For the week of September 12-16: Study very informally and very briefly a culture immediate to you. Use whatever means you want to gather and record information. This culture might be your family, dorm floor, cohort, etc. Or it might be the same culture that you used to practice taking field notes. On your blog, write a micro-ethnographic account about your chosen culture. Focus carefully on one small part that seems important. Some parts/categories you might consider are things like dress, unique language, habits, etc.

The culture I studied was my group of friends and their style of dress. I observed my friends at various instances throughout the week and noticed a distict change in their outfits depending on their moods and environment. I realized how often people change their outward appearance depending on where they are and what type of image they want to portray. Not only did I notice this amongst my group of friends, but I also noticed that I do this myself.

For instance, my girlfriend Jenny, who normally quite trendy, but still fairly classic in her style, ranged from instances of wearing running shorts and her dad's oversized shirt for an early-morning breakfast, to wearing a lacy patterned short dress and heels for her birthday dinner. While eating an early morning breakfast or hanging out in the student-life center brought out a more casual, college-student look, going out for dinner brought out a completely different look that was a more alternative, trendy, look paired with funky jewelry and dark makeup. If I had met her in the first outfit, judging on looks alone, I would have thought she had a totally different personality than if I had met her in the second outfit. However, interestingly enough, her changes in style had nothing to do with her actual personality. She remained consistently true to her personality despite drastic shifts in appearance.

Another case would be my friend Parker. While Parker is normally decked out in anything preppy, ranging from polo shirts, to khaki's, to visors and croakies, he can alternately be found wearing Wrangler jeans, a plaid shirt and cowboy boots depending on where he is and what he is doing. While in his every day life he chooses the preppy look, for performances, shows or business meeting that require him to slip into his "songwriter/artist personality", he must immediately shift gears to a more rustic, country look. While he is still the same guy, situations can completely change his outward appearance. A third look is his completely casual look which he adorns only when excercising, sleeping, or hanging out at his house. For example, while hanging out at his house and having dinner, he was dressed in khaki shorts and a blue polo; a standard outfit for his everyday life. However, when he had a band rehearsal on Wednesday night, he dressed in the "artist" outfit, complete with Wrangler jeans and cowboy boots.

I've also noticed that I am similar to both Parker in Jenny in that different circumstances can cause me to dress like totally different people. I think my outfits can also depend on what type of mood I am in. For example, after staying up late and waking up early to study for an exam, I decided to wear running shorts and a long-sleeved t-shirt to school instead of my usual attire (which is generally more business casual). On Thursday I dressed in business casual attire for classes and work and then actually brought a change of clothes for a music business event that night, knowing the event called for a completely different look. the second look was a flowery dress and sweater that was more fun and fancy than the inital look.

Overall, it was interesting to observe the differences in dress among friends depending on various situations. It led me to wonder, do they wear these outfits because of the differing expectations of society, or to express various personalities inside of them? I would be interested to follow this up with additional investigations and interviews.