requirements, an accountability system requiring students

to reflect on their personal development through various literacy forms such as writing

reflections, learning logs, skills checklists, and other documentation as written evidence

to support the developmental planning process. The researcher inquired about the

following: whether students were taught to reflect, whether this was an essential process

to understanding their PDP, whether the students’ reflective methods are appropriate to

fashion learning, whether the reflection encapsulated the essence of critical reflection,

and— provided that the aforementioned answers suggest scope for development— what

other approaches could benefit students (James, 2007).

James’s study revealed that fashion students preferred journaling and composing

reflective statements as the most useful of PPD activities. They also suggested they

wanted explicit instruction on how to develop skills to better produce these reflective

activities. However, academic staff offered divergent interpretations to their

understanding of critical reflection. Some viewed reflection as a way of examining their

limitations or evaluating their performance. Others viewed reflection as a venue for

gaining knowledge, or as a particular form of thinking. Other staff members viewed

reflection as a means for learners to re-interpret data or for thinking over one’s actions.

Some staff participants viewed reflection as a means for focusing on failures, work

performance, or time management.

While there was dissention among the perceptions of reflection among the faculty

participants, the notion of critical reflection as an approach to looking back to move

onward was a common thread of thinking among several faculty members. The staff was

adamant that they were reflective thinkers themselves and that they practiced reflection,


36

as it pertained to both teaching and their personal lives. The study also revealed that

staff and students had divergent perceptions pertaining to the definition of reflection. The

fashion educators also had definite opinions as to how students perceived reflection. The

instructors observed that fashion students did not see the value in reflection, found it to be

arduous, and treated it lightly. Although James’ (2007) study focused on how students

were reflective thinkers and how professors used reflection in the classroom, it failed to

include research on the fashion professors as reflective practitioners.

Another study underscoring the emotional journey of fashion students and a new

perspective for how their professional and personal statements were read by faculty was

conducted by Austerlitz and James (2008). The researchers asked student participants to

write their own reflective statements as to what they perceived as most significant to their

personal and professional growth. This was the crux of the Personal Construct Theory

(PCT), that students were writing what had been most significant in their professional

journeys and using those reflections to grow professionally. Distinctive about this

approach, the role of the mentor or expert in the field as the one who provides evaluative

feedback on how students are evolving in terms of their learning and professional

development. Nevertheless, the students experienced evocative and emotional journeys

as they constructed their identities as professionals.

Another study about fashion literacy and reflective practice was conducted by

Ownbey (1995), who examined the value of portfolios. While the portfolio is a self-

marketing tool, it also serves an intern or professional as compilation of their best work,

and demonstrating skills, self-reflective statements, photographs, illustrations, and what

they have gathered over an internship is terms of learning (Ownbey, 1995). Ownbey


37

(1995) defined the internship portfolio as a “collection of work showing effort, progress,

and achievement in the internship experience” (p.172). The researcher described an

internship as invaluable to students and an opportunity for students to gain hands-on

experiences in the field while testing to see if they are a perfect fit for a company.

Meanwhile, potential employers are also testing the field prior to making long-lasting

“employment commitments” through the use of internships (Ownbey, 1995, p.172).

After conducting a literature search, Ownbey (1995) discovered there was little evidence

of portfolios being used as a tool of reflection. Ownbey (1995) postulated that one of the

best and most innovative approaches to internalizing the learning that has occurred

throughout an internship is the internship portfolio.

Ownbey (1995) also conducted a pilot test to experiment with the concept of the

fashion portfolio. The participants for the pilot study included 25 students from apparel

design and retail who had just completed their internship with design and retail firms and

who were enrolled in a post- internship seminar. The students were asked to develop a

portfolio based on their learning experiences at their internship sites. This article

provided a précis of the facilitation process used for the internship portfolio development,

of the approach used to link the portfolio development aspect to the post- internship

seminar course, and of the process used to help students internalize their learning and

translate it into a portfolio.

For the intent of Ownbey’s (1995) study, the internship portfolio served a

threefold purpose. First, it was used as an alternative assessment tool to measure

experiential learning on the job site. Secondly, the internship portfolio was employed as

a tool to compile learning experiences such as skills, abilities, on the job training that was


38

uniquely experienced and could be articulated to others. Lastly, the portfolio allowed

students to think critically and to apply literacy and communication skills. Objectives

that were established in order to facilitate the process of portfolio development and the

overall lessons for the post seminar course included the following: integrating internship

experiences, compiling industry data, formulating preferences and goals, and assimilating

the internship experience (Ownbey, 1995). During the self-reflection statements and

through discussions with peers, students were able to see their strengths and could then

formulate careers goals that were most befitting. Finally, assimilating the internship

experience was an opportunity to internalize the internship experience and to articulate

what had been absorbed and learned into a final completed portfolio that was a marketing

tool. During the assimilation process, students obtain higher level thinking skills.

Therefore, it was suggested that all course objectives were met.

In the findings, Ownbey (1995) described how the portfolios that included writing

and self-reflection statements were then used as critical thinking tools – a means by

which students internalized their internship experiences, organized the data, and

articulated their thinking with peers and business professionals. Another finding of this

study recognized portfolios for reflection both as a form of fashion literacy and as a

methodological approach to reflection of Personal and Professional Development.

MULTILITERACIES PERSPECTIVES

Though research on reflective practices in fashion instruction is limited, it is most

notable in literature dealing with perspective and use of multiliteracies. Multiliteracy is

an approach to content area literacy which involves using multiple forms of literacy,

whether textual or non-textual (Unsworth, 2001). Content area literacy is defined as “the


39

ability to use reading and writing for the acquisition of new content in a given discipline”

(Mckenna & Robinson, 1990, p.184). However, multiliteracies are often outside of

school literacies. They may involve multimodal textual practices such as students using

Microsoft 3D moviemaker, watching movies off the internet, or reading Nintendo 64

magazines that keep students engaged yet are seldom acknowledged in the classroom as

literacy practices (Unsworth, 2001). Growing popularity of multiliteracies has become

evident as confirmed by Lesley, McMillan, and Webb (2012): “Due to the burgeoning

variety of texts forms associated with information and multimedia technologies” (p7), it

was best to acknowledge literacies that have emerged largely through globalization and

internet. The authors acknowledged that “multiple modes of communication and

representation such as verbal, visual, and musical have redefined constructs of text and

intertextuality in twenty-first century literacies” (p.7). Lesley et al. (2012) invited their

audience to participate in re-conceptualizing their own definitions of literacy as the

authors provide an exemplum of multiliteracies:

Lexicons, syntax, reasoning, problem solving, logic and image are literacy

processes that are present in every discipline. With this in mind, we invite you to

go beyond a surface definition of literacy as print text to create a much deeper

mental model of literacy in your content area. For instance, a deep mental model

in mathematics would include words, images, numbers, and the processes human

beings use to create meaning with such sign systems. You can solve a math

problem by drawing a picture of it, writing about it, or creating a graph. (p. 7)

Using a multiliteracies approach to learning can also be a tool for reflection and critical

thinking.


40

According to Cope and Kalantzis (2009), a group of literacy experts, colleagues,

and friends known as the New London Group convened in September of 1994 to publish

an article which later resulted as a book for “changing the landscape of literacy teaching

and learning” and introduced a “pedagogy of multiliteracies” (p.1). It was during this

convocation that the term “multiliteracies” was coined. A goal of the New London

Group was to meet the needs of a diverse culture by focusing on both multilingual and

multimodal forms of communication and the literacies that pertain to both concepts.

Multiliteracies enables the learners to determine what is worth learning, to be engaged in

various experiences, to be divergent thinkers, and to embrace disparate modalities in

meaning making. Finally, the article highlighted multiliteracy practices that are being

used by literacy experts in the field.

In Defining Identities through Multiliteracies: El Teens Narrate Their

Immigration Experience as Graphic Stories, Danzak (2011) reported on the graphic story

project in which middle school English Language Learners (ELL) students wrote about

their evocative journey as immigrant students in the form of graphic novels, a

multiliteracies approach to learning. This project took place over the course of six months

with a diverse population of students from West Coast Florida. These immigration

narratives that defined and shaped students’ identities were published in hardcover copies

and presented to families and the community at a local event. Danzak (2011) spoke of

the success of the project: “Throughout the various components of the Graphic Journeys

project, the students expressed themselves through diverse linguistic modalities and

engaged in multiple literacies to learn about the English language, writing, and

technology, as well as their individual and family identities” (p.187). The students in this


41

graphic story project discovered that composition writing could be engaging as they

learned the conventions of the English language.

In another article by Hartnell-Young (2006), another multiliteracies approach was

implemented to assist students in conceptualizing their identity. Australian schools

employed Electronic Portfolios in the classroom to support the learners’ self-esteem by

highlighting students’ accomplishments throughout the year to various audiences. The E-

Portfolios were created by students and demonstrated their work in multiple literacy

media such as audio, visual, and texts. The use of multiliteracies enabled the students to

express their identities through their work. The students continually reflected on their

work throughout the process. The study’s findings indicated that fostering students’ self-

esteem, by using multiliteracy approaches and teaching reflection had resulted in

significant positive impact on the students.

RESEARCH ON TEACHING FASHION AND LITERACY

Educators in the realm of fashion must have a strong understanding of self and

must be literate in the vernacular and content of fashion. As Reponen (2011) remarked in

a chapter from Fashion Forward, fashion blogs have become a popular literacy

commodity along with the ever popular fashion magazines. However, Reponen (2011)

opined that much of what is published is nonsensical and mere advertisement, rather than

being noteworthy research or fashion criticism. While fashion is a frequently covered

subject, the content is yet to be recognized by social sciences since fashion industry

scions appeared to be more interested in appearance and image. Fashion remains as more

of a visual phenomenon and still remains the “very exemplum of superficiality, frivolity,

and vanity” (Reponen, 2011, p. 30). In a Colin McDowell interview published in the


42

Sunday Times (2009), Deacon claimed that the majority of those who held leading titles

as fashion critics and writers of the business and who often occupied the front row of

most haute couture style shows, were sadly ignorant of rudimentary fashion design

concepts. Reponen (2011) speculated that these uninformed fashionistas would not know

the difference between a printed fabric and a jacquard fabric (Reponen, 2011).

According to Information Competencies for Students in Design Disciplines

(2007), a professional in the fashion industry should be cognizant of basic literacy skills

and should be able to: (1) find fashion terminology in fashion related and basic

dictionaries; (2) use fashion terminology to effectively search library catalogs and

internet; (3) understand the Library Congress System of classification to locate fashion

resources; (4) locate textual and visual images that are useful for fashion research and

production; (5) understand the importance of periodicals, trade publications, foreign

journals, annual design collection publications; and weekly and monthly trade and design

resources; (6) locate print and electronic resources; (7) find key indexes and databases

pertaining to fashion and the apparel industry; and (8) locate major fashion websites and

instrumental fashion resource libraries such as Vogue, Women’s Wear Daily (WWD),

Fashion Institute of Technology, and New York Public Library.

University professors and instructors can include writing activities in any

discipline to assist students in obtaining written skills prior to entering the workforce

(Johnson, Yurchisin, & Bean, 2003; Robinson & Blair, 1995). Robinson and Blair (1995)

argued that it is imperative that those in academe accept accountability for teaching

students proper writing skills. Gomez (2009) averred that developing young literate

professionals was largely dependent on K-12 educators and that professors should


43

prepare literate professionals by providing their students with writing assignments and

the criteria to assess their writing (Robinson & Blair, 1995).

In their descriptive study, Johnson, Yurchisin, and Bean (2003) also suggested

that writing activities can simultaneously enhance learning while students acquire written

and verbal communication skills. The authors noted that students take ownership of their

learning when they partake in writing assignments (Hall & Tiggeman,1995; Johnson, et

al., 2003). Furthermore, Capelli (1992), cited in this article (Johnson et al., 2003),

averred that employers in virtually all fields are seeking individuals with strong written

and verbal communication skills. With the importance of writing being stressed, trends in

higher education have evolved to include more writing intensive courses for

undergraduate students (Johnson et al., 2003). Johnson et al. (2003) responded to

demands made by their collegiate campus to incorporate these writing intensive courses

within the apparel design and textiles pedagogy. Furthermore, the researchers took the

initiative to investigate how much and what types of writing were being conducted in

other fashion curricula throughout the nation.

The Johnson et al. study identified the types of writing students were doing in

apparel and textiles courses, as well as how much writing was being done. Johnson et al.

(2003) were also interested in knowing in what types of courses were writing intensive

assignments being implemented and how they were being assessed. Their other areas of

interest included learning about the perceptions of faculty as to the amount of writing

being done in the apparel and textile courses; identifying which programs were offering

writing intensive courses, and comparing the amounts of writing being done in other

campuses with similar apparel and textile programs. This would enable an apparel and


44

textile faculty to make comparisons with that of their own programs (Johnson et al.,

2003).

While the writing intensive courses may have varying requirements on respective

campuses, generally they are devised to assist students to have a better grasp of the

overall content of their programs (Johnson et al., 2003). Johnson et al. (2003) provided

an example of what constitutes a writing intensive apparel and textiles course. At one

Midwestern university curriculum of a fashion program required an instructor to assign a

ten page paper. The instructor was to provide specific instructions for how to complete

the formal paper and to provide feedback on the first draft. Students, in return, were to

complete the revised drafts and to submit a final copy to their instructors (Johnson et al.,

2003).

Student participants were asked to complete the survey and to send copies of their

syllabi in tandem with writing assignments that they preferred to share as a part of the

study. After analyzing the data, Johnson et al. (2003) discovered that the majority of

courses included at least one written assignment such as research projects, papers, out-of-

class essays, and reading reports. While most of the universities required writing

intensive coursework for undergraduate students, the respondents of the survey were not

offered courses as writing intensive. Overall, the respondents averred that students

produced an adequate amount of writing, yet very few indicated whether these courses

had been approved as writing intensive, and the majority agreed that more writing

assignments would enhance learning and help students in the work environment.

In Effective Learning Strategies in History of Dress, Marketti (2011) reported that

history survey courses which included history of dress evoked feelings of trepidation in


45

undergraduate students. The students’ uneasiness may have stemmed from knowing that

these types of survey courses traditionally feature teacher-centered instruction comprised

of mostly lecture and multiple-choice exams and term papers (Marketti, 2011). Marketti

(2011) determined that while these teaching styles might be convenient and efficient for

instructors, they are not engaging for students.

Marketti (2011) postulated that the best approach to teach is using learner-

centered strategies. This pedagogical approach allows students to have experiential

learning that is necessary as professionals. This type of learning also encourages students

“to gather and synthesize information and integrate it with general skills of inquiry,

communication, critical thinking, and problem solving” (Marketti, 2011, p. 547). Learner

centered strategies foster active engagement as students are learning useful skills for the

work milieu and for future careers (Marketti, 2011).

The participants of Marketti’s study included undergraduate students who were

enrolled in a survey history course focusing on content from ancient times to 20th

century

fashion and a fashion history course on 20th

century fashion. Both three-credit courses

met twice a week for a total of 150 minutes a week. In addition students were expected

to work an additional three to five hours a week outside of the classroom. For this

particular study, students received 10 to 15 minutes of enhanced lecture followed by

activities such as a think-pair-share method where students thought about the response to

a question, discussed it with a partner, and finally shared responses with the whole class

(Marketti, 2011). Taking clips of past and present apparel from movies to assist students

as they analyzed the historical accuracy was another strategy to aide both auditory and

visual learners (Marketti, 2011). One enhanced lecture approach was inviting a guest


46

professor to re-enact a scene from the late 19th

Century as he appeared in the costume of

the period. After some lectures, students were asked to sketch an interpretive or

reflective drawing, to bullet significant points of topics discussed, or to choose a topic

they would like to further investigate (Marketti, 2011).

After completing the course, Marketti (2011) reported that students were asked to

complete their end of course evaluations and a survey that evaluated the effectiveness of

the course’s learning strategies: enhanced lectures, artifact analyses, annotated citations,

and student choice projects. A mixed methods approach was used that included both

quantitative data (statistics of teacher effectiveness) and qualitative data (students’ open

ended responses to specific learning strategies) (Marketti, 2011).

The findings indicated that most students who submitted their surveys majored in

textiles and apparel and 95% of them were female. The study also indicated that

professors and instructors who used enhanced lectures in communicating the content

included visuals, videos, pictures, or activities. These methods enhanced the students’

understanding of the material and gave them the opportunity to use alternative methods

for learning. Students enjoyed artifact analyses. They were able to see and touch

garments they had read about in their texts and had viewed through PowerPoint.

However, students described having to identify fabrics and fibers as challenging. The

study also revealed that students least enjoyed the annotated citations, but they did

recognize the assignment to be thought provoking, informative, and insightful. Marketti

(2011) concluded by underscoring the positive response students had to having

participated in small group discussions. Students reported that these interactions with


47

one another brought about a sense of community. They had become a community of

learners.

Simon Seivewright, the author of Research and Design (2007), communicated the

importance of research. He stated that “research is vital to any design process: it is the

initial trawl and collection of ideas prior to design. It should be an experimental process,

and investigation to support or find out about a particular subject. Research is an

essential tool in the creative process and will provide inspiration, information and in the

creative direction, as well as a narrative to a collection” (p. 7). Seivewright (2007)

dedicated a book in its entirety to research processes that include literacy. He introduced

his book with the concept of the brief and disparate forms of literacy-facilitating tools

which are used in the fashion industry to draft an outline of objectives for the design

process for any designer collection. The author also suggested the use of mind-maps, a

mapped out chart used as brainstorming tool, to list inspiring concepts by using resources

such as a dictionary, thesaurus, or the internet. These could be used to create an overall

theme that might eventually be transformed into designs (Seivewright, 2007). Other

forms of literacy that Seivewright (2007) noted as instrumental sources of inspiration to

the fashion designer were the internet, libraries, books, journals, magazines, museums, art

galleries, trend and forecasting reports, and designer case studies. The author also

conducted multiple interviews with several fashion designers in the industry and inquired

about their design processes, including inspiration. The fashion designers averred that

they obtained inspiration from books and libraries. Most designers kept their concepts in

sketchbooks, which often included narratives. Seivewright (2007) noted that the majority

of designers acknowledged research as vital to design. This compendium of studies


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underscores the crucial elements specific to the themes addressed in this dissertation:

identity research, teacher reflection, professional identity in the creative arts,

multiliteracy, and fashion literacy. Each study contributed to the educational discourse

and is relevant to this autoethnographical study.


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CHAPTER III

METHODOLOGY

The fashion design class has traditionally provided an environment in which

students learn by observing their professors demonstrate techniques through hands-on

application. Although students frequently learn the skills to accomplish a required task,

they often do so with minimal introspection and with very little critical thinking.

Students could benefit from having explicit literacy strategies taught in tandem with the

fashion curriculum. For example, while fashion instructors demonstrate the technique of

Arashi, a form of Japanese tie dying, they could also provide students with text resources.

Fashion design students could watch the demonstration, conduct their labs, but benefit as

well from having written information in order to better comprehend the subject matter

and to obtain a deeper knowledge of it (Guthrie et al., 2006). This use of hands-on-

activities, concurrent with literacy activities, enables the teacher to provide situational

interest (Guthrie et al., 2006) with the tie dying lab and yet provide students with

opportunity to become intrinsically motivated to read and learn more about the Arashi

technique (Guthrie et al., 2006). When literacy is linked to the elements and concept of

fashion, it is more likely that students will use their higher level thinking skills, whether

that is achieved through a Socratic question and answer session or through other means

(Yang, Newby, Bill, 2005). However, when literacy is left out of the fashion classroom

and the teacher’s reliance is solely on demonstration of fashion techniques, students fail

to fully grasp the concept because the history, terminology, contexts and connections to

these fashion techniques are neglected. A lack of emphasis on written scholarship is one


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reason that fashion students are often stereotypically labeled as frivolous and unscholarly.

It is the educator’s responsibility to teach students the literacies that are relevant to their

respective disciplines to ensure that they are knowledgeable and successful in their fields.

BACKGROUND TO THE STUDY

After having taught fashion at the collegiate level for three years while

concurrently taking language and literacy courses in graduate school, I knew I had

evolved as a fashion instructor. However, describing this new found identity was

daunting to express in words which has led me to investigate my journey as a literate

fashion professional and to articulate how this identity coalesced. Now, as I reflect on

my first year of teaching fashion, I realize that at that time I was learning the traditional

conventions of university teaching. I was an instructor who taught primarily through

demonstrations: from my novice perspective, planning curriculum was both daunting and

time consuming. Furthermore, the mandates of my supervisor to stay aligned with the

traditional course curriculum offered me no encouragement to challenge my students to

think more critically or to reflect on the technical process.

The evolution of my collegiate teaching commenced as I began to question some

of the traditional forms of teaching and dared to launch my own unconventional

practices. For example, in basic clothing construction, it was a tradition each semester

for students to submit a simple notebook of constructed samples for assessment;

however, these sample notebooks failed to include even rudimentary written instructions

for how to sew a plain seam, blind hem, and various other sewing applications. As a

result, I began to require my students to include not only their constructed sewing

samples but a written explication for how to construct each sample, as well. Another


51

instructional epiphany occurred during end-of-semester portfolio reviews. As I looked

over each portfolio I discovered that most of my fashion design students were unable to

articulate and describe, in fashion vernacular, the designs they had deftly created on

paper. These observations gleaned from portfolio review prompted my assigning each

student to keep a fashion journal. I promoted the fashion journal to my students as a way

to compile a portable file of new field vocabulary, their illustrated fashion designs and

accompanying descriptions, class notes, written reflections and possible fashion

epiphanies.

A lack of attention to literacy in fashion education, particularly attention to

explicit literacy instruction reveals itself in practices such as “How to” demonstrations in

lieu of research and literacy concerns and in disrespect for the intellectual challenge of

the fashion profession. These pervasive practices and negative perceptions of fashion

professionals as shallow and superfluous harms the image of fashion and the self-

concepts of its students. In retrospect, I can only hope that incorporating some of these

literacy strategies in my fashion classroom was valuable time spent for my students, and

that the sample explications, fashion journals, and other literacy approaches to teaching

fashion were instrumental to my students during their internship placements or in their

professional milieus. I often wonder if my students are literate professionals in their

field. Did I provide them with the proper literacy tools to communicate in the fashion

world? Did I provide rigorous reading and writing assignments of relevance? Were

these assignments just as rigorous as assignments in other academic fields? Overall, the

reality that fashion instructors have neglected to use explicit literacy instruction with

students is of utmost concern and needs further attention and research.


52

As I questioned the usefulness of the literacy strategies I employed in my

classroom to my fashion students, I often wondered the following: How do my students

perceive me as a literate professional? What is my identity as a fashion educator? I

discovered there was little research on fashion instructors and their reflective practice.

Obviously, a problem obstructing fashion educators from understanding their own

journeys exists. This understanding is necessary for improved or transformed teaching.

Insights regarding the integration of literacy strategies into fashion instruction and the

role of building healthy professional identities are needed.

PURPOSE OF THE STUDY

These were some of the initial inquiries that led me to the purpose of my study.

The purpose of my study was threefold: I hope to have thoroughly answered the

following questions in this autoethnographical study: (1) How has my identity evolved

as a literate fashion professional? (2) What was the journey I have traveled to obtain this

identity as a literate fashion instructor – one who not only teaches fashion, but one who

teaches explicit literacy strategies along with the fashion content? And (3) how have

these two disparate worlds of fashion and literacy informed my teaching as a literate

fashion professional?

AUTOETHNOGRAPHY AS METHODOLOGY

Autoethnography, a methodological approach that is one of self-inquiry, perhaps

sounds narcissistic; nevertheless, it is the best methodology to demonstrate how one’s

teaching practices have coalesced and have been informed, particularly the best

methodological approach to articulate my journey of teaching fashion students to be


53

literate professionals. Choosing the methodology of autoethnography can only

strengthen this personalized account of my journey (Chang, 2008; Ellis, 2000; Ellis &

Bochner, 2000). Goswami and Rutherford (2009) declared, “As teachers, we are

privileged participants in the world of teaching and learning of our students” (p.32). In

other words, it is imperative that the teacher be included as a research participant, and

autoethnography is the methodology that enables the researcher to be a data source

(Chang, 2008; Dyson, 2007; Ellis, 2004; Ellis & Bochner, 2000; Reed-Danahay, 1997).

This study is the narrative of my journey as a fashion instructor in higher

education, striving to interweave literacy in the daily fabric of teaching while,

simultaneously persuading fashion students of literacy’s importance, despite a curriculum

that was driven by hands-on applications and teaching demonstrations. In this study I

share the failures, periods of vulnerability, and triumphs of my career. I chronicle my

experiences of introspection, examination, reform, and professional growth. The study is

a culmination of my thoughts, actions, and reflections that have evolved from my years as

a fashion student to my present years as a fashion professional. I have written my story

and blended it with that of my students. In educational research, educators live storied

lives, both individually and socially. Teachers construct and reconstruct personal and

social stories in which the teachers and students alike are the storytellers (Connelly &

Clandinin, 1990). I resonated with the following statement Dyson (2007) made as to

why autoethnography is the best alternative for his journey as a professor in education:

I was both part of the lives of the participants and part of the ‘case’, which I was

investigating. My experiences, challenges, and interactions with the subjects of

my research impacted upon the subject “out there’ and on myself ‘in here’ as a


54

researcher. Because of this influence it could be said that I was potentially

altering the research environment and manipulating the variables. My recognition

of these influences and by working through the issue of subjectivity I gradually

recognized the legitimacy of myself as a subject of the research, as well as the

researcher of the particular phenomenon I was researching. (p. 39)

In selecting autoethnography as my vehicle of choice, I must weave into this

narrative my emotions when, as an undergraduate fashion major and a presenter of my

fashion collection, I mispronounced haute couture. As Ellis strongly averred, the

emotion of such seminal moments is what solidifies and brings memory to the research; it

is the crux of autoethography (Ellis, 2000). In other words, the researcher cannot

divorce herself from the feelings she experiences related to her specific research (Ellis,

2000). One last point here: My mispronouncing haute couture and the resulting

humiliation I felt have been a driving force in my teaching students the disciplinary

vocabulary and the disciplinary literacy.

MULTIPLE LENSES

Within this study, I am looking through three particular, yet, at times,

interchangeable lenses: Multiliteracies (Danzak, 2011; Hartnell-Young, 2006), Personal

Construct Theory (PCT) (Kelly, 1955), and in addition, Pinar’s (1975) approach of

connecting life narrative to identity construction. Firstly, looking through a multi-

literacies lens, the pervasive misreading of fashion professionals has informed

professional identities and instruction. It is also important to look at how insights

gleaned from a multiliteracies instructions approach can potentially inform students’

identities. Secondly through a PCT lens, important events of the researcher’s personal


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and professional life were chronicled to construct identity. Lastly, Pinar’s (1975) holistic

approach to writing even the smallest of details was significant in retelling of

biographical accounts to capture a multi-dimensional narrative which is instrumental for

identity construction. Insights gleaned from this study will be guided by the notion that

identity formation and narrative are connected.

RESEARCH DESIGN

One of the intricacies of researching one’s own profession or, in this case,

professional identity, is mapping out the story in order to articulate it well (Dyson, 2007).

Denzin and Lincoln (2000) ascertained that the theory or theoretical perspective should

be in alignment with the research design. Autoethnography, particularly narrative inquiry

is in alignment with my theoretical perspective (Denzin & Lincoln, 2000) and a perfect

qualitative research design or blueprint (Hakim, 2000) for “addressing the complexities

and subtleties of human experience in teaching and learning” (Webster and Mertova,

2007, p.1). In Muncey’s (2010) Creating Autoethnographies, Polkinghorne (1998)

argued that “Narratives are peoples’ identities; the stories people tell shape and construct

the narrator’s personality” (p.43). In writing my narrative, I used Richardson’s (2000)

methodology, using writing as not just an approach to telling the findings of social

sciences but a method of knowing them, as writing is a conduit for discovery and

analysis. A researcher should write to learn rather than wait until something is

discovered. As the researcher and primary source of the investigation, I was situated as a

part of the fashion culture. Student interviews, student artifacts, and personal artifacts

served as data sources which were instrumental in helping me write my story. I adopted


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Chang’s (2008) approach to writing autoethnographical accounts chronologically and

told the story in multiple accounts as suggested by Pinar (1975) to ensure the truth is told.

DATA SOURCES

According to Ellis, Adams, and Bochner (2011), autoethnography has been

dismissed by social science as a methodological approach that is “insufficiently rigorous,

theoretical, and analytical” (p.37) as well as too aesthetic, cathartic, and evocative.

Autoethnographers are also criticized for supposedly using biased data sources. This is a

misconception of narrative research. Personal narratives can be instrumental as venues

for comprehension by highlighting the construction of accounts and explications of

events through “intersubjective encounters” retold by others, including multiple

perspectives and agendas (Maynes, Pierce, & Laslett, 2008, p.111). Narrative inquiry as

educational research may incorporate storytelling, letters, autobiographical accounts,

lesson plans, newsletters, writing demonstrating expectations and principles, picturing,

metaphors, and personal philosophies as data sources (Connelly & Clandinin, 1990).

Because traditional research paradigms, such as positivistic and postpositivistic ones have

challenged the notions of more interpretive postmodern approaches to research (Lincoln

& Guba, 2000), it is imperative that the autoethnographer establish legitimation. Lincoln

and Guba (2000) attested that there is no question that legitimacy of postmodern

paradigms has been established. Furthermore, in order to construct a story, it must be

written analytically in order to be viewed by social scientists as valid research data;

therefore, triangulation of data is of utmost importance (Ellis, Adams, Bochner, 2011).

Triangulation is a process of reducing “the likelihood of misinterpretation” by employing

multiple procedures such as “using multiple perceptions to clarify meaning” and


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“redundancy of data gathering” in order to ensure research is accurate (Stake, 2000, p.

443). Therefore, more than three data sources have been included in this research study.

The primary data source for this study is the reflexive journal. I also supplemented the

primary data source by gathering data through student interviews, student artifacts, and

archival data. The following section provides a detailed description of the data sources

used for the study.

REFLEXIVE JOURNAL

A reflexive journal, which employs “the process of reflecting critically on the self

as researcher” as the human being becomes the actual instrument (Denzin & Lincoln,

2000; Guba & Lincoln, 1981), is imperative for a narrative inquiry—particularly

autoethnography—in which the primary instrument is the researcher (Bochner & Ellis,

2002; Ellis, 2004; Erlandson, Harris, Skipper, & Allen, 1993; Holt, 2003). I began my

investigation by journaling my initial thoughts, reactions, preconceived notions, and

observations related to my development as a literate fashion professional. Tessa Muncey

(2010) wrote a definition of what a reflexive journal or autoethnographical diary can

include:

They can be straightforward chronicling of events, or bald record of facts. They

can be confessional, or cathartic, or an opportunity to vent one’s spleen.

However, in terms of creative writing, they can become a canvas on which to

record experimental ideas, an attempt to impose some sort of order on the chaos.

While the discipline of recording may at first be arduous, you will eventually find

you have an identity of your own that will glow with the immediacy of your

everyday thoughts. (p.77)


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My reflexive journal, the primary data source of this study, included “epiphanies” or

“remembered moments that have significantly impacted the trajectory” of my life (Ellis,

Adams, Bochner, 2011, p. 6), particularly those which relate to the construction of my

identity as a literate fashion professional. Furthermore, the reflexive journal included

reflections on the student interviews. A natural part of the reflexive process is to include

the individuals the researcher encounters who are interconnected with the research study

(Denzin & Lincoln, 2000). All reflections included in the journal were written in

narrative prose. By chronicling the past, the present, and the future, a triple account of

events were written, which legitimizes the data as truth (Pinar, 1976). Chang (2008) also

suggested that autoethnographers create an autobiographical timeline in sequential order

of memorable events and occurrences pertaining to personal and professional identity. In

concurrence with Chang (2008), Ellis (2004) advised her students to write their stories or

autoethnographical journal accounts as if they were field notes and organize them

chronologically by selecting main accounts and writing epiphanies in their lives to

structure their stories. My reflexive journal, as mentioned earlier, is comprised of three

separate narrative accounts which include the past, the present, and the future: The Prior

Self, The Present Self, and The Prospective Self.

INTERVIEWS

While interviews are the most universally recognizable data sources in qualitative

methodology (Mason, 2002), Chang (2008) opined that the researcher is the primary

focus of the study. However, Chang (2008) did concede that the information taken from

interviewing others can be instrumental in recollecting events from one’s past to fill in

the gaps of information, and to gather new data. The new data will validate one’s


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personal information as well as validate how others perceive the researcher. Reflexivity

also compels the researcher not only to consider the research problem but also the

individuals with whom the investigator interacts throughout the research process (Denzin

& Lincoln, 2000). Thus interviewing is a legitimate and meaningful methodology to

generate data, given the ontological properties of this research study.

For the purpose of this study, semi-structured interviews (Erlandson, Harris,

Skipper, & Allen, date; Merriam, 1988) were employed to obtain information from

student participants in order to solidify the researcher’s story. Semi-structured interviews

are thematic in nature and relatively informal. They enable the participants to discuss

topics freely and in a more conversational style (Mason, 2002). Furthermore, some of the

interview questions were descriptive (Bloor & Wood, 2006; Spradley, 1979) in nature.

According to Spradley (1979), the intent of descriptive questioning is to illicit

information from the participant pertaining to a specific cultural setting which, for the

purpose of this study, would include the fashion classroom. Postmodernists and

constructivists have turned to depth interviewing because of a need to have collaboration

between the interview and interviewee. Their collaboration produces a “context-bound

description of a social world,” and apart from survey research (Bloor & Wood, 2006, p.

105). Depth interviewing was the chosen type of interviews for this study as the

“interviewer does not elicit a description of the social world” (Bloor & Wood, 2006, p.

2006) on her own; rather, the researcher enlisted assistance from the participants in order

to construct the description.

Spradley (1979, 2003) would concur that the initial steps to any interview is to

state the research purpose, to explain the interview process thoroughly, and to establish


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rapport with those being interviewed. I had previously established rapport with my

participants several years earlier when they were students of mine at a West Texas

university campus. I selected these participants because each one had taken at least two

of the fashion design courses I taught. I was familiar not only with the students but with

their work in the fashion classroom as well. Furthermore, these students consistently

produced superior work in the fashion classroom. The fact that these student participants

exemplified several characteristics makes the selection process a purposive sampling.

Purposive sampling enables the researcher to select participants or documents “from

which the researcher can substantially learn about the experience” (Polkinghorne, 2005,

p. 140). Because naturalistic inquiry requires the data to be rich in content, rigorous,

and in-depth (Erlandson, Harris, Skipper, & Allen, 1993), purposive sampling was

suitable for my investigation because it is used to best answer research questions that

focus on quality rather than quantity of data to fit the basic purpose of the study.

I began the first phase of interviewing using a set of open-ended questions,

including some descriptive questioning (Spradley, 2003), with three of my former fashion

students from a West Texas university campus. These interviews were tape-recorded.

The interviews lasted approximately 30 minutes for each participant. Immediately

following the interviews, I transcribed each interview and wrote narrative reflections

pertaining to the students’ responses. Then I coded the data derived from the participants’

interviews, and my journal reflections, in order to see what common topics and themes

emerged.

After identifying the common topics and emerging themes, I concluded the

interviewing process with a second phase of questioning for the three student


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participants. The second round of interviews was less structured and more like informal

conversations with participants in order to “construct reality that is compatible and

consistent with the constructions of a setting’s inhabitants” (Erlandson, Harris, Skipper,

and Allen, 1993). According to Erlandson, Harris, Skipper, and Allen (1993),

“Respondents are asked questions, but they are also encouraged to engage with the

researcher in less structured conversations so that their hidden assumptions and

constructions begin to surface” (p.94). I took notes on these conversations during the

interviews and then included them in my journal reflections. Finally, I coded the data by

looking for consistent themes that emerged from these sources and reconfirmed them

with the previous data.

STUDENT ARTIFACTS

Another common form of data collection used among qualitative researchers is

the collection of artifacts. According to LeCompte and Preissle (1993), student artifacts

are objects that individuals construct and use. Student artifacts can include

autobiographies, diaries, journals, and letters (Berg, 2007). According to Chang

(2008)and Polkingham (2005), student artifacts are also referred to as documentary or

textual data. However, artifacts can be text-based or non-textual (Chang, 2008).

Muncey (2005) described an artifact as a mug, a piece of pottery, books, memorabilia of

family outings or anything that stimulates the researcher to include it as part of an

experience in an autoethnography. Furthermore, Muncey (2005) claimed that collecting

artifacts is instrumental for autoethnographical studies because it is “additional evidence”

that is meaningful and supports the life trajectory of any autoethngrapher while providing

“snapshots” throughout their lived experiences (p.2). Altrichter, Feldman, Posch and


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Somekh (2008) suggested that educators keep a dossier or collection of documents,

particularly those pertaining to a particular student in order to study one’s professional

development. For this specific research study, artifacts that were collected include

fashion portfolios, student cover letters and resumes for employment, a basic sewing

construction project, class assignments, fiber research papers, and basic sewing exams.

These student artifacts were used to assist the researcher in filling in the gaps of this

autoethnography (Chang, 2008; Muncey, 2005).

ARCHIVAL DATA

For an autoethnographer to better “understand a phenomenon,” even one

pertaining to the one’s identity construction, it is imperative for the researcher to be

aware of the history relating to the phenomenon (Glesne, 2006, p.65). This stance makes

archival data an appealing data source for this epistemic study. Historical artifacts may

include written documents such as newspapers, letters, memoirs, wills, medical records,

photographs, scrapbooks, meeting minutes and student work. These are recognized as

archival data (Altrichter, 2008; Chang, 2008; Glesne, 2006). In addition to the student

artifacts, I collected archival data that included my personal fashion projects and written

assignments that were written approximately twenty years ago during my undergraduate

and graduate years as fashion student. These projects and assignments were used to

prompt reflections in my journal, which then were coded for identifying emerging

themes.


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DATA ANALYSIS

Berg (2007) described the process of data analysis as a system that is put in place

to manage and analyze the data, which are both integrally related so that data is reduced,

data is displayed, and data is concluded and verified. The data analysis process is

immediate and begins as each source of data is collected and for autoethnography, data

analysis is perpetual and “developing and crystallizing over time” (Dethloff, 2005, p.79).

While constantly analyzing the data sources, which included multiple readings of my

reflexive journal; examining artifacts such as the students’ work; and by analyzing

archival data, I was able to recollect my own personal stories. As a result, I was afforded

more clarity of my research topic (Ellis & Bochner, 2000; Dethloff, 2005).

I analyzed the data using a constant comparative approach as I compared and

contrasted each data source using thematic analysis. Prompted by Lincoln and Guba

(1985), I reflected on emerging themes from the interviews, interview reflections, student

artifacts, and archival data within my reflexive journal and began to write my narratives.

As Richardson (2000) recommended, I wrote as a method of inquiry which “provides a

research practice through which we can investigate the world, ourselves, and others” (p.

924).

An important aspect of data analysis is member checking which is verifying

interpretations by having others look over the data and the research process (Berg, 2007;

Glesne, 2006; Lichtman, 2006). The fashion student participants served as member

checkers by verifying the transcriptions and information stated from the interviews were

accurate.


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Data Analysis can be a researcher’s nightmare if the data is not properly

organized. During the primary stages of the study, it is important for the researcher to

organize data that has been collected rather than procrastinate with data management or

the researcher may be robbed of valuable time (Chang, 2008). Heewon Chang (2008),

the author of Autoethnography as Method, suggested an approach to manage the data

collection which was instrumental as I adopted his data management system. Chang

(2008) advised autoethnographers to take the initial step to manage data by periodically

organizing the information during the research process so the data will not “haunt you

later” (p. 119). After collecting data, my priority was to keep the data in organized piles

beginning with my reflexive journal in an electronic file which was later printed in a hard

copy for coding. I then accumulated all transcribed interviews with reflective interview

narratives in one pile. Finally, I placed all amassed artifacts together yet dividing the

student work from the archival data which included my work in a separate mound. Thus,

the initial organization allowed me to see what data was redundant or insufficient in order

to gather or discard data sources (Chang, 2008).

Secondly, the data sources were labeled and categorized according to when they

were collected (Chang, 2008). My reflexive journal was organized in a chronological

timeline by past, present, and future accounts (Chang, 2008; Muncey, 2010; Pinar, 1975).

The Prior Self included all events that occurred prior to 2010. The Present Self included

narratives that happened during 2010 to the present. While, The Prospective Self

included accounts pertaining to future plans and future projections. All interviews were

dated and labeled as to when they were collected and organized by date. Student

artifacts were collected during 2007-2010 school years and organized and labeled in


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chronological order by school year. As for my personal work, it too was organized

chronologically and labeled in two categories: undergraduate fashion work and graduate

fashion work.

The labeled data sets were then coded (Chang, 2010) using a colored-coded

indexing system. After multiple readings and analysis of the data which was an ongoing

process, using index cards, allowed me flexibility in manipulating the data or controlling

it as needed (Lincoln & Guba, 1985). Then I organized the coded data on a computerized

Excel spreadsheet handout to see the data visually (Chang, 2010). Finally, I refined the

data by narrowing the focus of data collection and eliminated redundant data while

emphasizing the most significant data (Chang, 2010) until I arrived at a definitive data set

for the findings of the study.

TRUSTWORTHY DATA

Data in autoethnography is taken from both past and present sources (Chang,

2008). Therefore, the naturalistic researcher should gather data from multiple sources

and in a variety of ways (Erlandson, Harris, Skipper, and Allen, 1993). The perspective

of the qualitative researcher is “that if they collect data from multiple sources or

triangulate the data they can have a more accurate picture of things and thus remain less

biased” (Lichtman, 2006, p. 13). Furthermore triangulating the data is “an important

method for contrasting and comparing, different accounts of the same situation. Through

identifying differences in perspective, contradictions and discrepancies can emerge that

help in the interpretation of a situation and the development of a practical theory”

(Altrichter et al., 2008, p. 147).


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According to Muncey (2010), most individuals only recall certain events of their

life which is using episodic memory to recollect events and can be a weakness when

creating autoethnographies. However, the fact that autoethnography lends itself to

chronicling one’s life through rich, thick, narrative descriptions in a reflexive journal,

ensures trustworthiness of the research (Glesne, 2006; Jenks, 2002). An important

aspect of data analysis and ensuring the trustworthiness of data, particularly that which is

constructed from memory recall, is member checking which is verifying interpretations

by having others look over the data and the research process (Berg, 2007: Glesne, 2006;

Lichtman, 2006). The fashion student interviews assisted me in recalling important

events to document in this study. In addition, I visited with family members to recollect

past accounts in my reflexive journal and read it to them to validate my stories. Finally, I

also asked a colleague, who is very familiar with my literacy journey to read my reflexive

journal for accuracy.

Ensuring the trustworthiness of my study involved my prolonged engagement—

my spending ample time with the culture and those involved in the study, all the while

conducting persistent observation (Glesne, 2006). I established and developed

trustworthy relationships with my former fashion students. I have also been a part of the

fashion world for at least twenty years as a student, an educator, and as an employee in

the fashion industry. My experiential knowledge in fashion has afforded me proficiency

in the vernacular spoken among the culture of the fashionista. Thus, I have also

established communicative competence (Troike-Saville, 2000) with the participants and

the culture under investigation.


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SUMMARY

Through an educator’s narrative inquiry which is interwoven within this

autoethnography, the author’s identity was evident through storytelling in which the

narrator’s personality was constructed (Muncey, 2010). Storytelling is a very natural

aspect of human living and it is through these stories that give “coherence and continuity”

to the storyteller’s existence (Muncey, 2010, p.43). The stories were organized in

narratives as the researcher used Pinar’s Currere (1975) to create a threefold account.

While the primary source is the researcher, other data sources were collected throughout

the research process to confirm and validate the autoethnographer’s stories. Being that

four types of data sources were employed for the study, the autoethnographer adopted

Chang’s (2008) approach to manage the data. Thus, authoethnography is a rigorous

methodological approach which is worthwhile and meaningful, particularly because the

researcher of the study is actively engaged (Ellis & Bochner, 2000) throughout the entire

process.

Chapter four is my narrative which contains journal accounts of my past, my

present and my future interwoven with my story of literacy and how my professional

identity was constructed. Chapter five is a conclusion of the study including the

interpretations, findings, and implications in a narrative as well.


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CHAPTER IV

THE PRIOR SELF, THE PAST SELF, & THE PROSPECTIVE SELF

In reading Taking a Multiliteracies Approach to Content Area Literacy, Lesley,

McMillan, and Webb (2012) invited me to formulate my own definition of content area

literacy. It was during the genesis of my doctoral program that I had been asked to define

content area literacy. I was thankful that I comprehended the subject well after having a

plethora of courses on the topic. I could only hope I was making my professors proud

being that I had employed some of these strategies in my own fashion classroom. I

enabled students to transmediate which is the process of taking information from one text

and converting it into another media form (Lesley et al., 2012). I provided students with

the opportunity to research relevant topics pertaining to fashion design. I taught students

the fashion vernacular, inviting students to keep a fashion journal with sketches, class

notes, observations, and learned vocabulary. These encapsulate some of the literacy

activities I employed in my fashion classroom.

When Lesley et al. (2012) addressed the literacy narrative, I had an epiphany

about two valid points: (1) the literacy narrative is the best approach to articulate my

story of how I coalesced into a fashion educator advocating literacy in the classroom and

(2) the literacy narrative, the crux of this study, aligns well with the theoretical

framework addressed in Pinar’s theory. Pinar’s theory of Currere (1975) suggested that

in order to legitimize autobiographical accounts as research, multiple accounts of one’s

story must be addressed for academic integrity. Currere enabled me to answer my

research questions because I was able to write my story in chronological order, providing


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coherence and a holistic look at my development as a fashion literate professional. Using

three varied accounts, I triangulated my story by writing about my prior self, my present

self, and my prospective self.

THE PRIOR SELF

Introduction to Literacy

I do not recollect the first book I ever read. However, I vaguely remember

learning new words from listening to a recording of a song called Dominique. It was a

single from the movie soundtrack of The Singing Nun. Although I didn’t quite

understand all the words of this particular song, it was one of the first I learned. My twin

sister and I played and replayed the soundtrack on our record player while pretending to

be students at a convent school run by nuns. I’m surprised the album remained

unscratched from the countless times we listened to it. In reminiscing about this song, I

can now account for why I did not fully comprehend the lyrics: they were originally

written in French by a Belgium nun, and then later translated into English. The content

dealt with the life of Saint Dominic and his teachings—all pretty much beyond the reach

of a small West Texas child.

I recall another event significant to my literacy development during my

elementary years. It occurred when my cousin Mariella, a predominant speaker of

Spanish, came to live with my grandmother. In her leisure time, this cousin read Mexican

novelas, romance novels written in Spanish. My sister and I gravitated to these

fascinating picture books. We had never seen anything like them. They sparked our

interest because they were atypical of books we had at home. Engrossed in this unique


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genre of stories, we immediately begin to create our own interpretations to them simply

by perusing the pictures. Of course, we gave our female protagonists Spanish names

such as Claudia and Daniela and created adventures within our plots, in which young

heroines defeated countless villains and won the love of the men of their dreams,

Alexandro and Francisco. While our narratives were oral, not recorded with pen and

paper, Elena and I were still creating our own interpretations of the novelas. We were

authors of new stories which emerged from original texts. Louise Rosenblatt (1997),

who suggested that students should be the interpreters of texts rather than the authorities,

would have been proud!!!

Hello!! Scholastic Books!!

During the nascence of my schooling at a Catholic Private School, my teachers

would send home pamphlets from Scholastic Books, advertising the most enticing books

and best sellers that were on the must have list. I remember circling several books from

the pamphlets, hoping that I could purchase them all. Mom always managed to narrow

my lists to a few books, but she made sure to purchase books every time. I was unaware

of my parents’ financial challenges and the sacrifices they made for my sister and me. In

order to pay for our education at a private school, they volunteered to work as part of the

custodial and ground maintenance crew in order to reduce our monthly tuition fees. I am

eternally grateful for parents who wanted us to have a quality education—and one they

themselves did not possess—and one they felt was worth sacrifice.

Because of my parent’s generosity, I was one of those children who could look

forward to the days when my scholastic order would arrive. Arnold Lobel’s Mouse Soup,


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Maurice Sendak’s Where the Wild Things Are, and Donald J. Sobel’s Encyclopedia

Brown series were some of my favorite books collected from Scholastic. I vividly

recollect sitting in my bedroom floor crisscross listening to the 45 RPM record of Mouse

Soup as I read along. The lively recording made the story come to life, with its sound

effects and its musical scores accompanying the speaker’s spirited narration. I learned

that I preferred reading books in tandem with audio recordings that featured narrators

who read stories aloud with proper articulation and intonation, literacy skills that I knew I

did not possess. Rearing its ugly head even in the midst of a literacy experience that

should have been wholly positive, a perception of myself inadequate as a reader was

persistent. These feelings of inadequacy would accompany me throughout my literacy

journey—yielding far more negative consequences.

Struggling with Literacy

As I thought about my early experiences with literacy, I felt a long familiar knot

in my stomach and a pang in my heart. Carolyn Ellis (2004) was right: writing

autoethnography evokes emotion. In fact, some of the memories which surfaced brought

tears streaming down my face. The irony is this: the person I am today, the one pursuing

a doctorate in language and literacy, has never been an avid reader. Apart from my short

stints with Scholastic Book orders, I have seldom read aesthetically, which Louise

Rosenblatt (1997) would define as reading for fun. Why is this so?

As a child, I dreaded and disliked reading for a number of painful reasons. First, I

revisit my first grade classroom. Our desks are pushed aside and we are sitting in a

crowded circle by Mrs. Baker’s desk. She sits in the front of the circle with a book in her


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hand, calling on us individually to read aloud. I am practicing my lines before I hear

Mrs. Baker call my name. I stand up and begin to read with my less than stellar

pronunciations. My classmates immediately break into laughter. I realize they are

laughing at my lack of fluency and my Mexican accent. I suppose had I read with a

British accent, my peers would have found it to be more appealing; however, my reading

with a thick Latino accent caused me humiliation at the time.

Although my sister and I were born and raised in Lubbock, Texas, my mother was

a keen believer in teaching us to speak our native tongue, Spanish, prior to learning the

English language. She wanted us to be bi-lingual. I am thankful for my dual languages

now, but as a child learning in an affluent, private Catholic school—with predominantly

Caucasian students—this was challenging for Elena and me. You see, we were just

beginning to learn English when we also began preschool and kindergarten. Today, I

would have been labeled an ELL (English Language Learner) student. Later, as a

second grader I was placed in a lower level class because I failed to excel in reading.

This was another event to cause me pain because I was perpetually compared to my twin

sister. She was in the accelerated second grade class because she had done exceptionally

well in reading. I had been grouped by reading ability. If reading ability groups were

given names of birds, I was certain that I’d be a buzzard—a commonly disliked bird—

rather than being one of the group of superior readers, the soaring eagles. I didn’t quite

understand depression then, but now I recognize some of the symptoms I exhibited as my

self-confidence shrank. With each negative experience, I felt “less than.” That was the

year I remember suffering from a nervous stomach and having my first X-ray. As a

consequence, I was forced to drink an awful-tasting stomach remedy of Milk of Magnesia


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and Mylanta before each meal. A third event causing confidence erosion was being

forced to spend my summer prior to second grade with our school librarian. She both

tutored me and then tested me for fluency, diction, comprehension, vocabulary and, I’m

sure, employed every comprehension strategy listed by Keene and Zimmerman (1997) in

Mosaic of Thought. All these experiences were enough to make me, a bi-lingual child

with minimal skills, shrink from reading—and at times to despise it.

Summers at the Public library

Mom figured a favored pastime of ours would be a day at the public library

during our summer breaks; therefore, she always planned several trips. While our mother

was not an avid reader herself and struggled in reading, she constantly promoted literacy.

I know she wanted us, unlike herself, to be lovers of books. Despite my own challenges

associated with school reading, I had always enjoyed trips to the public library because—

unlike the stresses and demands associated with school libraries—this environment

offered an environment of easy reading and choosing my books based on the appeal of

their covers. The more colorful the book’s cover, the more attraction it held for me.

(True confession: I’m still that way today). Also appealing were the books with

fascinating illustrations. I would have never been one to pick up The Lord of the Rings

(2012) Trilogy or read Gone with the Wind (1936), simply because these books are

voluminous. I always felt it would have taken me years to read these types of novels.

If I paused to glance over at my twin sister, I would see that while I was still

perusing the shelves for my first book, she had the literary canon of twenty books

recommended by school piled up in her corner of the table, while I was still perusing the


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shelves for my first one. Finally, mom would hurry us to complete the book hunt and

head for the circulation desk. (I loved watching the librarian assistant scan the books on

the computerized system. In elementary, I had decided I was going to be a librarian just

so I could scan books all day. Ah, the irony!) What I remember most about our summer

library visits, however, was that—once home—my sister would read her books and be

ready to check out more while I was still reading my first one.

Dressing up Darcy

Reading may not have been my preferred leisure activity, but I did have other

interests. One of them was adorning Darcy, my favorite Barbie doll. Darcy was a

striking fashion model; therefore, her Barbie facsimile was sold with glamorous

accessories: a swimsuit with a lace coverlet, shades, and a modeling portfolio with

picturesque poses of her on the cover of fashion magazines. My sister was the one with

great taste who had chosen for me this cherished birthday doll. Darcy Barbie vanquished

a long list of all other competitor Barbies: Farah Fawcett, Kate Jackson, Jacklyn Smith,

and Cheryl Ladd (the original Charlies’s Angels); Princess Leah, the Bionic Woman,

Ballerina Barbie, and Wonder Woman. Besides Ken, Darcy Barbie also dated Captain

Kirk, Spock, and the Doc from the Enterprise, as well as Lee Majors—the Million Dollar

Man.

Darcy’s clothing collection entered my realm when I was in sixth grade…. I was

home for a week with the chicken pox. It was the worst week ever because I was

scheduled to perform with my dance troupe at the annual Fine Arts Festival. However, I

was so ill that I could hardly lift my head off the pillow. Even the thought of dancing,


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what I most loved to do, could not launch me from my bed. My sister, already dressed in

her traditional ballet attire of black leotard, pink tights and pink ballet slippers, looked at

me sympathetically from the doorway, then turned and left with a friend to perform in the

festival. When she returned, hours later, Elena and our best friend walked in bearing gifts

to cheer me up. My sister had saved her allowance and had bought me the coolest

custom-sewn Barbie ensembles that someone at the Arts Festival had designed,

particularly for Darcy. I had never seen anything like them: they were exquisite. After I

recovered from the chicken pox, I couldn’t wait to start custom designing my own

fashionable attire for Darcy. Abuelita, my little grandmother, provided my sister and me

with some remnants of fabric from her sewing bin so we could hand-stitch garments for

our dolls. I made Darcy a monochromatic double- breasted cotton red vest adorned with

red, pearled buttons. For novice me, my custom creation wasn’t flawless, but it was

trendy and decently executed. I enjoyed adorning Darcy with my innovative designs.

The Sewing Machine

Mom was working for Sears and Roebuck, and one day after work, she walked

into our humble home enthusiastically holding a Kenmore sewing machine. My first

thought was, “Mom doesn’t sew.” Mom claimed she bought the machine so she could

make quick alterations with it, and so that we could all learn to sew. I was excited about

using this new wonder of technology, the electric sewing machine—but, first, we had to

learn how to operate it!

That following year, my sister and I both signed up for Homemaking. Those were

the days that Family Consumer Sciences, formerly known as Homemaking, was a course


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that offered one semester of cooking and one semester of sewing. The sole emphasis was

on domestic living. It’s gratifying to see how this course has evolved since my 7th

grade

year taking this course to the present where I am teaching it. The curriculum has now

grown beyond homemaking and now includes a focus on various careers. Now back to

that 6th

period Homemaking class that my twin and I walked into….

At my table sat the most diverse group in our classroom: Ty, a good-looking

Asian athlete; Charisa, an African-American girl; Monica, a Mexican-American girl with

severe psoriasis; and me. Our team was the one to beat that first semester of cooking,

with Ty as our major talent. The following semester, however, I enjoyed few moments of

triumph. I distinctly remember the first sewing project Ms. Uman assigned. It was an

apron. Ty effortlessly created a seamless white apron displaying his name in

embroidered red letters, and a coordinating white chef’s hat. While Ty produced his chef

ensemble in just one week, I produced one lone apron that took me a month to produce

and included after-school tutoring sessions.

During this semester for the sewing-challenged, I went on to produce one hand-

embroidered lopsided oval ruffled pillow, and an almost hairless Gonk (a stuffed animal

with button eyes and yarn hair). At this point in my academic journey I did not enjoy

sewing: it was definitely not my forte. Thank goodness, though, for the Kenmore sewing

machine. I used it on multiple occasions to catch up and complete those Homemaking

projects. The Kenmore was definitely the key factor in my passing Homemaking second

semester.


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Fashion Fundamentals

After that first semester taking sewing class in middle school—with all my

challenges and failures as a less than accomplished seamstress—I could not have

imagined choosing a career in fashion design. Although my sewing and illustration

skills were at rudimentary levels, my sense of fashion and modeling were strong. These

strengths carried more personal impact than I realized, until during my high school years,

when I took a career inventory test: my highest interest scores all dealt with fashion!

Thus, in 1989, I began my journey as a fashion student at a local university.

I nearly quit after that first month of my freshman year. The course work was

harder than I had anticipated. I quickly learned that fashion design was daunting,

particularly if you were not a natural at it. Being a novice in the discipline required

countless work hours of me. I even spent several spring breaks in the sewing lab and was

perpetually sleep-deprived from the many late night hours spent completing projects. In

fact, I spent so much time in the fashion laboratory that one of my professors entrusted

me with her keys for weekend work there. And to make matters worse, I almost failed

fashion fundamentals, a rigorous fashion theoretical course. I think it was “Dr. X’s” job

to weed out sophomores. However, I passed it with a “C” and was ecstatic. Those who

say fashion design students have it easy would learn otherwise had they spent a week in

our high heel shoes.

My sister always teased me, claiming I had an easy major. I think her initial

perception of students in fashion was that we simply drew paper dolls and sewed all day.

She always flaunted her opinion that business majors studied hard and were required to


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take demanding courses such as business math, business law, accounting and statistics.

Her perceptions of us fashion designers quickly altered, however, after she observed

(from the comfort of her bed in the room we shared) the countless sleepless nights I spent

working to meet deadlines for fashion portfolio projects and apparel constructed projects.

One day, as I was frantically multi-tasking (creating a collage of fashion images and

studying for a Texas history exam), my sister took pity on me. She took over cutting out

the fashion graphics and helped me complete the collage. At that moment I knew that I

had earned my sister’s respect. She realized that fashion design was not just fun and

frills. What I gleaned from those beginning courses of study is that learning the

fundamentals of fashion required just as much rigor as many other disciplines.

In a league of my own

I was still forming my identity as a fashionista. I was in a world and unsure if I

belonged in it. It was during those seminal years of learning the technicalities of fashion

that almost convinced me, I did not belong. Sewing, fashion illustration, and basic art

were like learning a foreign language, one that I didn’t quite understand. I even

remember going through a recession, what I call a small depression, because I was

struggling with my own identity as a student and feeling like I didn’t fit in, particularly in

fashion.

However, one thing was certain—I had my own style of dress that often times

generated responses from my family and peers, sometimes positive and sometimes

negative. I still remember walking into the student union building to join friends, and as I

walked passed a group of girls, they laughed at my metallic gold hat covered in sequins.


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It was definitely a one-of-a-kind and would’ve been noticed in a college football stadium.

I remember thinking, “Well, they may not like it, but at least they noticed it.” Then there

was a cousin of mine who often labeled me as “weird” because I chose to express myself

with varying hairstyles and innovative clothing choices. Often times these situations

caused me to reconceptualize my identity as a fashionista.

It was during a self-deprecating moment in fashion illustration class, that I felt

less than my peers, because I couldn’t draw, sew, or design like them. I was exhausted,

frustrated, anxious, and just wanted to walk out of the classroom to never return.

However, I wanted to prove to myself, my family, and my friends that I did belong. The

only thing that kept me in the room was the following: I looked at the room full of

aspiring fashion designers. Then I took an introspective look at myself. It was then that I

realized, I was one of the most fashion forward students in the room—I was daring,

trendy, innovative, intelligent, hardworking, persistent, and I had staying power. That’s

the day that I knew, I was in a league of my own.

Daring with Daisy Print

Dare to be different in a daisy-print ensemble inspired from the 1970’s. This bell

bottom pant in a flamboyant daisy print is one that depicts the extreme fashion of the era

with an exaggerated bell leg. It is accompanied with a sleek bare-back halter top

trimmed in tiny daisies which brings sophistication to the entire look.

This is commentary I would have written in a style show for the first ensemble I

designed. Obviously, the first design I created and constructed is an unforgettable

moment in the trajectory of my life as a fashion design student. I remember scanning


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through numerous fashion magazines, which most individuals would consider an out-of-

school literacy: But for a fashion student, Vogue is textbook and a part of the literary

canon. I was looking for innovative and eccentric, and daisy-print seemed to be the next

big thing featured in the glossies (fashion lexicon for fashion magazine). I wanted to be

daring and get my hands on this innovative print, but I had to find it first.

The fashion department had fabric that was accessible to all fashion students. As

I perused the stash of fabrics in the departmental closet, I found it—a vintage daisy print

fabric in a bold pattern. It was truly the inspiration for my first design. I distinctly

remember showing it to my colleagues. Their reaction: they thought it was the ugliest

fabric they had ever seen, particularly because it was stretchy-type polyester from the

1970’s. While my classmates saw trash, I saw trendy. It took me several weeks to

create the final product after manipulating basic patterns known to the common fashion

designer as pattern slopers. Voila! There it was!! It was a daring daisy print ensemble

that turned out pretty much the way I had envisioned. Even my colleagues appeared to

be impressed with the outfit. And, ironically, the following semester, everyone seemed

to be designing in daisy print. I discovered I had a knack for forecasting trends. That’s

when I knew I was born to be a fashionista!

España La Moda

At the genesis of my fashion career I wanted to be the next Christian Dior—that

is, until I was introduced to Christian Lacroix, the French designer with Spanish flair, by

reading “Viola! It’s Fun a Lacroix,” a Time magazine article (Howell, 1989) my dad had

earmarked for me. To this day, there has been none other like Christian Lacroix. I am an


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avid fan of Lacroix, who in his earlier years was a Brando look-alike. He was frequently

spotted wearing a Ralph Lauren suit, flamboyant tie, (Howell, 1989) and a fedora hat.

After reading the Lacroix article, I even made a special trip to the library to obtain more

information on this new and upcoming designer.

Reading up on Lacroix came in handy and eventually paid off. In my formative

years as a design student, I was asked to research and write about my preferred designer.

This literacy assignment was one I proudly claimed because I earned an “A,” and my

fashion instructor commented “well written” on the front of my essay. The following is

an excerpt from the essay I wrote approximately 20 years ago about a younger Lacroix:

[M]atador jackets in high voltage pastels encrusted with embroidery, printed cat

suits, sombreros winking with trinkets, tiny dresses concealed behind brilliant

outsize bows of shot taffeta, gaudy ruffles and frills bursting from sober vents,

legs in skintight watered silk” (Howell, 1989, p. 549): this is only one collection

and representation of the classical and traditional couturier, Christian Lacroix.

What is the classical and traditional Lacroix? [A lover] of bullfighting, music,

nature, and the sea best defines the classical and traditional Lacroix. Looking at

the designer’s collections, these elements have definitely acted as catalysts and

inspirations that have molded the couturier to the Christian Lacroix that he is

today. (Personal Archival Data)

I also learned that Lacroix was considered one of the kings of couture, and his

designs that intrigued me most were ensembles that looked like costumes hand-crafted


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for flamenco dancers and matadors. Because dancing flamenco had always appealed to

me, I was delighted with these interpretations of the fashions of Spain.

It was Lacroix who inspired me to create España La Moda, a 15- ensemble

collection (Personal Archival Data) of 31 garments featuring three disparate styles of

Spain: The Traditional, The Flamenco, and The Matador. The Traditional was a

grouping of five outfits depicting my vision of traditional Spanish attire. The Flamenco

was another grouping of five garments featuring flowing flounces and fabrics to capture

the movement of the flamenco dancer. The Matador was the final grouping of five

ensembles inspired by the costumes of Spanish bullfighters.

As a part of the assignment, I dedicated an entire page to an extensive style

coding system I had created for the collection. A style code was placed on each garment

to identify it for retailing purposes. I also drew 31 flat illustrations showing design

detailing, illustrated 31 specification sheets displaying the dimensions for design

detailing, completed 31 cost sheets with pricing details, wrote operational details

explaining how each garment was constructed, and included fabric swatches for each

creation. España La Moda was a colossal project, and I was extremely proud to have

designed my first collection, as well as to have constructed two actual ensembles as

collection previews.

Yet in the midst of enjoying the success of my collection, I committed a major

gaffe. Although I had worked arduously to present this project in an end-of-the-year

runway showing, I had failed to conduct research on one of the single most important

phrases in the fashion vernacular: haute couture—and I had mispronounced it—to my


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professor’s chagrin and to my public humiliation when she corrected my mistake in front

of all show attendees! How could I have overlooked such a phrase? Haute couture

(French for high fashion) is the epitome of all that represents fashion. Every fashionista

fantasizes about haute couture; every fashionista wants to design haute couture; every

fashionista wants to afford haute couture; every fashionista wants to wear haute couture.

And Christian Lacroix had recently been named as a king of haute couture. My public

faux pas was a life-changing experience. My mispronouncing this fashion term became a

pivotal impetus for change.

Meeting Todd Oldham

Todd Oldham is a fashion and interior designer extraordinaire. Anyone who has

ever purchased dorm room items from Target has likely skimmed Todd Oldham’s interior

design dorm room collection. Oldham also launched a fashion collection for Target, but

he is most recognized as creative consultant for Escada. I couldn’t believe Todd

Oldham, the up and coming designer, was going to be the guest speaker for our April

1992 Texas Student Design competition at the Metroplex. It was the event of the year,

when all fashion design schools from the state of Texas competed for the Best of Show

and to display the most garments on the runway. Another impetus for entering the event

was that each student was a contender for a fashion internship to Paris for the summer,

and only 129 garments—the crème de la crème of hundreds of the submissions—would

be previewed. Though we were allowed a collection of three ensembles for submission,

I competed with only one from the España La Moda’s collection which I hoped would be

a show stopper: a halter dress accented in big bold buttons topped by a bolero jacket in

flounces.


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Let the show begin! The lights dimmed and the once sterile white wall displayed

a lively backsplash of colors, and the music began. It was an attention getter. Every

fashion student’s eyes were fixed on the stage and runway, hoping to get a glimpse of

their design worn on the catwalk by a KD agency model. At last—towards the finale of

the show there it was—my ensemble! It was surreal to experience every designer’s

dream: to sit in a front row seat and watch my garments “walk the runway.” What an

affirmation that I could be successful in this field.

AutoCAD Class

My final semester of school, the fashion instructors decided that every student not

grandfathered into the old graduation plan needed to take an AutoCAD (Computer-aided

Design) course. However, there was not a single professor from the fashion department

who had the credentials or training to teach the course; therefore, my favorite interior

design professor who was fluent in the program and taught it regularly, was asked to

teach several of us fashion students rudimentary AutoCAD. I looked forward to class

with Dr. Harley—Davidson, that is—a fan of Harley Davidson motorcycles. While Dr.

Harley didn’t teach fashion students on a regular basis, he was a major supporter of our

program and frequently attended our style shows. This is how I came to know him well.

At first, I thought that mixing fashion and interior design students in one room

could be problematic. The interior design students had the reputation of being the

pretentious ones because they acted like they owned the computer labs, the mat board

rooms, and the entire College of Human Sciences. I must confess, they did own the

building. We retreated to our fashion labs frequently, but interior design students lived in


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their labs. Now we were being asked to collaborate with the enemy. There were only

five of us fashion students but at least twenty interior design students enrolled in the

class. Because I was extremely technologically challenged and was going to need a lot of

assistance, I made sure I was a “front row Joe”. I felt sorry for Professor Harley because

I was perpetually asking for help. He finally gave up and handed me his fashion

AutoCAD textbook to use for afterhours tutoring.

Because the interior design students were the majority, we all had to learn the

basics of AutoCAD with computerized floor plans. Then our professor threw us another

curve ball. What student of design would expect to have a literacy assignment in addition

to our AutoCAD projects creating three-dimensional computerized renderings of rooms

and apparel? Yet that was our reality. As Dr. Harley announced due dates for this

midterm literacy project, I remember thinking, “You mean I have to be a creative writer

too?”

We were to use an existing collection we had previously created and modify all

flat illustrations, which are drawings demonstrating details such as seam lines, trims, and

closures using AutoCAD. If I ever decided to launch a collection, I thought España La

Moda would be a great one to produce. In tandem with the computerized fashion

illustrations, we were required to promote our apparel collection to a boutique owner, Ms.

Scott, by drafting a promotional letter and creating our own letterhead, also in AutoCAD.

Finally, we had to send a memo and prepare our cost sheets in Excel. My letter (Personal

Archival Data) to Ms. Scott read as follows:


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Dear Ms. Scott:

Bolero jackets encrusted in black trim, halter dresses in full flare, and midriff bolero

jackets in flamboyant flounces are the exciting assembly of designs you will see in our

España La Moda collection for fall. España La Moda, meaning the fashion of Spain,

features innovations depicting the lifestyle of the Spanish Gypsy Flamenco woman. This

haute couture designer line is a “one-of –a-kind,” and I am giving your boutique the

opportunity to be the first to purchase [our] line because we believe your boutique will

display our collection with exclusivity. Being that the “Spain look” is hot for fall, we

feel our designer line will be a sure sell-out in your store.

Now let me introduce to you our exquisite couture line which features the following: a

halter dress with a mini-circular skirt, a trimmed bolero jacket with a 3-tier flounce

sleeve, and a midriff bolero jacket with a full flared flounce. All garments are intended to

be coordinated with one another. The garments are constructed from a 100% black/blue

printed cotton fabric and silk shantung. You may purchase the precious items at an

affordable wholesale price. Look at the enclosed cost sheet for [our] styling and price

details. If you have any questions regarding any items please feel free to contact me at

the office.

Sincerely,

Teresa Leos

Teresa Leos,

Owner & Designer

Enclosures


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I must have found relevance to this project since I held on to it for so long. Not

only did I earn an “A” on this midterm project, I conquered AutoCAD and made another

“A” for the semester. All was well. Dr. Harley survived dealing with the fashion

designer divas, no departmental fights broke out between the Pretentious Ones and the

Fashionistas. In fact, by the semester’s end, fraternizing with the enemy was not so bad.

We all got along well.

The Senior Style Show

I spent many hours perfecting the model walk after watching several episodes of

CNN’s Style with Elsa Klensch, an Australian reporter and fashion commentator who

produced and hosted the show. I lived for style shows. I don’t know if Dr. Drew was

aware of my passion for participating in them, but she frequently asked me to write

commentary for the departmental style shows. I suppose she liked my writing style

because she was selective about her choice of words. She was, by far, the most articulate

in the fashion department, and the fact that she chose me to write commentary was quite

the compliment. I was also a natural on the runway and loved to model. I suppose that

dancing and performing on stage the majority of my life was a blessing in disguise.

Therefore, I not only wrote commentary for the shows, but also choreographed them.

For Senior Presentation Day, which fell on a Friday evening, April 30, 1993, I directed,

choreographed, wrote commentary, and did commentary for part of my senior style show

because no one was willing to assume the task. I had kept the senior program as a

memoir from the show. I had almost forgotten that each student had written our own

commentary to introduce our collections. Mine read as follows:


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Bolero jackets in ruffled sleeves, sparking metallic hip huggers, skintight hot

pants, striped and polka-dotted catsuits, bell bottoms printed in flamboyant

colors, and matador jackets encrusted with gold trinkets—these “show clothes”

are characteristic of the haute couture I enjoy designing. I am immensely

influenced by the work of professional top designers, Christian Lacroix, Dolce &

[G]ab[b]ana, and Versace who are the key inspirators and catalysts that motivate

the clothing I design. I have always been fascinated with the carefree, spirited

look of the “Hippie Era,” the simplistic elegance of the Parisian, and the

sophisticated look of the Espanola which I try to incorporate into my designs.

(Personal Archival Data).

(I smile as I reread my commentary from years ago. I had actually included the words

haute couture which I, of course, must have researched and now knew how to properly

pronounce after my earlier public mispronunciation, presentation debacle.)

To my surprise, that night I discovered I was one of the nominees for Best

Fashion Design Student. I had been nominated based on my GPA, my innovations in

design, and my involvement with the apparel design department. I had done it!!! I had

managed to accomplish a major milestone in my life. I had successfully completed the

fashion design program despite a very rocky beginning. I wanted to prove to myself, my

family, my friends, and my professors that fashion was truly a part of who I was. I still

remember how proud my parents and other family members were seeing me on stage


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with the other nominees. I felt as if my fears and their fears of my failing as a fashionista

were finally banished!

Cowboy Hats, Cowboy Boots, and Country Music

After completing my coursework, I interned for a western wear company co-

owned by a mother and daughter team who specialized in custom designing for the

western wear aficionados and celebrities such as Tanya Tucker, Barry Corbin, and Miss

Texas. The company produced tuxedo shirts, skirts, and chaps in sequins, fringe,

deerskin, leather, denim and in soft wear such as ultra-suede, the company’s trademark.

These intricate designs were beautiful but costly, ranging from $125-$500.

While some of my fashion colleagues were working for free at their internship

sites, I earned a $1200 shopping spree and a full-time job at the end of the internship.

Free clothes and a job! What fashionista could ask for anything more! I loved working

for the company, and I had the best bosses ever. We had two stores, one in Texas and the

other in New Mexico. I worked at the Texas location and was the visual merchandiser for

the store. My job duties included designing all visual displays; working the retail store;

working occasional trade shows; taking phone orders; ordering inventory; writing

descriptive commentary for the catalog; as well as writing commentary, directing, and

choreographing all style shows. I occasionally traveled to create the visual displays in

our New Mexico store. I had never listened to so much country music in my life!

However, by the end of it all, I had become a country and western convert: I had a pair

of Tony Lama boots, several cowboy hats, country music CD’s, and tickets to the

Cowboy Symposium to prove it!


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A Graduate Student

As if five years was not sufficient education, I decided to pursue a master’s

degree and certification in Family Consumer Sciences Education (FCSE), a fancy title for

Home Economics. I was looking for a shortcut to teach fashion design at a junior

college. I wanted to inspire other students to be future designers just as Christian Lacroix

had inspired me.

Although I had aspirations of teaching fashion in a junior college, middle school

came first. I taught in a local school in the east side of town, the community where I

grew up. This area has a population of mostly Mexican Americans and African

Americans. My school campus was deemed a low social economic status (SES) school

where students struggled with reading and writing. As a consequence, literacy was

problematic for students in the family and consumer sciences courses I taught. I often

wondered how I could teach the content to my students when they struggled with even

the most rudimentary coursework. I surmised that my students were just as challenged

by Standard English as they would be learning a foreign language because—in this

geographically and socially isolated community—their first language was a colloquial

version of Ebonics or the Spanish language.

Just as I was searching for ways to improve literacy in my classroom, from my

teacher’s mailbox I pulled a brochure sent from my alma mater, inviting me to enroll as a

doctoral student in its College of Education’s Language and Literacy Program. I

embraced the opportunity, immediately applied, and was accepted. What timing! All

this occurred the same week I was assigned to teach reading to students who had failed

the Texas Assessment Knowledge and Skills (TAKS) exam! The irony of this situation


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was not lost on me: I had never taught reading nor did I enjoy reading, yet I was being

asked to teach struggling students how to read. What an anomaly I was: the most recent

Language and Literacy Program student who disliked reading! In retrospect, I suppose I

was the perfect candidate for the job. At the least I could empathize with my students.

Thus, acceptance into the Language and Literacy Program at the local university came at

a time most apropos, a time for change and learning something new.

Legally Blonde

Dr. Medina placed a 500 page dissertation on the table and said, “You will be

writing one of these.” You might assume that I would have run out of the room. Though

I was apprehensive, my desire to learn something new glued me to my chair. I glanced at

the five other candidates sitting around the table in the conference room, and their faces

said it all. Obviously, Dr. Medina’s scare tactics had worked. They looked just as lost

and scared as I did.

I remember that day well because I was a few minutes late to the doctoral

program orientation. It was one of our final days of teaching at the middle school before

the summer began, and I was wearing a peasant Mexican blouse with a dirndl black skirt,

strappy high heel sandals, a black long- hair wig, and a scarf around my head like a

gypsy. As an afterthought I threw on my faux zebra- printed glasses so that I could fit in

with the intellectuals at the university. After all, I was going to be a doctoral student, and

I had to look the part. I was fashionably late, and as I entered the room, I was acutely

aware that all eyes were on me. Colleagues and professors alike stared inquisitively. I

felt like I was in a scene from Legally Blonde (2004).


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I went to the computer store to purchase a brand new laptop. Then a friend lent

me her backpack. I was set for school. Result: I was the only student taking notes on my

laptop and wheeling a backpack full of books. I must have looked like an absolute nerd;

however, my Acer computer became my best purchase, my best friend, and my best

resource as it accompanied me to every class. As a backhanded compliment, one of my

colleagues remarked, with some amusement, that my eccentric attire and my constant

laptop note taking did very much remind her of “Legally Blonde girl.” My immediate

reply was, “And I will persevere in academics as she did!”

What is epistemology?

A rare breed in academe was Dr. Dee, a fashion dandy who was particular about

every detail of his attire from his Windsor knotted tie to his stylish bowler. I remember

sitting in Dr. Dee’s Qualitative Research Methods classroom overwhelmed with the forty

articles I had to print and read before the end of the first summer session. It was to be a

month of reading thousands of pages. I think I must have killed two trees that day. After

reading convoluted dense prose from one of the articles, I realized it was definitely out of

my reading range. I think I heard one of my Language and Literacy professors say that if

you encounter five words on a page that are unfamiliar, the reading level is obviously too

sophisticated. Well, I have to admit that the reading level became too sophisticated after

the first paragraph. I had managed to highlight epistemology, phenomenology,

hermeneutics, ontological, reflexivity, subjectivity, and I kept highlighting words to

consult with Webster’s dictionary. I felt like I had enrolled in a philosophy class.


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Then I took a class with Dr. Milan and Dr. Rice, who provided me a black and

white composition book to hold data. I know I must have given them the blank look.

What data? Where do I get it? They wanted me to store qualitative rich field data that I

would eventually wallow in. I learned that rich field data could be anything from

descriptive narratives, maps, pictures, anecdotal notes, student backgrounds, interviews,

classroom observational notes, archival data, and reflexive journals like the one I’m

writing this very moment. After several graduate courses, I quickly discovered that

epistemology, simply put, is the study of knowledge, and as educators we are perpetually

conducting epistemological studies. Because our students obtain knowledge daily, then

we as educators are continually conducting studies about how our students learn.

A Leap of Faith

After teaching middle school for seven and half years, surviving, and actually

enjoying reading, as well as teaching it for a year, I was afforded the opportunity to teach

Apparel Design and Manufacturing (ADM) at the local university. One week prior to

spring break, a friend of mine and the director of the ADM program approached me,

recruited me, believing that I would be a great fashion instructor. I had always wanted to

teach fashion in higher education, but I never thought in a million years that I would have

an opportunity to work for a tier-one university. While I had not worked with fashion

patterns, construction techniques, or even draped a garment in years, I took that leap of

faith.

I thought my higher education students’ reading skills would be at much more

advanced levels than those of my middle school students. Sadly, I discovered that the


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literacy problem is both epidemic and universal. I learned that undergraduate students

seldom read or enjoy reading for leisure. I suppose I couldn’t blame them since I wasn’t

a recreational reader myself; nevertheless, I was dismayed to learn that most of my

fashion students had never even set foot in the university library. In contrast, and despite

my reading aversion, as a fashion major years earlier, I had spent a lot of time in the

TT503 stacks, perusing biographies and admiring designs of Yves Saint Laurent and

other preferred designers. I wanted my students to learn to love reading the way my

Adolescent Literacy professor had turned me on to it. I wanted them to explore and

enjoy reading the fashion expository texts and designer biographies on the fifth floor. I

also began to note that my students seldom used the terminology that was ubiquitous in

every fashion textbook. How could we graduate credible designers, retailers, boutique

owners, fashion merchandisers, if our students were not well versed in their own fashion

lexicon? This notion was also evident in student project presentations and portfolio

reviews. Students were lacking the vocabulary to best articulate what was well translated

on their fashion trend boards and Berol illustration paper with Prima watercolor and

computerized mediums. Taking these issues into consideration is what propelled me to

write this dissertation on fashion literacy, and I chose autoethnography as the best

methodological venue for telling my story.

Lacking Luster and Literacy

When I walked into the 203 Sewing Construction Lab, I was deflated. The room

was a lack- luster four- walls shell. I wondered how I, as Undergraduate Me, could have

ever been inspired in this very same room. Next, I wondered if I, as Instructor Me, were

capable of inspiring my students in this sterile environment. This lab was nothing like


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my black and white French-inspired office. It featured a mini chandelier, a marble zebra-

striped kidney shaped desk, coordinating zebra chair, a faux black and white fireplace,

and, of course, a mannequin form dressed in black and white attire. Even my colorful

middle school classroom—with its animal print accents, zebra couch, and hot pink shag

rug—offered more aesthetic appeal than this!

The room may have been devoid of décor, but I had to concede that it was stocked

with the essentials for teaching fashion: fabric swatches, sewing equipment, elongated

fabric tables, a domestic sewing lab, and an industrialized sewing lab. However, I did

observe one big omission: there were no textbooks or a fashion library in sight. I decided

to start one!

Noting that my students lacked knowledge about textiles, I decided to assign a

small research paper investigating common fabrics. I then intended to compile the

students’ reports and create a textile reference book for students, by students.

Furthermore, I wanted to incorporate volumes of these into our fashion library until the

majority of fabrics had been researched, but time did not permit the collection of these

volumes.

Construction Basics

A primary example of students who lacked even rudimentary knowledge of the

fashion lexicon was Lydia. The irony of her situation was obvious. Lydia worked for a

local Sewing Studio that supplied the Bernina sewing machines which we used in class.

This student’s job was to teach sewing workshops and to sell sewing machines to

potential clients, yet she had never learned the technical terms for the machine parts of

the particular sewing machines she sold at work and used at school. To launch my first


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literacy operation, I first required my students to learn the technical terms for both the

Bernina Sport and Bernina Activa Sewing machines. The parts of one machine brand are

quite similar to parts in other sewing machines, but there are disparities. In order to teach

students the sewing machine terminology, I chunked the vocabulary by introducing

approximately five terms, then placed students in collaborative teams of three to four so

that they could review these parts together and take their notes. Although I don’t recall

having to learn sewing machine parts during my basic clothing construction course, I

know that doing so would have been useful, especially since my teaching position at the

middle school involved teaching students the technical terms for the sewing machine

parts.

Learning the Fashion Lexicon

I distinctly remember a road trip with my niece, Selena, who was three at the

time. I glanced back at her, looked at her small feet dangling from the car seat. I noticed

she was wearing a brand new pair of shoes and said, “I like your new shoes.” My

precocious niece quickly corrected me: “These aren’t just shoes, Tia (aunt). They’re

Mary Jane’s!” I looked again at her tiny shoe-clad feet. She was absolutely correct. I

was stunned that my three year old niece was using the proper nomenclature of this type

of shoes in the same way that my fashion students identified it. During another shopping

excursion to a local fashion clothier, my niece—several years older by now—was

immediately drawn to a blouse sparkling with elephantine sequins. Seeing her interest, I

gave her a fashion vocabulary lesson: “Selena, these big sequins are called paillettes.”

Entertained with the novelty of a newly discovered word, the little fashion diva put her

knowledge to the test as she identified every item in sight sporting the unique sequins,


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and asked each time, “Are these paillettes, Tia?” She quickly acquired the fashion

vocabulary through repetition. Despite the disparity in age, my fashion students at the

collegiate level acquired fashion vernacular in a manner similar to that of my niece—

through repetition, jotting unfamiliar terms in their fashion journals, practicing the

language in Project Runway challenges and presentations, and researching new

terminology. These were only a few of the literacy strategies I employed in the

classroom. It was imperative that they learn the language of their discipline if they were

to become true experts in their field.

Fashion Chemistry

Are you aware that fashion students are also chemists? My first semester

assignment as an Apparel Design and Manufacturing Instructor involved teaching

Surface Design, a course that involved teaching dyeing processes and fabric

manipulation. I didn’t know there was so much chemistry involved in Surface Design. I

now understood why Griffiths (2000) labeled the fashionista as “a polyglot who must be

multi-dimensional” and understand other disciplines in order to produce fashion. Every

laboratory required us to suit out in our leather aprons and goggles, just like chemists. So

much for looking fashionable in class! I even considered bedazzling my goggles with

colorful rhinestones. But, caution came first—we had to be careful during dyeing labs

because we dealt with several hazardous chemicals and dyeing agents. This included

urea, an element also used in certain bomb formulas! Fortunately, we had no chemical

spills or accidents.


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One day I was teaching my students a lesson over the dichotomies of natural

versus manufactured fibers and noticed my students had failed to read their assigned

reading. I realized they were relying on me to carry on a dialectical discourse with

myself! At this point I lectured the class and reiterated the truth that they, students of

fashion, needed to read in order to be well informed in their trade. I then asked how

many of them had ever set foot in the university's library. Only one student raised her

hand. I was appalled by the response. I regretted that these young women were

overlooking books as great resources for both inspiration and information, even in this

era of technology.

The following class day, I required my students to meet me on the fifth floor of

the university library. I gave them a quick tour and took them to the TT503 section of the

library where most fashion books are situated. Students were amazed at how many

resources were available, and some confessed they returned to check out books after the

tour. If my students were going to be polyglots, they had to be fluent, particularly in the

language of fashion.

On another occasion I had my Surface Design students meet me at the campus

museum. I required them to take notes and illustrate anything and everything they could

draw inspiration from for future collections. I hoped the students would be inspired from

the Pre-Columbian art, the Old West collections, and the featured exhibit, a collection of

beautifully crafted tessellated quilts.


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Credible Designers

My student Nellie mentioned that during her working hours at Stein Mart, she

spent her time identifying the various seams, fabric weaves, and applying the terminology

that she had learned in class. This is what we educators refer to as real world application.

It was gratifying to witness authentic learning in action. I wished that all of my students

would take the effort to do the same. Nellie also mentioned that the information and

experience gained taking my course had made her a better sales representative. Her

customers appreciated her expertise: that she could provide them with suggestions for

fabric choices and explanations for why some garments have certain suggested prices.

Softball and Fashion

I noticed Kary, one of my student athletes, having difficulty sewing straight seams

and learning some of the rudimentary concepts. While conferencing with me, Kary

complained “Ms. Leos, I am out of my element. Imagine yourself on the softball field!”

Kary was right. I would be out of my element if I were on the softball field. To begin

with, I would be afraid to even break a nail. It would be daunting, to say the least, and I

would definitely need a tutor. After our visit, Kary and I decided to see if we could

provide her a student tutor. She immediately called the athletic department, and they

were able to accommodate her with a fashion design tutor who would be paid by the

athletic department based on my recommendation. I love the fact that Kary was

enthusiastic about learning fashion despite the fact that it was not her major.

By the end of the semester, Kary was enjoying basic construction class and had

improved dramatically. Had I been giving actual awards for the most improved fashion

student that semester, Kary would have earned it. After Kary’s final project, I received


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the best news ever. She had decided to change her major to fashion design. I had made a

convert out of the softball player!

A Fashion Literacy Classroom

I had not realized how many literacy assignments and projects I had employed in

my university curriculum. My students took part in Project Runway Challenges that

demanded fashion research and knowledge of the fashion vernacular in presenting their

projects. I had also asked students to read about their favorite designer so they could

fully understand their designer’s aesthetics in order to design and illustrate a designer-

inspired fashion collection. In basic clothing construction, my students prepared

notebooks paraphrasing the operational steps on how to construct each sample in their

notebooks. They also visited Hancock, a local fabric store and did a scavenger hunt

while defining and identifying some of their fashion vocabulary terms. Aside from that,

students had to learn the proper terminology for the sewing machine parts. In

Introduction to Fashion, students had to physically go to the library to use the fashion

books I had placed on reserve. I had asked my Independent Study students to read a lot

in order to obtain inspiration from fashion articles and biography readings. The

following is a semester of work for one particular student: (1) read a novel and write a

literature log for each chapter including five sketches for a character or several

characters; (2) read a play and design a garment for this play including a fashion portfolio

ready illustration; (3) read a biography on a fashion designer and create a grouping that is

in alignment with the designer’s aesthetic while incorporating some of your own

concepts; and (4) write a How to Construct Book including the operational instructions

for your two contest garments. After reviewing these assignments and rereading them


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again, I believe my independent study courses could have been labeled as writing

intensive. I hope my students were truly inspired from reading all of this literature.

Design Tour 2010

What an unforgettable sight: the Chicago River in vibrant green in preparation for

St. Patrick’s Day festivities. During Spring Break of 2010, I took a group of students to

Chicago, Illinois, for a seminar course. The preparations for the tour begin prior to

Christmas break, as I had final details prepared prior to the start of spring semester. My

job was to coordinate the design tour and create the curriculum to correspond with the

course requirements. Students for previous design tours had not used textbooks for the

course. I decided to use a Chicago tour book for our textbook. The seminar course

(Personal Archival Data) allowed students to experience authentic learning by visiting

local fashion and artistic venues such as the Art Institute of Chicago, the largest flagship

Ralph Lauren store in the country, the Ford Modeling Agency, the Joffrey Ballet

Costume department, one of the largest local fabric stores, and the Andersonville Galleria

where students met with local designers. I also required seminar students to read and

research the fashion venues we toured. At the seminar’s end, students were to submit a

fashion design tour notebook, including summaries of all venues attended, a daily

reflective journal of their fashion tour, and an Apparel Design and Manufacturing poster

and presentation of their respective fashion venues. My course was designed with the

intent to familiarize students with multiple facets of the fashion industry, as well as

providing them with opportunities to network for future employment.


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Growing Pains: Teaching Portfolio Review

Teaching Portfolio Review was indeed a growing pain during my collegiate

teaching. I took a risk, and I felt inexperienced, uncomfortable, challenged, and

vulnerable. It was my final spring semester of teaching; I volunteered to teach Fashion

Portfolio because the course was going to be given to a graduate student who did not

understand the conventions of fashion. I was concerned that students would suffer as a

result, and I needed to teach an additional course anyway. This was a taxing assignment,

to say the least, because I was technologically challenged and had no prior knowledge of

Adobe Photoshop or Adobe Illustrator. I knew I would be at a slight disadvantage as my

students would be more proficient in both programs. I paid for my own training to learn

Photoshop and Illustrator that semester and was tutored concurrently while teaching the

course. While my students may have had more experience, I was able to bring my

strengths as an educator to the fashion portfolio lab. That included teaching students that

failure is not an option, as I consistently went over the rubric for portfolio review and

brought in texts of examples of well-produced electronic portfolios.

I also enjoyed using unconventional teaching strategies to inspire students to

create imaginative collections. One of them included going to the movies to watch Alice

in Wonderland. Students created some of the most innovative collections by including

swimsuit, ready-to-wear and couture collections inspired by Alice in Wonderland, the

Cheshire Cat, the Queen of Hearts, Mad Hatter, and Tweedle Dee and Tweedle Dum.

Obviously, the characters and colors of the cinematography inspired these fabulous

collections.


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I realized students did not have a completed portfolio to show to interview for

fashion internships because they were enrolled in Fashion Portfolio the same semester

they were required to seek employment. I wanted students to have a completed

collection to show; therefore, I required them to include a supplemental portfolio

collection featuring their best work or a collection that was representative of the type of

employment they were seeking. The supplemental piece could easily be mailed to

prospective employers or sent digitally to reveal at least one stellar assignment that would

showcase their abilities.

I also reminded the students to use the fashion vernacular during their portfolio

review so they would sound like professionals. I conducted mock portfolio reviews

which obligated students to promote their fashion collections while using the proper

terminology. This enabled the graduating seniors to provide feedback to their peers

during practice. I was delighted and gratified when all my seniors passed the final

portfolio review which had not been the case since I had been teaching in the Apparel

Design department.

Transition from University to High School

In 2010, the student enrollment in fashion decreased dramatically as well as the

funding. Teaching institutions and universities all over the country, including our

university, were experiencing hiring freezes and major budget cuts. I was highly affected

because, I was a full-time well paid instructor but nota tenure-track professor. The

department could hire two part-timers without benefits for less than what they were

paying me. Therefore, the Chair of the department offered me part-time employment


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without benefits. However, I knew this substantial budget cut would not be enough to

pay the bills. I had no other option but to return to public school where I taught middle

school for a year. I was delighted when a position opened to teach Family and Consumer

Sciences at my alma mater, the old high school. It was surreal returning after so many

years, this time with more experiential knowledge, maturity, and as a professional, albeit

a more literate one.

THE PRESENT SELF

The Genesis

It’s unconceivable to me how God created the world in seven days and I was

overwhelmed creating a fashion curriculum in a year. It all started with concept by

concept, standard by standard, Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills (TEKS) by TEKS,

day by day, and week by week, and basically through trial and error. My students were

the guinea pigs so to speak, to pilot the fashion program on the campus. Even after two

years of teaching fashion at the high school, I don’t have the perfect formula for teaching

it; however, I believe it’s getting noticed. I remember when I pitched the concept to my

lead counselor to start a fashion course at the high school. She mentioned that in order

for the course to be considered, twenty students had to be enrolled. I told her I was

confident the class would make; however, underneath that buoyant face, I was sweating

it. I immediately begin to recruit and write the catalog description for the fashion course

to be announced in our district catalog.

I couldn’t believe it when my one of the counselors approached me, “Leos you

have two sections of Fashion Design, and you have 40 students enrolled in each. These


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courses are overcapacity. We will have to turn some students away.” I was delighted to

hear the good news; however, the apprehension grew. I was going to have to make

fashion enjoyable, engaging, and rigorous for at least 60 students. This is a little different

approach to teaching from an already established curriculum at the university with

students who are naturally motivated to learn.

It’s More Than Just Vogue

It was pandemonium in the fashion design classroom, the week prior to Spring

Break. While other high school students had given up and were sitting exhaustedly in

their rooms, my students were diligently working. At the ninth hour, students were trying

to complete their final projects which included five basic sewing seams, a table of

contents, and paraphrased operational instructions for each seam. I couldn’t help but

think how quickly my fashion design students at the university would have completed

these. However, I couldn’t dare compare the two disparate groups. I had approximately

27 students competing for 10 state of the art Bernina sewing machines, and they were not

as experienced seamstresses as my collegiate students. How could I possibly be so harsh

on my high schoolers? My fashion design students at the university were well

accommodated with materials, a spacious lab, and of course their own sewing machine.

Not to mention the fact that the class size at the university level was smaller also favored

my university students. One of my high school students questioned why she couldn’t use

the handouts I provided with the instructions on how to sew each basic seam. I

responded back, “If you have to write the ‘how to’ instructions for each seam by

paraphrasing, you are more likely to remember them. Furthermore, I want you to be able

to explain it to someone if asked and not have to rely on a handout.” As one of my


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professors always said, “Students should be able to give you an elevator explanation.”

That is an explication that is done in passing while having a conversation on any elevator.

I want my students to be elevator conversationalists.

Coco Chanel

After reviewing the Chanel website, I was impressed with the thorough

descriptive narratives the company provided on the history of its founder, Gabrielle

Chanel, as well as the current designer, Karl Lagerfeld. The website even provides

detailed chapters with engaging film to capture these narratives. Here is a scant excerpt

from Chapter 5, Coco:

Once upon a time a revolution came to pass, when in a stroke of genius, Coco

Chanel transformed the female silhouette. She shortened dresses, revealed

ankles, freed the waist, eliminated corsets, revived jersey, cut her hair, and

bronzed her skin. Chanel closed one era and launched a new century of fashion.

Once upon a time at 31 Rue Cambon, Mademoiselle Chanel opened her first

couture house at Paris in 1918. The little country girl, the orphan of Aubazine

had become the queen of Paris before liberating women; she had liberated herself

(www.chanel.com, chapter 5).

This website as well as many other resources served as useful resources for my

students while they researched Gabrielle “Coco” Chanel. The first part of the assignment

included watching Coco Chanel starring Shirley MacLaine as an older Chanel. Using a

Venn Diagram to map out their concepts, students compared and contrasted the film for

accuracy. Then they wrote an essay titled Fact or Fiction. The final part of the

http://www.chanel.com/


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assignment included students becoming fashion critics. As fashion critics, students were

asked to sit in the front row of Karl Lagerfeld’s latest show which was featured on the

Smart board as students scrutinized the fashion to make sure that Karl Lagerfeld’s

aesthetic is aligned with the integrity of the company. The students were to observe if he

had continued to keep Coco’s concepts alive.

What is a maquiladora?

What is a maquiladora? I still recollect the very first time my eyes were fixated

on this Spanish term which is commonly used in the fashion industry. I had read about

maquiladoras which are Mexican sweatshops, particularly pertaining to those that

manufacture clothing at lower labor costs, in Sharon Tate’s Inside Fashion Design, one

of my collegiate fashion design textbooks. One of my assistant principals recommended

my students to manufacture 300 serape Mexican blanket stolls, for a Latin American

Association from the local university campus. What a perfect way to introduce my

students to the concept of maquiladora. Students can learn about them as we construct

the required number of serape stolls. That’s when I introduced Casa Serape

Manufacturing Company to my students.

The following day, students walked in to the syncopatic beats and the rhythmo of

Cumbia music. Casa Serape was open for production and the minute students entered the

classroom they were clocked in to work at the sweatshop. I had arranged all classroom

tables with a Spanish sign labeling the assigned manufacturing task for all students’

tables. After training each group with their assigned tasks, I quickly put the group to

work: “Orale, a trabajar!” which translates to “Alright, let’s get to work!” I had (1)


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alfiladores, the pinners of fabric; (2) cortadores, cutters of fabric; (3) planchadores, the

ironing crew; (4) cosadores, the sewing crew; (5) voltiadores, the workers who turned the

serape stolls inside out; (6) a manijador, the manager who oversees all production. (7) La

supervisora, my job as I supervised all workers including the manijador; and finally (8)

El gerente, the owner of the company (my assistant principal). Students enjoyed the

project as they learned a little bit of Spanish and danced while working to the rhythm of

latin pop, salsa, cumbia, and Tejano music. They also learned about the labor laws, or

lack thereof, in a maquiladora, the organizational chart of the maquiladora, and the

common nomenclature used in sewing manufacturing companies.

Celebrating Vogue: The Past, The Present, and The Future

Celebrating Vogue: The Past, The Present, and The Future was a style show

inspired from a literature review (Personal Archival Data) I wrote about the evolution of

20th

Century Fashion in a 1994 Graduate Research Seminar course, my very first

graduate course to be exact. After rereading the literature review, I realized those were

the days that I did not fully grasp the concept of a literature review. Nonetheless, I found

inspiration from the research I had read, and the thought of incorporating the fashion of

the roaring twenties and Jazz age; the sophisticated apparel of the Golden Age; the

fashions of the age of optimism with exposed midriffs, short mini-skirts, hippie look and

the free spirit; the punk fashion of the age of rock and MTV; the fashion revivals of the

technology age; and the futuristic look of the space invaders was appealing. Therefore, I

quickly assigned six cooperative groups with approximately seven students and two

group leaders for each era: 1920’s, 1950’s, 1960’s and 1970’s, 1980’s, 2000, and

futuristic. The teams were required to research the fashions of their era and assemble a


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collection of 10-15 completed garments to feature in the end-of-the year style show. In

the process, students created promotional posters and descriptive commentary for the

style show script for their respective era. In addition, they had to compile a look book

which revealed the make-up, hair, and nails for each model and provide a detailed model

call list as well as organize the music list for their respective era. It was a massive

project, but rewarding at the end of it when students featured their talent and efforts to an

attentive audience in our historic auditorium.

THE PROSPECTIVE SELF

Around the World in a Day

This was my vision: I pictured models in iconic Frida Kahlo unibrows and

braided floral wigs, wearing the vibrant festive folkloric colors of full-flared Mexican

dresses; beaded Indian saris and scarves in gold leap inspired by the colorful spices of

Mumbai markets; models in flared flounces and fringed frills of the flamenco dancer of

Spain; full length Mediterranean caftans and colorful hijabs reminiscent of those worn on

a beautiful Arabian night; models in tribal patterns and animal prints accented with bold

collared necklaces symbolic of those worn by Queen Nefertiti; models representing the

old west, in fringed chaps and skirts or deerskin ensembles with feathered headdresses;

and finally models in Harajuku styling street wear sporting a modern twist to Japanese

fashion with anything goes together in color, print, make-up, accessories, and hair. These

are the creative visions in my head as my students begin to plan and prepare for our

annual style show. My student assistants have already prepared seven Power Points to

feature in the two fashion courses I teach. I used these Power Points much like a book

talk by demonstrating them and commentating while students selected their first, second,


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and third choices. Then I grouped my teams based on their selections. I had previously

selected a couple of my strongest fashion students to serve as group leaders for each

team. Students are currently preparing trend boards to feature their countries and to have

a display of them in the foyer prior to the style show. Come join us and travel around the

world in day.

Fashion Forward

When I returned to the school district after having left the Apparel Design and

Manufacturing program at the university, one of the first things my Career Technology

Coordinator proposed to me was that I should start a fashion program for the district and

house it in our Career Technology Center. I must confess I was overwhelmed about the

thought of devising a program of that magnitude. It would require years of planning and

writing curriculum. I prioritized and took baby steps. Before we got a program started,

there had to be interest on our individual district campuses; therefore, I piloted the

program first on my respective campus. That’s when I began the fashion program at the

high school where I currently teach. The next step involved bringing in my university

colleagues as advisers to the program which was accomplished through advisory council.

I was in the middle of planning it all, when I had a better idea than the original

proposal, why not begin a dual credit program that feeds directly into the university. It

would be the first of its kind and bring credibility to our Family and Consumer Sciences

program, because the work would be the same as that of a college class. Having taught at

the collegiate level and being able to collaborate and communicate with those colleagues

will be beneficial for the planning of a dual credit program. I could easily teach an


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Introduction to Apparel Design Course or Basic Clothing Construction; introductory

course requirements for all fashion students at the university. These two courses would

befit our high school campus because they are beginning courses, and I’ve previously

taught them at the university campus. Furthermore, I would be in alignment with my

campus and district goals of preparing students for career and college readiness. I’m

ready to be a little fashion forward and begin some of these programs for our school

district.

Fashion Fiction and Forecasting

Starting a fashion library in my classroom has been a dream and future goal of

mine. However, finding the storage space to put it all is daunting particularly because I

have very little storage in my fashion classroom. However, Kindles could prove to be

instrumental technological tool in the classroom. With House Bill 5, promoting Career

and Technology Education and a substantial budget set aside, my goal of having a

classroom library is a possibility. For the past two years, I’ve also included WGSN in my

proposed budget, but it has yet to be granted. WGSN stands for World Global Style

Network and is a forecasting trend service used by designers, manufacturers, retailers,

and educators in fashion. However, I’m persistent and will continue to ask and hopefully

we will have this wonderful forecasting research website on my campus soon.

A Pioneer in Fashion Literacy

Since there was has been very little evidence of research in the realm of fashion

literacy, I would love to be a pioneer in the field. Telling my story and juxtaposing these

ideas on paper has made me realize that my life events in the realm of my career fit nicely


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together like an intricate tessellation. I am prepared to start a new chapter, one that will

make me a better professional. Thus, I am looking forward to “digging excavations into

new layers of meaning” as I continue to research new topics as suggested by Frank

Serafini (2007, p.21). I will contribute to the educational discussions particularly those

pertaining to the literacies of fashion.


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CHAPTER V

FINAL CONCLUDING THOUGHTS

This personal journey and study of identity construction required me to take a

retrospective and introspective look at my career as affected by my past experiences. This

naturalistic inquiry served to explain my beginnings and narrate my journey, noting

significant points of literacy epiphanies along the way. The inquiry also provided

insights to help me more clearly view myself as a teacher of literacy and as an agent of

change in the fashion classroom. Chapters from my life emerged: as a child struggling

with reading, as a fashion design student finding my identity, and as an educator striving

to become a master teacher. Furthermore, I examined the present and looked to the

future as I merged fashion and literacy as a teacher and as an advocate for the classroom.

When I began this study, I was dismayed to find very little research pertaining to

fashion and literacy. Besides my own research, I have found no evidence on another

educator’s journey through the literacies of fashion. This study is important because I

have provided a detailed narrative of my evolution as a literate fashion instructor, one

that I hope will prove to be instrumental for others who are in fashion education or who

are starting a fashion program. This study will also serve as a venue for sharing

knowledge that I find meaningful—and hopefully—whose relevance will resonate with

others (Ellis, 2000).

Befitting of autoethnography, and inspired by Dethloff’s (2005) concluding his

dissertation in narrative prose, I too wrote my final chapter in a narrative; however, I

wrote in a more conversational voice, as suggested by Richardson (2000), to tell my


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story. Just as Richardson (2006) averred about writing as inquiry, I learned that the

researcher is a primary data source, constructing data throughout the writing process. I

experienced the truth of this assertion. Thus, while writing to learn, while concurrently

processing the data, I eventually identified these emerging themes: fear of failure,

perceptions of the fashionista, fashion struggles, fashion as rigor, fashion successes,

literacy as inspiration, gaining confidence in literacy, innovation, acknowledging

multiliteracies, improving literacy, and literacy and real world application.

PERSONAL DEVELOPMENT IN FASHION: MOLDING IDENTITY AND

PEDAGOGY AS FASHION INSTRUCTOR

Fear of Failure

One of the questions that inspired me to conduct this study is: In what ways has

my personal development in the world of fashion shaped my identity and practice as a

fashion instructor? Honestly, it began with fear of failure. As a middle school student, I

had proven that I was not the best of seamstresses after constructing a “hand embroidered

lopsided oval ruffled pillow and an almost hairless and crooked- eyed Gonk, a stuffed

animal with button eyes and yarned hair, ” (Reflexive Journal, p. 74), and an apron which

required a month of after-school tutoring. My family, while supportive, had expressed

doubts about my ability to complete my degree in fashion. Even worse, I doubted my

own abilities to succeed as a fashion designer and wondered if I could fit into this artistic

world:

It was during a self-deprecating moment in fashion illustration class, that I felt

less than my peers because I couldn’t draw, sew, or design like them. I was

exhausted, frustrated, anxious, and just wanted to walk out of the classroom to


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never return. However, I wanted to prove to myself, my family and my friends

that I did belong. The only thing that kept me there was the following: I looked

at the room full of aspiring fashion designers. Then I took an introspective look at

myself. It was then that I realized, I was one of the most fashion forward students

in the room—I was daring, trendy, innovative, intelligent, hardworking,

persistent, and I had staying power. That’s the day I knew I was in a league of my

own (Reflexive Journal, p.76).

I didn’t understand it at the time, but I was obviously going through an identity crisis,

trying to find my place in the world of fashion.

I never expected this memory to resurface; however, I experienced a flashback to

that scene in the fashion illustration room when Polly, my fashion design student, sat in

my office telling me she was going to quit Apparel Design. I was very disappointed. I

considered Polly to be the best of all my fashion design students at the time. In fact, I

was planning to enlist her to be my student assistant. I couldn’t bear to think she was

planning to quit. I remember thinking how delighted I would have been, as a freshman

fashion student, to have possessed the technical skills Polly had. It would’ve spared me

so much anxiety. In my interview with her, Polly informed me that the day I met her in

the hallway, she had been on her way to the advisor’s office to change her major. That’s

when I asked her what courses she would be taking next semester. In my recent

interview with her, Polly reminded that my words to her that day had encouraged her to

stay in a program she was about to abandon:

I said, “Oh, well… I’m changing my major.”


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She [Ms. Leos] said, “No! No! You have so much talent! You can’t do that!!

I said, “Oh, Ms. Leos, it’s so much work. I don’t know if I’m right for it. I feel

so slow. I don’t know if I fit in.

She said, “No, you have great talent! You need to stay in the major. It’s great for

you! You do such good work!”

And so I just kept going!”

I felt compassion for Polly because I empathized with her experiencing an identity crisis,

much as I had my freshman year. I had to convince Polly that if she stuck to her original

plan, she would successfully complete the program, just as I had done. When her senior

year arrived, I was honored to attend Polly’s senior style show as her distinguished guest.

I couldn’t have been prouder to see her collections on the runway that evening. Moments

like this remind us educators that teachable moments are not just about teaching the

content. They are also about seizing opportunities to encourage our students, especially

when they are vulnerable.

Perceptions of the Fashionista

The initial negative perceptions about fashion design students held by my family

and friends was another major factor in my personal development as a fashionista and as

an instructor of my fashion students today. I grew up hearing, “Your major is easy”

(Reflexive Journal, p.75), even from my twin sister, who was supposed to be my number

one advocate. Her perceptions altered, however, after she saw the many hours I spent

working on projects (Reflexive Journal, p.75). While some of my fashion students’


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friends or relatives regarded them as unique individuals full of creativity and talent, one

student’s friends and family’s negative perceptions were similar to mine. This student

reported that her relatives stereotyped fashion designers as less intellectual than

professionals such as doctors or lawyers. Negative perceptions like these prompted me to

incorporate literacy strategies so that fashion students would be more reflective about the

processes involved in fashion. I hoped that incorporating reading and writing assignments

would lend more substance and rigor to the courses, and that fashion would carry more

gravitas among the other disciplines. I was surprised to learn from interviewing former

students, that they, in contrast to those who see fashion as frivolous, expected their

courses to be daunting to some extent.

Fashion Design Struggles

My struggles as a fashion design student helped me to have compassion for my

own students who experienced mastering the technicalities of fashion. Since I was not a

natural at designing apparel, I tried not to assume that all my students knew the basics of

fashion. I used different approaches in teaching for success. For example, when

presenting large amounts of conceptual knowledge, I would chunk informational material

into smaller segments: in this way my students—who might be learning the 40 parts of

the sewing machine—found the task less overwhelming. I also provided step by step

instructions and demonstrations. During the interviews for this study, my former students

reported that the strategies I implemented were instrumental in their learning and

retaining course information. The students also noted the absence of such strategies in

their other fashion coursework. Occasionally, I was reminded of my own need, as a

student, for extra help. This was the case when my student Kary, a student athlete,


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confided to me that she felt “out of [her] element” (Reflexive Journal, p.95) in the

unfamiliar world of fashion and needed additional assistance. I found an exceptional

student tutor (and fashion major) for Kary and provided day-to-day assistance for her in

my classroom.

Fashion Rigor: The Fashion Student is a True Polyglot

I discovered that fashion designers are polyglots. From my own experience as a

student I learned that fashion designers have to be proficient in the language of

computers. One of my required courses was an AutoCAD class, both rigorous and

challenging for me. After much blood, sweat, and tutoring, I survived the class and

earned an “A.” My fashion students were also required to take AutoCAD in order to

reproduce computerized patterns and fashion illustration. In addition, they took Adobe

Illustrator to create computerized illustrations; Adobe Photoshop to refine all computer

illustrations and photos; and Portfolio Design, to reproduce a comprehensive digital

fashion portfolio. It’s quite evident these students had to be knowledgeable about various

computerized programs and to be literate in each program’s language.

In addition to being technologically savvy, fashion design students are chemists

as well. I saw the value and necessity of fashionistas’ understanding both the beneficial

uses of chemical and their possible danger when I taught a Surface Design course my

first semester on the university campus. My cumulative experiences and those of my

students confirm that, yes, fashion design students are polyglots. Fashion design students

must possess the knowledge, lexicon, and skills of other disciplines in order to produce

fashion. This realization has influenced my creating a plethora of assignments and


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projects for my students that are academically integrated: researching history and laws

behind a maquiladora; mixing chemicals to produce vibrant colors in the surface lab;

applying the principles and elements of art; or constructing patterns for apparel by

utilizing mathematical equations and elements of geometry.

Fashion Success

What I gleaned from overcoming initial challenges, earning a degree in fashion

design, and garnering recognition in the process, was to foster an environment of success

in my own fashion classroom—one where students felt inspired, encouraged, and

confident. How gratifying it was to see positive outcomes of my efforts. I especially

remember how pleased I was when every fashion senior of mine passed their university

portfolio review. In previous semesters student failures were all too common. I was

gratified to see that all the assignments I had required of my students led to this success:

vocabulary studies on the fashion lexicon; critiques of styles and scripts of portfolio

books, peer edits of portfolios; creation of self-generated designs inspired by

cinematography and period costumes (Reflexive Journal, p. 98). Presently watching my

high school students create accessories and ensembles and plan makeup and hairstyles for

style shows has also been inspiring. Recollecting Kary and Polly’s perseverance to

continue fashion despite their struggles evokes memories of my own triumphs over

challenges. Overall, it has been rewarding to observe and share the successes of my

students.


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PERSONAL DEVELOPMENT IN LITERACY: MOLDING IDENTITY AND

PEDAGOGY AS A FASHION INSTRUCTOR

Literacy as Inspiration

Another question that was answered throughout the study was: In what ways has

my personal development in literacy shaped my identity and practice as a fashion

instructor? As I look back over my own notes for this autoethnography, I recognized

events and factors that foreshadowed my future preferences and career choices. I now

realize, for example, that (Reflexive Journal, p.71) Color Theory, one of the elements of

design, explains my attraction, from childhood on, to beautifully designed covers. My

childhood summers spent at the neighborhood library and my underclassmen days spent

in the stacks at the campus library were also instrumental to my teaching fashion. I

learned that fashion designers can be inspired by books, whether it be reading them or

scanning the illustrations. Knowing the value of literacy resources prompted my

decision to assign Fashion Independent Study students to read novels, plays, and designer

biographies (Reflexive Journal, p.96). In one of my interviews, a former student

reminded me how I used literacy in the classroom to motivate fashion: “You always told

us to keep our eyes and our ears open for any styles, new trends-- whether it was in the

news or in the newspaper. To keep reading, especially the W magazine [although] …it

didn’t really matter what magazine it was or book because everything has style in it.”

My España La Moda collection was a literacy-generated creation, inspired by my

reading an article on designer Christian Lacroix (Reflexive Journal, p.78). I was so

engrossed in the article and wanted to learn more about Lacroix’s collections that I

visited the campus library to seek more books on the designer (Reflexive Journal, p.78).

This was not my first visit the TT503 section of the library which housed volumes of


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fashion books. It was where I often retreated to seek inspiration for my design concepts.

Later, as a fashion instructor who recollected these library visits and how instrumental

they were to creating her fashion collections, I planned trips to the campus library for my

fashion design students, introducing to them the fashion biographies and fashion texts, in

hopes that they, too, would draw inspiration from these sources (Reflexive Journal, p.96).

Gaining Confidence in Literacy

I was not an avid reader growing up and even now would not consider myself a

recreational reader (Reflexive Journal, p.87). However, I gained confidence in literacy

because I had parents and mentors who encouraged me, parents who purposely placed me

in a private school with literacy-rich practices. I had elementary teachers who fueled my

love for learning with their daily readings of chapter books. I had the fashion professor

who called on me to write fashion commentary. Another one of my fashion instructors

convinced me I was a decent writer, noted in this journal entry: “In my formative years

as a design student, I was asked to research and write about my preferred designer. This

literacy assignment was one I proudly claimed because I earned an “A,” and my fashion

instructor commented “Well written” on the front of my essay” (Reflexive Journal, p.

78). Another of my fashion professors often asked me to write commentary for the style

shows. Her invitation to supply these scripts for fashion contributed to my growing self-

confidence as a writer (Reflexive Journal, p 84). I recall how much I enjoyed weaving

alliterations and other figurative language into my commentary. One of the most

important literacy events for me occurred, years later, as a new language and literacy

graduate student taking an Adolescent Literacy class. For the first time ever, I began to


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enjoy reading (Reflexive Journal, p.90)! My professor’s enthusiasm for reading was

contagious as she brought books to class that she knew would entice us to read.

I wanted to encourage my fashion students to be readers and writers of books, just

as my fashion instructor, fashion professor, and language and literacy professor had

encouraged me. This is why I employed differentiated instruction in my Independent

Study of Fashion. I offered students choices in selecting books, plays, or biographies to

peruse as inspiration for their fashion collections (Reflexive Journal, p.96). In the

interviews I conducted for this study, several students mentioned that I taught them to be

literate fashionistas by teaching them to read fashion patterns and by encouraging them to

read news, newspapers, fashion magazines—in short, to be well informed about fashion.

FASHION AND LITERACY INFORMING TEACHING IN THE FASHION

COLLEGIATE CLASSROOM

Acknowledging Multiliteracies

Another question examined in this study was: In what ways has my development

in these two disparate fields informed my teaching in the collegiate fashion classroom?

In my Language and Literacy courses I learned about content area literacy and

multiliteracies. Only then did I understand that my perusing Mexican novelas as a child

(Reflexive Journal, p. 67-68) and creating my own fashion inspired from magazine

articles as collegiate student were forms of literacy known as multiliteracies. These were

forms of literacy I enjoyed; therefore, how could they possibly be schoolwork?

Similarly, the fashion student relies heavily on sources that would mostly be considered

out-of-school literacies. However, magazines such as Vogue, W, Harper’s Bazaar, Town

and Country, and Marie Claire, are informational texts deemed essential to the apparel


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designer (Reflexive Journal, p.107). Another vital resource for fashion students is World

Global Style Network (WGSN). WGSN is a forecasting trend service used by designers,

manufacturers, retailers, and educators in fashion (Reflexive Journal, p 107) and was

utilized often by my university fashion students. In similar fashion, I encouraged my

high school fashion students to look beyond their textbook to research shopping websites

such as Coco Chanel to learn about the designer and her label’s current collections

(Reflexive Journal, p.101). My students, at both high school and collegiate level, gained

appreciation for surfing designers’ websites as bona fide online sources for fashion

information. Learning how to read apparel patterns and using computer- aided designs

were other critical aspects of my fashion students’ schooling. These multiliteracies were

particularly helpful for students constructing patterns for innovative apparel designs.

Innovation

One thing is certain—I have learned that I am an innovator—in both fashion and

literacy. In fashion, I tend to be one who stands out in a crowd, such as the time I wore

Spanish Gypsy attire to my doctoral orientation (Reflexive Journal, p.88 ), or when I

designed daisy print hip hugger pants that were vintage revolutionary (Reflexive Journal,

p.77). I have also gained attention and recognition, via local television coverage, because

of my students’ and my innovative sets, music, and presentations for Project Runway

challenges in both collegiate and high school projects.

Inviting my fashion students to join me at the movies to watch Alice in

Wonderland (2010) was another innovative assignment involving both fashion and

literacy. The Alice in Wonderland project required students to watch a movie of a

literacy classic, take what was seen on the big screen, and translate it into creative


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collections drawing inspiration from the movie (Reflexive Journal, p. 98). This

multiliteracy approach, defined as transmediation, takes one form of media and

transforms it into another (Lesley et al, 2011). The university students enjoyed this

project because every step of the creative process was engaging. As I re-read the student

interviews and revisited my own journal notes, I realized that innovation was a crucial

element for each assignment and project for my fashion students. All my data confirms

that innovative teaching in my collegiate fashion classroom promotes enthusiastic,

engaging student participation.

Improving Literacy in the classroom

Having taught reading in the middle school and having done graduate course

work in Language and Literacy, I constantly looked for new approaches to improve

literacy in my university fashion classroom. I wanted to start a classroom library

(Tovani, 2001) after learning their value and advantage to students from my literacy

courses. In one instance I noticed my fashion students’ deficiency in their knowledge of

textiles. I therefore asked students to research common natural and manufactured fabrics

so they could create volumes of textiles books to put in the fashion library. I knew it

would be advantageous to include informative textile books created by fashion students

for future fashion students (Reflexive Journal, p.91-92). One of the students I

interviewed mentioned this assignment as one she most remembered: “I do remember

when you assigned us the umm…the fabric project. We had to go get a swatch, and then

do a little bit of research on it and write a page on some bullet points. The student also

informed me that this assignment was instrumental to her fashion learning and that she

still remembers the fabric she was assigned. It was Poplin, which she used in subsequent


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design project because she was familiar with the characteristics of that particular fiber.

Students also prepared basic construction sample notebooks with paraphrased

instructions; researched their favorite designers to obtain inspiration for fashion

collections; learned proper vernacular for the sewing machine and its parts; and visited

the campus library (Reflexive Journal, p.92). These were a few of many strategies I

employed in the fashion classroom to boost my students’ literacy acumen.

Literacy and Real World Application

In the college classroom, I frequently stressed the importance of literacy playing a

role in students being credible designers. Nellie, one of my college fashion students, took

this to heart and applied what she had learned in the fashion classroom to her part-time

job at Stein Mart. As noted in my reflexive journal, “[Nellie] spent her time identifying

the various seams, fabric weaves, and applying the terminology that she had learned in

class” (Reflexive Journal, p. 95). Nellie stated that her in-depth knowledge of fabrics and

sewing techniques was appreciated by her customers (Reflexive Journal, p.95). Several

of the interviewed fashion students averred the importance of designers becoming

excellent readers and writers in order to articulate their design concepts globally,

especially if garments are produced in other countries. Finally, I encouraged my

students to be fluent in fashion vernacular and even asked my Fashion Portfolio students

to practice their fashion lexicon during their mock interviews in order to present

themselves as credible professional designers and as desirable employees (Reflexive

Journal, p.98-99).


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An Introspective Look: The Implications

In my preliminary research about autoethnography as a form of research, I learned that

qualitative research studies do not have to be soporific reading, which Richardson (2000)

confessed, was never her favorite approach to learning:

I have a confession to make. For 30 years, I had yawned my way through

numerous supposedly exemplary qualitative studies. Countless numbers of texts,

I had abandoned half read, half scanned. I would order a new book with great

anticipation—the topic was one I was interested in, the author was someone I

wanted to read—only to find the text boring. It was not that the writing was

complex and difficult, but that it suffered from acute and chronic passivity;

passive-voiced author; passive “subjects.” (924).

Autoethnography offered a far more personal venue for a researcher like me. I could

write my study in an active rather than passive voice; I could write a study that was bold,

evocative, cathartic, and passionate, consumed in, and compassionate about, participants

and the manipulation of data (Bochner, 2005; Ellis, 2000). Throughout this process, I

also discovered that in order to be a better educator, I had to be willing to improve my

teaching practices and to take time to investigate them. In addition, I have learned that

educators should be willing to take risks despite fear of failure. It is through these

failures, triumphs, and vulnerable states of being that we become better educators.

This autoethnographical study also increased my awareness that fashion students

and professionals are rigorous researchers who are well versed in hermeneutics and in

reading and writing multiple texts relevant to their content. Furthermore, I concluded that

the fashionista is indeed a polyglot (Griffith, 2000; Yuniya, 2008). I also learned that


127

employing explicit literacy strategies in the fashion classroom were instrumental to my

students’ success as they learned the content. As a fashion student and fashion instructor,

I also wanted to challenge public perceptions of fashionistas as frivolous because I had

experienced such stereotypical labels and wanted my students to transcend them.

This study indicated that more explicit and innovative literacy instruction should

accompany demonstrative instruction in order to provide students with more in depth

learning about fashion concepts. Incorporating literacy strategies coupled with research

on fashion topics can assist students in becoming more knowledgeable and credible

designers. When multiliteracy approaches are used such as reading fashion magazines to

transmediate what is viewed or read on these pages into design collections or researching

WGSN or Chanel websites to obtain inspiration for fashion collections, learning becomes

effortless as students are engaged in the learning process. Educators should also make

learning relevant so students can apply this real world knowledge in their professional

environments. Furthermore, fashion departments need to consider professional

development and research for faculty to reflect on their current teaching to perfect

pedagogical practices. There are also needs for fashion professors and instructors to

conduct more fashion literacy studies and more research such as this study which

highlighted fashion students as readers, writers, and individuals who are knowledgeable

in multiple disciplines, to dispel the perception of the fashionista viewed as frivolous and

unscholarly.

Recommendations and Concluding Words

I would recommend that my educator colleagues investigate and self-reflect on

their own pedagogical practices. I asked my students each semester which of my


128

assignments was most helpful in their development as designers and literate

professionals. Therefore, I suggest to my colleagues to do the same: ask their students

for feedback. I encourage my colleagues to be courageous and engage in their attempts

to share literacy practices with those who also teach in their content area. (Full disclosure

here: I had limited success with this practice. However, I did persuade my department

coordinator to change curriculum that replaced general information with explicit

instruction. She ordered textbooks that were more informative with more explicit details

on sewing with various fabrics). This study underscores the importance of educators’

incorporating explicit literacy strategies in their respective content areas to afford their

students various venues for deeper conceptual learning. I discovered that by my

incorporating literacy components into the fashion curriculum, my students gained a

better grasp of fashion design concepts, developed fashion vernacular fluency, and

became cognoscenti in their field. As one member of a growing group of innovative

literacy instructors, I encourage my colleagues of traditional instruction to join those of

us who are willing to explore new approaches to learning in this ever challenging,

multiliteracy-social media age. Looking back on my journey, I recognize that my

mispronouncing haute couture and the feelings of self-doubt and humiliation experienced

afterward became a catalyst for life changes. This experience propelled my evolving into

an accomplished and confident fashion professional, as well as an innovative, literacy

promoting educator.


129

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APPENDIX A

STUDENT INTERVIEW SCRIPT

1. What is your student classification?

2. How did you become interested in fashion?

3. Before you got to campus, if someone mentioned the term fashion, what did

you think of?

4. What perceptions did you have of those in fashion?

5. How did your friends react when you mentioned you were going to study

fashion?

6. When you arrived on campus, what did you expect your classes to be like?

7. What kinds of skills did you expect to learn?

8. Were your expectations accurate about your classes and the skills you would

be taught? Why or why not?

9. Is it important that a fashion student be an excellent reader and writer?

Why or why not?

10. Did your fashion professors use reading and writing assignments to teach

you concepts of fashion? If so, what were they?

11. Did you find these reading and writing assignments to be helpful? Why or

why not?

12. You have been enrolled in some of the fashion courses I taught, do you

remember any reading or writing assignments?

13. Which of these assignments were most helpful? Least helpful?

14. What was your first impression of me as your fashion instructor?

15. How would you describe me in terms of my reading and writing skills?

16. Were my approaches to teaching fashion similar or different from those of

other professors/instructors? If so, how?

17. After having had my class for a semester or several semesters, did your

impression of me as an instructor differ from your first impression? If so,

how?


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18. Have I taught you to be readers and writers of fashion texts? If so, how?

19. Did I meet the goal of helping you become a fashion professional? If so, how?


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APPENDIX B

HISTORY OF AUTOETHNOGRAPHY

HISTORY OF AUTOETHNOGRAPHY

Autoethnography is a term that has been in existence for several decades (Ellis,

2004). Carolyn Ellis, though an authority and a pioneer of autoethnography (Dyson,

2007) was not the first to coin the term (Ellis, 2004). Reed-Danahay (1997) ascertained

that the history of autoethnography can be “traced through two veins – that concerned

primarily with ethnography and that concerned with life history” ( p.4). The term

autoethnography was first acknowledged in 1975 by anthropologist Karl Hieder in an

article in the Journal of Anthropological Research (Ellis, 2004; Reed-Danahay, 1997).

However, another anthropologist, David Hayano, is credited with coining the term when

he used it to explain “going native,” a phrase used to describe an ethnographer who not

only studies a specific culture, but is fully immersed into the culture by living it (Ellis,

2004, p.9). The concept of going native would signify that an ethnographer may study a

specific culture and be communicatively competent (Troike-Saville, 2001) with the

spoken vernacular or the local colloquialisms used by this specific culture.

Communicative competence is a lexicon used by ethnographers to refer to researchers

having achieved proficiency in communicating with a culture (Troike-Saville, 2001).

Furthermore, the researcher may adopt the fashion worn by those researched and eat the

cuisine that is a part of the culture studied. Thus, the researcher is not only looking at the

participants from the stance of an outsider, but has now also become one of the

participants.


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In the 1980’s, scholars were perplexed by the confinements brought forth by

social science’s epistemological, ontological, and axiological limitations of sterile

research (Ellis, Adams, & Bochner, 2011)—in other words, the research that was not

invested in the participants. This form of research allowed ethnographers to

authoritatively enter a culture, exploit the natives, and depart to write the natives’ story

for professional or personal gain with little consideration or relationship ties to the culture

under scrutiny (Ellis, Adams, & Bochner, 2011). This decade of authoritative, lawless

research prompted calls for reforming research in a way that encouraged meaningful

writing, was grounded in personal experience, “identity politics,” and was relevant to

others (Ellis, 2004; Ellis, Adams, & Bochner, 2011, p. 3). This research genre is what we

now refer to today as autoethnography.


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APPENDIX C

DEFINING OF AUTOETHNOGRAPHY

What is autoethnography? Autoethnography is a methodological approach that

allows the researcher to conduct a self-investigation regarding the relationship the

researcher has with the culture and the environment within the culture being studied

(Ellis, 2004). It is a form of study coauthored by the researcher and its participants (Ellis,

1997). It was in 1995 that Carolyn Ellis (2004) first used the term autoethnography in

her publication Final Negotiations, using the following descriptors to signify

autoethnography: “self-ethnography, ethnographic novel, interpretive ethnography,

experimental ethnography, autobiographical sociology, introspective novel, introspective

ethnography, impressionistic tale, and personal narrative” (p. 42). Ellis (2004) explained

autoethnography as a copulative counterpart of ethnography; however, it is disparate in

that it is reflexive, which is why Ellis felt called to delineate this style of research from

the traditional ethnography. Conversely, the traditional ethnographer is required to

research a culture as a person looking in, as if from a camera lens. The researcher is

limited by what she sees through the camera lens because the entire picture is not

captured—the photographer is missing. However, once the researcher removes the

camera, a more holistic view is observed as the photographer is a part of the milieu and

stands in the middle of it all. Ellis further defines autoethnography through the

autoethnographer’s eyes in this descriptive commentary:

First they look through an ethnographic wide angle lens, focusing outward on

social and cultural aspects of their personal experience; then they look inward,


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exposing a vulnerable self that is moved by and may move through refract, and

resist cultural interpretations. As they zoom, backward and forward, inward and

outward, distinctions between the personal and cultural become blurred,

sometimes beyond distinct recognition (pp. 37-38).

Autoethnography also requires the researcher to be self-absorbed (Ellis, 1997). Ellis

(1997) posed the question, “How can you write about your topic if you’re not absorbed

with it” (p.116). Ellis has a point—the researcher cannot write about a specific content

without feeling passionate or emotional about what is being written or without becoming

consumed with the participants or the manipulation of the data.

This research is written in first person (Ellis, 2004) and is not formulaic in how it

is translated onto the page. As Dyson (2007) noted, autoethnography is not procedural,

nor does it generate experiences into a good narrative. Autoethnography is written in

disparate forms such as poetry, journals, short stories, social scientific prose, scripted

plays, fiction novels, and photographic and personal essays (Ellis, 2004). Furthermore,

there are several approaches to autoethnography. Some of these approaches include

personal narratives, reflexive ethnography, co-constructed narrative, community

autoethnography, and interactive interviews (Ellis, 2004: Ellis, Adams, & Bochner,

2011). The approach to autoethnography varies depending upon where the emphasis is

placed on the study of others, the interviewer’s self and the interaction with other

participants, type of analysis, type of interviews conducted, and on power relationships

(Ellis, Adams, & Bochner, 2011). To best articulate my story, my autoethnographical

account was written using personal narrative.


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Autoethnography is cathartic, unconventional, and evocative. Arthur Bochner

(2005) narrated what he felt as he read through an autoethnographical manuscript written

by Carolyn Ellis in which she described the death of her brother in a plane crash.

Bochner (2005) commented on Ellis’ revolutionary research style:

As I contemplated the feelings that were running through me, I felt a rush of

optimism about the future of social science inquiry. Yes! I shouted to myself.

This is what social science is missing! This is what social science needs to

become in order to make a difference in the world – daring, honest, intimate,

personal, emotional, moral, embodied, and evocative. (p. 145)

Thus, autoethnography is “daring, honest, intimate, personal, emotional, moral,

embodied, and evocative,” as well the chosen methodological approach for my

educational study (Bochner, 2005, p. 145).

mispronouncing haute couture: a teacher’s journey through

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