Halfway through one particular book I freaked out! I realized that transcribing every word that I was reading was not a good way to go. It reminded me of the article we read for this class a couple of weeks ago by Virginia Rankin: "Pre-Search: Intellectual Access to Information". Rankin, a teacher-librarian from Seattle, taught some 8th graders not be overwhelmed with research. The important thing, she notes, is not to read every word, but to read captions, bold face titles, and captions. After re-reading her tips, I took one loose leaf paper and wrote key ideas and terms that I found interesting in my resources. I only looked at chapters that I thought would be relevant to my project. For instance, in one of my books, Fashion: An Introduction by Joanne Finkelstein, I wrote down terms such as haute couture, consumer revolution, social inequality, and fashion in the city. Each term had a page number next to it so that if I wanted to reread an idea again I could. This process might not have worked for everyone, but it certainly worked for me. By limiting myself to one page of loose leaf paper, I was less likely to write every word down. It was important to write just the key ideas so that I can tie them all together later.
There was another obstacle that was in the way this past weekend: I haven't been able to communiate with my friend Noor. I've emailed and called--where was she? I found out later that New York Fashion Week was not too long ago--maybe she's too wiped out to check her messages. I could have dwelled on this, but I realized that it's better to formulate a Plan B (or even a Plan C!) when things don't work out. I could do this project without Noor. I'll just have to find another way.
Noor, if you are reading this I'm sorry- I still think you are my go-to girl for fashion expertise. To prove it, I'm going to end this post with my favorite picture of you drinking coffee at a New York cafe.
So New York!
2 comments:
Isn't it frustrating when you can't connect with that "expert" that you were hoping for? The same thing happened to me. My former choir mate (a geneticist) has changed workplaces, so I can't get ahold of her to ask her about redhead extinction. But, I was able to find a radio interview of a geneticist that can serve as my secondary "ask and expert." Maybe you could find a published interview of a fashion designer to help in your inquiry. My favorite designer is Betsy Johnson:)
I love Betsy Johnson too :)
It's funny- I didn't realize what my "Plan B" was until two days ago. I almost forgot that my good friend, Bonney, has an older sister who used to write fashion columns at the Indianapolis Star. Surely I could ask her to be my expert in this research project! She was very happy to help.
When interviewing Kelly Kendall, who is now Assistant Life Style editor at the Indianapolis Star, she distinguishes between the terms "fashion" and "style". "I think fashion is a matter of personal style. Fashion has become so celebrity focused (that the term fashion) becomes frivolous and shallow. It's a picky difference, but I think it's a big one". So what makes you stylish? "I personally look for something that's really different...Luxury is in the details," states Kendall.
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