Arts-Informed Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis: “Making,” as a Means of Embodied Fashion Enquiry into Older Men’s Lived Experiences

Abstract

This article draws on a practice-based project, in which I proposed a novel fashion research methodology, Arts-Informed Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis. The methodology highlights the central role of a creative practitioner within research settings and processes. The aim of the project was to develop an in-depth understanding of how a small sample of mature men has experienced fashion and ageing. Working with such an open-ended aim allowed to develop a fit-for-purpose methodology that accommodated two components: the topic of the investigation and the theoretical perspectives that the creative practitioner brought into it. A particular research mechanism, which was based on the integration of fashion theory and practice, synthesized to activities of interpretative making and writing, was implemented to suit my epistemological stance, my particular way of being in the world and conducting research as a creative practitioner. In this article, I focus on a series of three fashion artefacts I created in response to empirical data gathered via in-depth interviews and personal inventories with the five study participants. The making processes of the Mirroring, Dis-Comforting, and Peacocking suit jackets, involved de-construction of a series of second-hand garments, a scenario-based reflective performance, visiting clothing archives, and various practical experimentations. “Making,” as a means of embodied, visual enquiry became an analytical tool that afforded the advanced insights into older men’s lived experiences. Consequently, I argue that through my embodied interactions with objects and materials, as the creative practitioner, I co-constructed new experiential understandings and offered fresh perspectives of the phenomenon under study.

KEYWORDS:

• fashion research methodology
• making and writing
• creative practitioner
• embodiment
• knowledge co-construction
• mature men

Disclosure Statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author.

Notes

Notes

1 According to the UK Office for National Statistics the demographic post-World War II term “baby boomer” applies to the peaked live births between the years 1946 and 1964 in UK. UK Office for National Statistics (2011) Statistical bulletin: Births and Deaths in England and Wales [WWW]. Available from: http://www.ons.gov.uk/ons/rel/vsob1/birth-summary-tables–england-and-wales/2011–final-/sb-births-and-deaths-in-england-and-wales–2011–final-.html#tab-Key-trends-in-births-and-deaths–numbers-and-rates (Accessed 7/12/2012).

2 I use the word “appropriate” here as a representation of my own subjective selections; a jacket that to me felt relevant and appropriate.

3 All names have been changed to protect the participants’ anonymity.

4 “Most of the meaningful references in fashion are submerged in the look of the ordinary dressed persons at any given moment, because fashion is mainly engaged in acting out its own formal history, and reacts most vividly only to itself (…)” (Hollander 1994, 16).

5 The groups most often mentioned by the participants were Mods, Rockers, Hippies, and Punks.

6 The term “peacocking” has a threefold significance here; first as McDowell (1997) notes: “throughout history, the peacock male—memorable, magnificent, or assertively confident—has strutted across the pages of men’s fashion”; second, it relates to the so-called “Peacock Revolution of the 1960s” first initiated by Teddy Boys who “began to emancipate themselves from traditionally sedate dress and donned more prismatic colours” (Sadako Takeda, Durland Spilker, and Esguerra 2016, 208); third, the term was often used by the study participants themselves to explain their behaviors and practices.

7 Collections Resources Centre, 31 Hayhill, Barrow-upon-Soar, Loughborough LE12 8LD.

8 The idea here was that it was the “male dress [that] was always essentially more advanced than female throughout fashion history, and tended to lead the way, to set the standard, to make the aesthetic propositions to which female fashion responded” (Hollander 1994, 6).

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Ania Sadkowska

Ania Sadkowska is a Fashion Designer, Lecturer, and Researcher at Coventry University. Her research explores the intersection of sociology and psychology with art and design practices. Her current projects span a variety of topics including fashion and ageing, masculinity, phenomenology, and art and design research methodologies. Since 2014 Ania has been involved in a co-creative research project titled “Emotional Fit: Developing a New Fashion Methodology with Older Women.” [email protected]