Development of my question:

How can we build the partnership with our outfit?

How can we benefit from our outfit?

How can our outfit trigger something?

How can our clothing trigger communications internally or externally?

My Action1: a small experiment with my friends

I invited 20 friends to take part in a small experiment which ask them randomly create their comparison group for items in their clothing. They need to wear the item they disliked on the first day while wear the liked one on the second day, and observed whether something special happening in lives. After two days, they were asked to share their feelings with me.

Findings:

• External communications ultimately seem to be internalized.

• The small experiment functioned as a way of raising people’s attention to their clothing, maybe more reflective practices on clothing.

Problems:

• The intervention was a bit subtle to get rewarding new knowledge.

• I cherished my friends because they indeed tried their best to give me feedback much as possible, but it led to a problem that they somehow intentionally built connection between clothing and some episodes in life even if the connection was weak. 

So I proceeded with Action2

My Action2: Wear to be Weird

I created a small “Weird Stall” in Applied Imagination classroom filled with several items for choices. All were invited to freely decorate themselves with these items which could make them look abnormal or even weird at that moment, and then have a wander around CSM or adjacent public spaces if they were willing to. Through this process of changing the clothing, people were encouraged to find some interesting interactions with others as well as grasp some special personal feelings. A QR code was attached on the board to collect feedback through a small questionnaire.

The outcome of the action

Personally, there are some points to find and reflect on:

• Most participants tended to pick items which can generate positive feedback from others or were perceived suitable to wear by themselves

• Some classmates found potentially suitable items by trying them and got inspirations for their future clothing

• Only one student tried to leave the classroom because of an interesting coincidence that there were piles of dirty plates outside the classroom while she was wearing the dishwashing gloves.

• The QR code could not function as an effective tool to collect feedback since seldom participants remembered to scan it. Direct chats with participants were more informative.

What to do next?

· I should wait feedback from Sasha for more insights.

· Through Action1 I have actually collected a lot of texts from my friends. I think they are worth spending time reading and analyzing to find paths to narrow down my question.

· More secondary research. Since timespan of project 4 will be approximately two months, I feel it is good to give longer time in reading and thinking.