GENERATION XXXY the couple generation
GENERATION XXXY An investigation into ‘the couple’ consumer: how can brands better recognise this customer?
- N0391528 - BY KATIE FORD - FASH30001 -
DECLARATION I confirm that this work has gained ethical approval and that I have faithfully observed the terms of the approval in the conduct of this project. This submission is the result of my own work. All help and advice other than that received from tutors has been acknowledged and primary and secondary sources of information have been properly attributed. Should this statement prove to be untrue I recognise the right and duty of the board of examiners to recommend what action should be taken in line with the University’s regulations on assessment contained in its handbook. Signed: Date:
8,699 (without quotes) - 10,448 (with quotes)
09
YOU HAD ME AT HELLO
35 ON THE STREET
55 WHO WEARS THE TROUSERS?
71 RECOMMENDATIONS
15 METHODOLOGY
41 “SEEING DOUBLE’
61 IN-STORE
83 LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS
91
97
BIBLIOGRAPHY
APPENDICES
21
COMMON IDENTITY
47 DIGITAL LOVE
65 WHATS YOURS , IS MINE
87 LIST OF REFERENCES
CONTENTS
YOU HAD ME AT HELLO 09
‘Consumers use ‘fashion discourses to forge self-defining social distinctions and boundaries, to construct narratives of personal history…to interpret the interpersonal dynamics of their social spheres’. (Crane, D: Thompson and Haytko: 2000: 13) Fashion, for many, acts as an expression of common interest within the construction of individual and social group identity. In some instances, however, this behaviour can be recognised within ‘the couple’. It has been widely noted ‘that couples over time start to look alike: through mannerisms, facial expressions and style of dress’. (Ajudua. C:2013:online). The way we dress is a type of nonverbal communication, which reflects insights of our personality, lifestyle and motivations. As consumers, we have become defined by what we consume and how we consume it. How do our buying behaviours adjust within a partnership? My main objective of this investigation is to explore a consumer unit, rather than a singular buyer- by establishing ‘the couple’ as the next generation of shopper. Aside from men and women shopping, there is in-fact a third strand of purchaser that is open to manipulation. The relentless reevaluation of different demographics and two genders individually is outdated; brands must recognise that buying behaviours manifest themselves differently within a relationship. Have we reached a tipping point where brands can no longer discount the couple as consumer in it’s own right- are women and men no longer enough? This is not a research report analysing the couple romantically; it seeks to understand how Millennial couples aged 18-30 interact with the fashion environment.
Fig 3. (Thrift Class, 2013) Fig 4. (Tumblr, n.p.)
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fig 5. (Tumblr, 2013)
How do they use clothing to reflect one another, and if so, what are their motivations of dressing collectively? How much do they influence the behaviour of each other? How much of it is subconscious? These are a few examples of questions my report looks to answer through my primary and secondary research observations. There are almost 16 million adults aged 16-34 living in the UK of which almost three in ten (4.6 million) are either married or living with a partner. [Mintel:2011:Online] This doesn’t include the vast amount of couples that don’t cohabit. Potentially, ‘the couple’ could propose a new level of consumer segmentation that brands could use to their advantage. Although, where is there an appetite for this? Do couples want to be targeted collectively? When surveying a group of 33 individuals currently in relationships, the majority of respondents agreed brands could enhance their in-store environment more effectively in order to create a simpler and more enjoyable joint shopping experience. Therefore, my ambition is to construct a collection of considered outcomes in relation to the online and offline store environment, focusing upon the mid-market. Consumers clothing expectations and motivations are evolving; the redistributions of gender roles is affecting this as we are ‘seeing a new iteration of men and women…who rather than battling it out as some commentators would suggest, are working in collaboration. They’re embracing parity and breaking free from traditional assigned roles to create their own.’ (Stodell,H: 2013: Appendix: 3 D) The retail environment consistently targets consumers mainly based upon their gender, with the majority of UK brands choosing to compel consumers into womenswear and menswear sections, floors and online sectors. Conversely, it has been predicted that ‘Traditional marketing parameters of gender and age will vanish and instead profiles based on attitudes and interests will emerge,’(LS:Nglobal:2013:Online) within retail in coming years. Brands will need to be more innovative in those they choose to target in order to remain inventive within a saturated market. Overall buying habits of men are changing, creating a gradual balancing act in terms of clothing spending between the sexes. These influences provide an instinctive rise in fashion conscious couples, seeking brands that can accommodate their changing motivations within the fashion landscape. As ‘Young fashion retailers are finding the environment more challenging and are having to expand their target customer’ (Sender.T:Mintel:2013) assessing ‘the couple’ as another group to cater to, this seems like a logical step forward within the present market, and one that appears to be undiscovered in depth.
ARE WE ENTERING THE COUPLE GENERATION?
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METHODOLOGY 15
‘Consumer behaviour is a by-product of the unconscious mind, whereas research is inherently a conscious process’ (Graves:2013:10) Initially, when researching the couple as a fashion icon, celebrity culture dominated in the form of blogs, articles and magazines. As the ‘couple consumer’ is a concept, which is ultimately new, it proved very difficult to find reliable sources that were specifically related to the subject matter in hand. That being said, particular phenomenons that are trending currently, were straightforward to link to couples in some form, which provided interesting observations and fresh thinking. Primary research proved most helpful of all and acted as a basis for further analysis of many reoccuring themes.
Whilst conducting consumer research, however, couples frequently tended to find it difficult to articulate their dressing behaviours, when often they weren’t even aware themselves of the reasoning behind their similar styles, it became evident to me that it was in some instances subconscious. This meant my research methods needed adapting in order to reveal these hidden messages. Rather than creating one set of strategies for one brand, I took the approach of investigating the couple as a whole consumer identity with a greater understanding of the broader context, in order to present refined ideas for implementation and offer advice to brands within the mid-market struggling to survive with their current consumer base.
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fig 7. (The Nug blog, 2013)
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PRIMARY I contacted a variety of industry experts and brands as I knew the importance of their input to evidence my findings. I was unsuccessful on some occasions, but pleased to have been given the opportunity to conduct interviews with the Insight editor at LS:N GLOBAL, the editor of new menswear magazine MNSWR, Street Style photographer Erik Nauuman and a buyer currently working for NEXT. I did this by first making contact via social media sites such as Facebook or twitter, and then conducting the interview via email. This proved effective as it allowed them to answer my questions in their own time, therefore, making valuable observations to influence my work. I also conducted three online surveys on the platform Survey Monkey as I feel these are often most effective at gaining a wide range of results in a short space of time from my target audience. A trip to London for the purpose of in-store observations allowed me to experience brands such as The Kooples in a variety of locations, whilst street style photography and street interviews gained interesting results as I viewed the couple in the public environment. Seeing as my report is consumer centric, the majority of my research had the intention of digging deep into the lives of couples. Facebook chat provided an ideal method to talk to couples one to one where they felt comfortable. aNot only this, but I asked one couple in particular to conduct a small experiment that proved beneficial. I also attended an LSN: Global briefing at Broadway cinema in Nottingham as it focused on evolving trends that will affect the new male and female in coming years which informed questions, which I in turn, asked their insight editor.
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Journals, books, articles and blogs inform the majority of my secondary research. In particular, blogs proved very helpful and provided original insights and innovative thinking. Trend research databases such as WGSN and Trend Watching, allowed me to analyse the latest trends, whilst Mintel provided me with relevant consumer studies and consideration of the present market. Books offered me relevant theories and subjects for further investigation. Visually, Pintrest offered me the perfect platform to collect my inspirations for the aesthetics of my report, gaining inspiration from trendbooks, magazine layouts, graphic designers and creative portfolios. My Pintrest can be viewed at: www.pintrest.com/katielouisef
SECONDARY
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COMMON IDENTITY 21
(fig 10. Brad Pitt & Angelina Jolie, 2013)
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so who are we as a brand?
“Clothing fulfils physiological and safety needs, such as protection from the elements, whereas fashion fulfils our belonging and esteem needs. It can bring us together through social or tribal acceptance and recognition.” (Hart. A: McNicoll, P: Online) We are living in a generation of heightened style awareness in which we are constantly exposed to imagery of ‘the perfect couple’, Celebrity culture has established the couple as an icon and social status. We are all too familiar with the likes of the Beckhams and ‘Brangelina’; two strong examples of ‘couple branding’ that remain heavily within the public eye. See fig 10.Strong partnerships within this sector are of great significance, behaving as role models and a point of interest for others. ‘Through co-branding, brands can generate significantly more impact together than individually’. (Lyon.E: 2010: online). You could argue, the iconography of the two individuals as a pairing becomes more powerful than the individuals themselves, and it would appear this mindset has filtered into mainstream behaviour. Now, as we enter into a couple, do we subconsciously raise the question: so who are we as a brand?
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Fashion behaves as a device for couples to establish this collective identity. Couples have used clothing as a technique of communication for decades, often with the intention of being perceived in a particular way. The examples above highlight a direct correlation between their clothing choices, it is easy to see how they conciously reflect one another through their clothing. This art is not a new behaviour. Nevertheless, how do couples use clothing to identify they’re part of that couple? How do they demonstrate their coupledom with their fashion choices? Has this behaviour evolved?
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‘Style isn’t just a superficial phenomenon. It’s the visible tip of something much greater. And encoded within its iconography are all those ideas and ideals, which together constitute a (sub) culture. Like-looking is like-thinking and in this sense the members of a style tribe have a great deal in common.’ (Polhemus.T: 2010: Online)
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Fig 11-15 highlights how subcultures are key to couple styling; dressing to correspond an attitude, as we see partners identifying themselves with street cultures such as Punk and Hip-hop, fueled by politics and fashion. Youth subcultures proliferated in the postwar period, as adolescents and young adults acquired more time and leisure and became a major focus of attention by popular culture industries. Style and appearance are among the most important elements of sub-cultural identity (Crane.D: 2000:187 ) Often certain items of clothing place the couple into a movement that they identify with. The similar modes of dress communicate a sense of belonging within their social grouping that the couple fit into, whilst representing the sharing of values, beliefs and their music taste. It is ultimately the displaying of a collective attitude, with a distinct relationship to the music of that era. It must be noted that this doesn’t always mean the couple have to look remotely similar, but if their clothing makes a connection to that time, they are still recognised as a part of a mutual social status.
‘Style and appearance are among the most important elements of sub-cultural identity’ (Crane.D: 2000:187 )
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(fig 11. punk couple,Subbaculture, 2013)
(fig 13. Doc Marten couple) (fig 14. Punk rock couple, tumblr) (fig. 15. boy,girl, love summer, we heart it)
(fig 12. Adrianna and Tomas, Cardana, 2014)
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In contrast, we next observe how couples can be recognised through their same ‘look’, this doesn’t always represent a specific social belonging, but a couple who are fashion conscious and aware of the relationship between their outfits and visual identity. This can be recognised through a mirroring behaviour, where each individual emulate the other’s style to create an overall consistent image. See fig 17. It can also be seen through the coordination of colours, textures, volumes and certain items. There are certainly extremes and subtler versions of this behaviour, whilst some couples wear completely matching outfits, others provide small hints of coordination that determine their commitment to one another. They want everyone to know they have a good sense of style, not as individuals but as one. Most importantly, each couple has their own way to project this.
Meet Beth & Ben, who describe their style to reflect the ‘no fuss aesthetic’, Interestingly, the couple recognise how their shared interests and comparable eye for design is reflected through their clothing. ‘Being from a design background, we have similar things in common-ie, both complete apple, design, photography fanatics. We normally sit down both on laptops looking at similar creative things, whether film, photography etc. as we both work on design projects as a duo most of the time outside of work/university. We both love simple, Scandinavian design- being addicted to Mujias well as amazing stationary. I guess with this brings that simple dress code ideal, the no fuss aesthetic.’ (Carpenter: 2014: Appendix 2:C)
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The couple are aware of the direct correlation between their shared career prospects, creativity and taste. With a simplistic, little effort approach it communicates their freethinking and secured ideals of their pairing. It would appear that Beth adapts her wardrobe to emulate Ben’s style, as she comments Ben has more influence on her clothing behaviours than the opposite. ‘I love the androgynous look anyways so that’s good when you have free-reign to a boyfriends wardrobe. I love simple styles and colours (as does ben) so i find myself borrowing a jumper or t-shirt on occasion. I’m not a fan of tight clothes either, so a medium mens tshirt is a key element to my simple wardrobe at times’ (Carpenter:2014:Appendix 2:C)
Borrowing from Ben’s wardrobe accentuates Beth’s desire to be ‘androgynous’. Its interesting how the male is having more impact on the female in this situation, when often ‘fashion’ is stereotypically associated with women. It is reported that ‘women pick out and purchase 51 percent of the clothing in their boyfriend’s closets, whereas the men themselves only buy 30 percent’. (Birch.2013)Is this statistic no longer true of couple dressing?
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(Fig 17. Outfit Grids, Beth Carpenter and Ben Wrigglesworth, 2014. Appendix 2:c)
In order to uncover how in-tune the two were with each other’s dress sense, they were asked to conduct an experiment individually, where they were asked to photograph their favourite items. I then asked them to do the same for their partner, to view the correlation between the two. Similarly of their visual image, the two almost identically reciprocated one another’s choices. This shows how aware one another are of their partner’s dress sense, reinforcing this mirroring behaviour. Yet ironically, Beth states they ‘NEVER’, go out with the purpose of coordination, ever’. (Carpenter:2014:Appendix 2:C)
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‘NEVER, go out with the purpose of coordination, ever’. (Carpenter:2014:Appendix 2:C)
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ON THE STREET 35
Style is often about balance, but the correspondence between the two concepts can manifest itself in a multitude of ways. For example, the way that a person adorns their exterior can sometimes be seen as a complete and accurate representation of their personality. On the other hand, style can also serve to communicate a more dormant aspect of an individual’s persona, something that may appear deficient or muted in their external personality. How does this apply when you’re in a relationship? Does this dormant personality manifest itself through your other half, or do you have a completely different set of ideals when with them? When surveying 25 individuals who are currently in a relationship, 40% commented that they adapt what they wear when with their partner, to when alone. [Appendix 6:A] This tended to be either through dressing up, or toning down, with comments such as ‘I dress more to impress’ or ‘I am more casual’ when with my partner, meaning the results are conflicting. Although one female did comment that ‘Most of the time i'd say i dress for girls (more trend led) whereas my boyfriend thinks things like patterned leggings and stuff are odd so i tend to stick to jeans and jumpers.’ [All Anon: Appendix 6:A] She insinuates that her boyfriend doesn’t understand, or simply wouldn’t like the trend led items she would wear when in the presence of her girl friends. This means that it is important to her how her boyfriend perceives her dressing style as she adapts it to suit the situation. As I have previously established how couples present themselves, I wanted to understand how this has changed, whether there is any adaptation to what I’ve already seen within popular culture.
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From this, I decided to capture street style photographs in the city centre of Nottingham, in order to see how these concepts have filtered down into contemporary society, and whether there were any differences in the way these trends manifest themselves on the street. It was vital to capture couples in an public environment so there were no pre conceived notions or changes in the way they would behave normally to see if they are presenting a conscious reflection of eachother. ‘The clothing behaviour of street cultures has been compared to a ‘magnifying glass’ making it possible to observe the fluctuations in people’s attitudes and behaviour that constitute the character of a particular period of time. (Crane. D: Bischoff:2000:187) Having taken street style photographs previously, it was interesting noting the dissimilarity between asking couples and individuals. Often, one of the two didn’t want to be photographed, whilst the other was very helpful and apolygised on behalf of their partner. This presented to me there was possibly a more dominant partner within the couple. .The images captured of couples tended to present on trend clothing, tartan- a huge trend for AW13 was seen on a variety of couples, fig 21 in particular showcase how they’ve adapted the trend for both their genders. Whilst interviewing couples via email, many expressed that ‘We have been known to go out in almost identical outfits, no pre-planning- I guess we’re influencing each other without knowing. Because of the colour palette we both chose, it is quite hard not to co-ordinate’ (Aldridge. L: 2013: Appendix 2:A) another couple stated that ‘I tend to match with my boyfriend all the time. We never do it on purpose, but somehow we’re always on the same wavelength when we’re picking out clothes.’ (Kayleigh:2013:Appendix 5: B).This presented a continuous theme, where couples wouldn’t nesserciarly admit to coordinating purposely, but it was purely subconscious and due to united tastes, this could suggest that they would embarrassed if others saw them as ‘matching’. In contrast to this, I noticed a distinct trend where this sensibility doesn’t exist within couple dressing, and it is clearly an example where outfits are previously planned in advance.
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(fig 20. Own image. Emily & Rory: Appendix 5:A) [ 38 ]
fig 21. Own Image. Kayleigh & Jake. Appendix 5:B) [ 39 ]
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SEEING DOUBLE 41
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Subsequently, my observations led me to observe couple culture in the East. Matching couple clothing and identical outfits kept cropping up within my searches. Mostly, these seemed to be captured through street style blogs, where photographers captured this movement as an everyday occurrence. ‘The Cupple’ is a store in China that sells coordinating and identical outfits for ‘cupples’. Image 2 shows this. This trend is reciprocated on the street. Although I’m not analysing these couples as my consumer, it became apparent their significance in my quest to understand couple dressing more objectively. It made me wonder how this trend was perceived by different cultures, in its most extreme form and why it isn’t a theme associated within Western
society, in such an intense sense. What makes these couples different other than their nationality? It was critical that I tried to understand why this powerful couple trend is so well received and ingrained within these countries’ traditions. In addition, Western perceptions of this behaviour have suggested an extremely negative view of this conscious couple dressing, which I felt was quite a contradiction, as I have noted couple dressing takes on a more subtle approach within the UK, but still exists. I contacted street style photographer Erik Naumann based in Canada, who has visited Beijing and consequently, published an online magazine featuring couples on the streets in what he calls their ‘uniforms’.
(fig 23. ‘The cupple’ 2013, online)
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(fig 24. Couple dressing, Erik Naumann, 2012)
This idea of a ‘uniform’ immediately suggested a distinctive notion that I hadn’t yet explored, when asking why he felt it was so widely accepted in Beijing opposed to Western countries, he commented that: ‘Once, I thought it might be related to the way clothing in China has evolved from communist era “Mao suits”, and been influenced recently by the West. I also had thought it might have something to do with the 1-child policy and how that has put so much pressure on relationships since there are so many more men than women, people might value those relationships more highly.’ (Naumann.E:2014:Appendix 3:B) Certainly, he makes some valid points, and suggests that couples within these cultures are
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more committed to one another, mainly because of the ‘one child policy’, which maintains pressures upon couples to preserve a strong and successful pairing. This signifies a way for others to understand their serious nature, is through the matching of outfits. Since returning to Canada Erik admits that his eyes had now been opened to couple dressing as a trend and noticed it in Canada is a much subtler sense. The photographer later stated: ‘I actually bought matching shirts for my girlfriend and I when I was in China. There are shops that will have a large selection of couples shirts, and I bought some Comme des Garcon knockoffs. We tried wearing them out once, but it was extremely awkward, and we never did it again.’( Naumann.E:2014: Appendix 3:B)
The fact that this trend had such an impact on him, he tried to adopt it himself, but interestingly he found it to be ‘awkward’. What was his attraction to this? I decided to research further in to the significance of the ‘uniform’, after his interest in ‘Mao suits’. Is couple dressing a way of creating your own ‘uniform’? This took me back to the idea of couples dressing as part of a subculture or what theorist Ted Polhemus calls a ‘style tribe’. ‘Style tribes are marked out by a distinctive appearance style but their enormous scale and national or even international boundaries indicate a uniquely modern approach to ‘tribal’ identity. While all the members of a gang (or, for that matter, a ‘real’ tribe) know and are personally involved with each other, the vast majority of the members of style tribes are complete strangers - linked together by only reports in the media, pop music role models and by a shared style of dress and adornment.’ (Polhemus.T:2010:Online) Interestingly, Some researchers have concluded that subcultures are dying out, due to fashion fragmenting into hundreds of competing looks, noting that the importance of individuality within postmodern society is becoming more significant. ‘Exactitudes’ is an experiment that began in 1994, that creates an ‘almost scientific, anthropological record of people’s attempts to distinguish themselves from others by assuming a group identity’. (Sinderen.W: 2013:Online) Developed by photographers Versluis and Uyttenbroak, the project examines the ‘contradiction between individuality and uniformity’ (Unknown: 2013:Online). Through the collation of appearance and characteristics of different individuals, the pair creates group identities where the individuals are immediately defined as a group member, without knowing. Image 1 is an example of one particular ‘style tribe’ they have recorded. This suggests that, without even being aware, we naturally form part of a ‘group’ or ‘tribe’. Therefore I felt that ‘the couple’ could be described, as it’s own style tribe.
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(fig 25. Couple dressing, Erik Naumann,2012)
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DIGITAL LOVE 47
‘Turow believes lifestyles have begun to resemble ‘image tribes’ non-overlapping segments of the population whose members have distinct ‘problems, allegiances, and interests’. (Crane.D: Turow: 2000: 10) Once a couple has established their brand or ‘couple identity’, the digital age provides various platforms to showcase their distinctiveness and progression to others. These take the forms of social media websites such as Instagram, Tumblr, Flickr, Pintrest and Facebook. ‘Generation Y – those aged around 25 to 30 – are the most likely to own a smartphone, at 89 per cent, and are considered a key target for mobile marketers’ (Styles.K:2013:online) Technology is in some form, integrated into the majority of young minds, where spending the greater part of their time in the day updating their social profiles through smart phone apps is the new norm. In this century. Suddenly, the importance of ‘The Curated Couple’ takes on a whole new meaning when online, as it provides a level of complete control and adjustment. ‘In previous centuries, clothing was the principal means for identifying oneself in public space’, (Crane.D:2000:1) it would appear that this is no longer the case in it’s entirety as a three dimensional experience, now with both online and offline presence, presents an opportunity for fluidity or non fluidity from one to the other.
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During the twentieth century, couples presented themselves to others using a physical presence; interaction with the social space in ‘real life’ was the only way to construct their couple identity. Interestingly, scholars examine that our new lives consumed by social media, actually have a negative impact through the relentless consumption of image based advertising of our being. This suggests that the significance of couple’s interaction with the online environment shouldn’t be discounted. It is described that ‘In postmodern culture, ‘consumption is conceptualized as a form of role-playing’. (Kawamura.Y:2013: 117)
‘When you see beautiful photos of your friends on Instagram,” she says, “one way to compensate is to self-present with even better photos, and then your friend sees your photos and posts even better photos, and so on. Self-promotion triggers more self-promotion, and the world on social media gets further and further from reality”(Winter.J: 2013 :online) It is further argued that the more you expose yourself to images of others, “the more distorted your perception is that their lives are happier and more meaningful than yours.”. Couples, ultimately respond to this new experience through ‘ the construction and presentation’ of what they feel constitutes an ‘ideal relationship’. We now carry a camera with us everywhere, meaning that documentation of experience and lifestyle creates an overall picture of the joint self. Interestingly, ‘between 65 and 85 percent (of students) describe themselves as ‘visual learners,’ forming meaning and organising thoughts based on what they see more so than what they read.’ (Winter.J:2013:online)
From those asked, one couple exclaimed that using the internet is ‘a huge part of what we do from day to day and we are on social media sites a few hours a day, We aren’t that big on Facebook but use twitter from time to time. Mainly we use Pinterest, Instagram and Tumblr- they are the platforms that consume most of our time.’(Aldridge.L:2013:Appendix 2:A) Interestingly, those which are image based take priority and perform as a way of sharing ideas, inspirations and creating a performative and constructed ideal of coupledom. It is argued that ‘social class is becoming less important in the formation of a person’s self image’, (Crane.D:2000:9) and our obsession with imagery can be defined as an “envy spiral’.
(fig 27. ‘Couple taking selfie’) (fig 28. couple hugging, 2013) (fig 29. Louis Tomlinson. 2013) (fig 3-. Steff ellis. 2013, instagram)
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‘Cup of Couple’ exemplifies this ideology. Described as ‘a fashion and lifestyle blog’ Gabriel Garcia and Mike Madrid express their partnership through their love for style and photography. With a strong following, the pair successfully combine their creative talents to produce a reflection of their hectic, fashion driven lives together. It would appear that the idea of ‘the couple as a brand’ has become ingrained within the public psychology. There has been a definite increase in couple blogging and collaborative social networking profiles, with The Guardian commenting that ‘Couples aren’t just racing to the altar; they’re racing to share social media.’(Buck.S:2013:online)
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(fig 31. ‘Cup of couple’)
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When asking one particular couple who their favourite couple were, they said ‘We personally like Josh Beech and Shenae Grimes- this is a couple we have been looking at for a while now, as they have taken to working together, starting their own brand together, shooting lookbooks, their own blog etc. they’re just really interesting and a pretty cool couple too.’Aldridge,L:2014:Appendix 2:A) I asked this with the intention of understanding how they want to be perceived as a pairing; Shenae and Josh have a very successful blog named ‘ a blog of two halves’ that looks at their fashion and lifestyle. Loren and Alex directly emulate this concept, with their own shared creative Tumblr account with the description ‘a blog of two halves’. As ‘blogging duos are carving a new form of real-life, online lifestyle envy.’(Stevens.2011:online) It was clear then that this couple want to imitate this ideal of how they view an ideal coupling. Not only this, but my research determined that couples often share inspirations and ideas across various networks, ‘We use the internet to find inspiration and pin clothing to Pinterest- we have HIS and HER boards and they’re kind of aimed at each other.’ (Clouston.A: 2014:Appendix 2:a)) Interestingly, Pintrest ‘discourages’ users from sharing profiles, although I feel this is naïve, almost as if the social media world is missing a trick.
(fig 32. Loren Aldridge, instagram 2013)
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‘We use the internet to find inspiration and pin clothing to Pinterestwe have HIS and HER boards and they’re kind of aimed at each other.’ (Clouston.A: 2014:Appendix 2:a))
(fig 33. Loren Aldridge, instagram 2013) ‘We feel that we have the opportunity to share ideas together a lot. You should look at the iPhone app called couple (used to be called pair)- it’s a nice example of how something you use to share information with your partner is kept private and away from your usual means of contact. It makes everything a bit more personalI could see something along these lines mixed with something like Pinterest. It could make sharing nice things you find online better to organise as a couplekept private too.’ (Aldridge.L:2014:Appendix 2:A) ‘Couple’ is an interactive application that focuses upon two halves sharing content between one another. ‘With over 1 million downloads, an Apple editors choice award, and a Google Play staff pick, Couple is a more intimate way to share your life and stay connected to your partner.’(Unknown:online) The app allows the users to share calendars, images, messages and even draw together, completely privately. Brands should consider bridging the gap from online to offline with their shopping experience, as the correlation between coupledom and the internet is significant.
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WHO WEARS THE TROUSERS? 55
“We have definitely spotted the rise of an increasingly fashion-literate men’s customer, who follows the runways and comes into the store knowing what the key pieces for the season are,” (Chilvers:Smith.2012:online)
During an interview, Steff comments ‘We are very influenced by each others opinion, choose outfits that we know would appeal to one another. Since knowing me Charles says his usual casual style has evolved and he now dresses smarter’. (Ellis:2014:Appendix 2:B) Interestingly, Steff has noticed a change in Charle’s dress sense since being together. Loren comments that ‘I often have styling crisis’ ie. ‘I don’t know what to wear’ so look to Alex for help.’ (Aldridge:2014:2:A) She seeks advice from her boyfriend, showing she trusts his judgement. This led me to think, do males have more pressure upon them to look a certain way than they used to, therefore, would it be viewed as an ‘embarrassment’ if your girlfriend had purchased something for them? I asked 33 males if this was the case, and 90% said they wouldn’t be at all embarrassed, whilst 10% said it would depend on the situation. (Appendix 6:C)
The rise in couples using the internet as a source for inspiration, presentation and a joint experience, suggests they have become more aware of their image. Due to this progression, the fast moving pace of the fashion industry is observing increasingly more trend led and fashion conscious consumers, but how does this manifest itself for both genders? Research suggests that males are gradually becoming more fashionable . A common perception of women’s shopping habits is that women have and tend to spend much more than men in terms of clothing. This insight appears to be shifting, with the rise of the ‘Mansumer’ ,‘men have become defined by what they consume, which has led to a feminizing process’ (Jones: 2013:online). With the average male now shopping more than twice a week and spending £1,000 on fashion each year’.(London:2013:online). This balance presents a natural environment for fashion conscious couples to flourish, as men and women gradually level out in terms of their buying processes and average clothing spend.
From what I have learnt, ‘fashion’ is a common topic within relationships, and it is treated as a personal experience that is enjoyed. With this new fashionled male, it is noted that the convergence of gender roles are a key process that is affecting consumer spending, which has a direct impact on couple decision making. ‘Products that appeal to designconscious parents of both genders are likely to prevail’ (Stodell:2014:Appendix 3:D)This will have a knock on effect for retailers and how they need to target men and women in terms of product design and tone of voice as the previous rules no longer hold true.. This gender role reversal is changing the dynamics of the couple, this naturally influences clothing design, social norms, and a shift towards equality. Brands must provide an equal product offering to both genders in order to recognise this shift in consumer behaviour. I wanted to understand whether the brand offering is discussed between womenswear and menswear departments, whether their buyers work together to create a consistent brand identity from mens through to womens. Therefore, I was fortunate to interview a buyer currently working for Next, with the hope of gaining a better understanding of the trend uptake between the two genders from the beginning of the fashion cycle. When asked about this subject, she stated that ‘The two sides differ by womenswear having set stories that have their own prints and colour palettes in each season, whereas menswear do not have this’ she also commented ‘We tend to buy our ranges independently, Womenswear sit in their teams on one side of the floor menswear on the other’. (Anon:2013:Appendix 3:C) Although not necessarily true of all buying departments, this showed me just how disjointed the connection between the gender divide is.
From this, my next step was to grasp a better understanding of this new male shopper, so I contacted Michel Andre the editor of new online menswear magazine ‘MNSWR- what men wear’ to be launched in April 2014. The platform designed for ‘style conscious men between the age of 25 to 50 with a ‘sartorial sense’ lends itself to the fact that ‘he has a sense for quality, durability and class and is prepared to spend money on it. He sees his investment in his style as an investment in his self.’ (Andre:2014:Appendix:3:A) Whilst interviewing Michel, he interestingly commented that: ‘I think men have become a lot more self-conscious in their style over the years. I personally believe that this is partly caused by the impact of increased individualism in society. With the changing of traditional men-women roles men are taking more responsibility for their physical presentation than before and this has a logical impact on the fashion industry. The huge rise of men’s magazines in the last decade is an important signal showing that men have become more aware of their physical being.’ (Andre.2014.Appendix 3:A) What does this mean for the couple? Are males more confident at giving their girlfriend advice than they used to be, if they are more fashion aware? Who is the more dominant partner when it comes to clothing decisions?
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(fig 35. ‘Winter Look’. Trashness. n,d)
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It would appear that many brands have yet to understand the importance of creating a balance and consistency between departments, to not only encourage this new male to shop with them, but have a following from both in the relationship. One brand I feel successfully achieves this stability is Parisian brand ‘The Kooples’, the most recognised brand to be associated with coupledom. This international brand focuses upon trend-led, hipster, androgynous styling with a British indie feel. Situated within the mid-market, this company’s marketing specifically targets the couple aesthetic by using real life couples in their advertising. In addition, this concept is a continuous theme throughout the brand, with ‘a mens and women’s collection that appears interchangeable’ (Willsher:2012:online) the brand capitalise on the idea of sharing wardrobes with your other half. The company effectively incorporates the rock + roll type feel, successfully integrating couple’s music as part of its campaigns, and coining it’s own record label ‘The Kooples records’.
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I can’t understand why other brands haven’t considered the couple within their brand identity or strategy, when the Kooples proves it’s success. What I found of most interest in relation to the brand was the hype that surrounded these ‘cool couples’. Visiting their twitter site, various ‘fans’ behaved as if it was a privilege to be ‘a Koople’ tweeting things such as: ‘ @ TheKooples are the definition of adorable cool, I want to be one.’ (Khanna,2014) Another stated, ‘Can I be a Koople now?’(Gill,2014) as if it was some sort of club that you have to be accepted into. This suggests to me how powerful the iconography of the couple truly is and related back to the idea of the couple as your own ‘style tribe’. Although, their marketing messages do appear somewhat stereotypical. Image 1 highlights a Kooples couple; both are identical and look too perfect, I feel as if it doesn’t represent a typical every day pairing, which explains the longing for others to reflect this unattainable ideal of a relationship. Similarly, Burberry have incorporated real life celebrity couple Sienna Miller and Tom Sturriage within their AW13 campaigns, carrying on the ‘continuation of the playful and romantic mood”, the brand expresses a more romantic take on the couple story named ‘Trench kissing’. The rise of celebrity culture has played a great part in establishing the couple as a brand and iconic figure. (fig 36. ‘The Kooples’ Advertisment)
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IN-STORE 61
But that’s not enough, according to Rogers. “The challenge now is to keep it fresh. How long can they keep finding good-looking couples?” (The Kooples) he asks. (Santi:Rogers:2011:online)
creating a brand experience that both halves could enjoy at the same time. Taking this forward, I wanted to understand how these ideas would fit in amongst a more general retail environment.
During a visit to London, a location where the ‘The Kooples’ brand house 10 of their ‘boutiques’ stores, with the intention of gaining an insight first hand of their in-store environment. (Appendix 4:B) Their stores offer a high end but edgy feel, whilst simple design lends itself to two simple rails of clothing for men and women separated on each wall opposite each other. The stores I visited were narrow, but I felt it was extremely clever to place items that complimented one another through textures such as leather jackets, or women’s scarves that picked out the pattern on the male ties, in close enough range to each rail. This allowed couples to seamlessly shop and negotiate between the two genders, whilst creating a personal, joint shopping experience. This environment encouraged those who were single to swap between rails, rarely noticing the gender divide, and couples to discuss items and coordinate without even realising. At the back of the store, the changing rooms- just two, a constant and somewhat obvious theme, faced one mirror. It effectively emphasized how the couple looked as a whole once stepping out of the changing room, they are immediately met with their image as a combined visual. I felt that these concepts were key to their visual merchandising strategies in
This led me to try and understand how less couple orientated brands cater to the couple consumer group, if they do how couples behave within the in store setting. When asked, what can stores do to make it more simple, easier or enhanced to shop in a couple? The majority of answers concluded observations that were relatively stereotypical and obvious, such as ‘ A place to sit down whilst partners shop’ or ‘My boyfriend always wishes there was more seats for him to sit on’ although, many concluded that they would prefer it if womenswear and menswear weren’t placed on different levels or in separate sections. ‘My boyfriend always moans that the menswear is always miles away (upstairs or in the basement) and we have to look through all the womenswear first. It would be nice to have things in the same area so we can both go off and look at different things’. Another individual commented ‘Intergrate male and female stuff together, he always complains that I spend ages in the womens sections then hurry him through the mens.’ On the other hand, one couple mentioned ‘I don’t think that they need to (change anything) It’s nice having the mens and womens section and then meeting up when you’ve got your items.’ (All anon: Appendix 6:A)
(fig 38. Own imageThe Kooples Store: Appendix 4:B)
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partner and didn’t get fed up. Downstairs, within the menswear section, was a ‘vinyl store’ which allowed an area for partners to sit and listen to music, next to an old playstation area where you could keep yourself entertained. The changing rooms were mixed, and this worked extremely well. Although some would have reservations about being in the same area changing as the other gender, it worked seamlessly as couples appeared from their changing rooms and discussed each others outfits without having to go onto the store floor where others could see them. As the Urban Outfitters had just recently opened, it became clear the idea of the couple is gradually integrating itself within the highstreet, this is the only other example I found whilst researching of these types of techniques being used. Brands such as Topshop and Topman, still remain relatively segregated, whilst department stores especially, are extremely bad for this, with mens and womens sections being as far apart as they can get. I felt it was important to observe how the couple interacts within the in-store environment, and I purposely chose to visit ‘Outfit’ a store that houses all of the Arcadia brands under one roof, on one floor, due to my survey results.[Appendix 4:C] My aims were to see how they would interact in an environment where both menswear and womenswear are on the same level. (fig 39. own image, Urban Outfitters, Appendix: 4:A) Showing they like to remain individual within the shopping environment. Another observation was in relevance to changing rooms, there were many answers concluding how it would be beneficial to have genderless changing rooms, to prevent the awkward wait outside for the other. Loren and Alex commented how they would like it if there was ‘Shared changing rooms- this is the biggest issue when shopping together, we only usually find this okay in COS, most other places Alex has to sit outside with all of the other men.’(Aldridge:2014:Appendix 2:A) Whilst, one couple commented, ‘instead of buy one get one free from say the womens section why not have a buy one from the womens section but get the mens free or vice versa?’ (Anon: Appendix 6:A) I thought this was a really nice idea, and would provide brands with an innovative way to entice both genders into their store. My survey suggested many interesting ideas, but ones that I felt were quite apparent. I visited the new Urban Outfitters store in Nottingham, [Appendix 4:A] and interestingly found many examples of how it had appeared they had taken the couple into consideration, they used models grouped as couples, and the interior of the store provided a seamless joining from the menswear to womenswear. Interestingly, the lifestyle products that are aimed at both genders were intergrated throughout the womenswear sections, which meant males looked at these items whilst staying with their
One particular aspect that I noticed was the way in which the individuals looked to their other halves for reassurance, suggestions and advice. One particular girl when entering the store with her boyfriend, picked up an item and asked him what he thought. He immediately said he ‘wasn’t a fan’ and the girl proceeded to put the item back quickly. During my survey, 60% of the respondents agreed that they always consider their other half when purchasing an item of clothing, whilst 83% said they strongly agreed they value their partner’s opinion of things they wear. [Appendix 6:C] Interestingly, after witnessing various partners discounting an item because of their other halfs reaction, 62% strong disagreed that ‘ If my partner disliked something I’d chosen I would put it back’. This presents a juxtaposition and contradiction. Whilst in this particular store I’d noticed they’d moved Topman from the back of the store, to the front, directly opposite Topshop. When asked a sales assistant briefly why they’d done this, he commented that ‘ We find girls are tending to shop in Topman too, and we felt they shouldn’t be in different sections, so the two flow from one to the other’. [Anon: Appendix 6:C] This presented another concept which I hadn’t yet explored, the idea that it’s ‘cool’ to wear your boyfriend’s clothing and women are tending to be more influenced by menswear.
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WHATS YOURS IS MINE 65
“Our wives take our jackets, and we take their scarves… Sometimes we take their jeans. We like very skinny jeans.” (Unknown: Elicha:2013:online) This led me onto further investigation into couples sharing clothes between themselves and the boundaries of gender identity within the duo itself. In my survey, I asked the question, do you ever share/borrow clothes from your partner? 78.79% said yes. [Appendix 6:A] Ben comments ‘Her stuff normally takes over considering there’s quite a lot of it. My clothes normally become her clothes then. Beth: ‘when we do purchase, (especially for ben) there’s usually the thought of ‘will this look good on me too?’. (Carpenter:2014:online) There has also been a distinct rise in genderless dressing, with brands adopting the non-gender aesthetic. ‘the future of dressing is interestingly ambivalent at the moment – about gender, that is, not about style’ (Cochrane:2013:online)This is a distinct retail trend already being implemented. STYLUS comments :‘As men and women begin to cast off traditional gender roles, new opportunities are opening up for brands to widen their appeal through genderless packaging and unisex products.’ (STYLUS:3013) Genderless dressing isn’t new. However, it would appear various influences are causing this trend to develop across many sectors. 2013 saw a rise in ‘genderless parenting’, toy stores were targeted for having gender specific sections; whilst transgender model of the moment Andrej P is accepted into the fashion industry. During my interview with couple Loren and Alex, they expressed their interest in Unisex fashion also, commenting that ‘COS is quite good (for couples) as they have both mens and womenswear but it is quite unisex- where Alex works, Sunspel is very unisex too, a lot of women buy menswear from there and similarly where I work, A.Sauvage, we had a collection a few seasons ago called ‘menswear for women’…its interesting how there is a crossover’. (Aldridge:2014:Appendix 2:A) Ls:n Global predicts that retail will look towards individuality, forecasting that ‘brands will track interests and attitudes through future incarnations of Facebook Graph and platforms such as Social fMRI developed by the MIT Human Dynamics Laboratory.’ (LS:N Global:2013:online)Certainly, brands are having to have a rethink, but ultimately, using ‘the couple’ is a effective way to market this new wave, as Topman have recently achieved.
(fig. 41. ‘Woman coat’. Tumblr) (fig 42. ‘made to measure’, Dior)
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They’ve taken the virtual departments out of the equation, so that no matter your style or orientation, you feel likeyou’re being represented in the collection’ (loveinc:2013:online)
(fig 43. ‘Kate& Johnny’ Topman:2013)
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Topman introduced their product line ‘Kate and Johnny’ into their store in December 2013, that highlights the rise in genderless clothing and the idea of ‘couple dressing’. “KATE AND JOHNNY ARE TWO PEOPLE UNIFIED BY ONE STYLE THAT DOESN’T CONFORM TO A SPECIFIC GENDER. THIS UNIQUE CONCEPT IS CONVEYED BY THEIR MATCHING OUTFITS – RELAXED, EFFORTLESS, YET STILL UNMISTAKABLY SEXY. FROM MEN’S SHIRTS AND COATS TO DENIM JACKETS AND VARSITY SPORTS TEES, THEIR STYLE SETS THEM APART FROM EVERYONE ELSE BUT BRINGS THEM CLOSER TOGETHER.” (Topman:2013:online) With an interchangeable product line that with a ‘unisex’ appeal, it is quite likely they chose to call the collection ‘Kate and Johnny’ due to the unique influence Kate Moss and Johnny Depp created whilst they were together, being described as the ‘most stylish couple’ of all time. Notably, the collection remains within Topman, which emphasises the idea that women are more likely to shop in menswear than vice versa. Is it cool to be seen wearing your boyfriends clothing? Within interviews conducted, the majority of clothes borrowed were from the male. Brands over time have integrated the idea of the ‘boyfriend t-shirt’ or ‘boyfriend jeans’ into womenswear, emphasizing this tendency. Fashion is viewed by Simmel, as ‘an ideal field for individuals with dependent natures, who self consciousness, however requires a certain amount of prominence, attention, singularity.’ (Simmel:1957:12) Could this mean girls wear they boyfriend’s clothing, or cross dress, to create a sense of security or belonging? Topman have discovered the couple as an ideal way to understand this trend, they accentuate the ideal that men and women when in a relationship merge into one consumer base. In addition, brands should cater to the fact that women are taking a great deal of inspiration from emerging menswear, and aren’t afraid to venture across gender to wear it. The most interesting point I draw from this collection, is the idea ‘They’ve taken the virtual departments out of the equation, so that no matter your style or orientation, you feel like you’re being represented in the collection’ (loveinc:2013:online) meaning there is no segregation whilst couples shop this innovative product line.
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RECOMMENDATIONS 71
As part of my research, I conducted a number of interviews to form consumer profiles; which indicate different degrees of couple dressing. Beginning with those couples who don’t have any correlation between their other half and their dressing behaviour, whilst the other end of the spectrum demonstrates a pairing that takes into consideration every aspect of their appearance in relation to the other. My recommendations seek to target all these couples, whether to encourage couple dressing, or adher to the needs of those that already do.
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CONSUMER PROFILES
Alice & Ben. Don’t use clothing to reflect one another, they have their seperate clothing taste. Occupations: Student, gas engineer Do you find that you influence eachother in the way you dress? I don’t wear as ‘out there’ things when I’m with ben as I would when I’m at uni. What are your individual interests? Which are those you have in common? I’m interested in fashion, socialising and film. Ben is interested in biking and sport. Which particular couples do you find inspirational and why? Sid and Nancy, original rock n roll couple. What are your favourite stores? We don’t tend to shop at the same places. Alice’s favourites are Primark, H&M and ASOS, Ben likes The Hip Store, Pretty Green and Northern Boys Club Do you feel you have a similar style? What are your differences in style? Alice is more trend led and tends to tone down her dress sense when we’re together. Ben has a very specific style, originating in the northern working class, often known as ‘casuals’. Sometimes our styles are similar as we both sometimes dress with a nod towards mod style. (fig 45. Alice & ben. 2014) Sammy & George Both like fashion, often recommending items for eachother to wear. Occupations: Receptionist & Hair Dresser Living arrangements: Live together Do you find that you influence eachother in the way you dress? I always value Georges opinion on my clothes and often ask him before I buy something because he is honest. Do you often recommend eachother clothing to wear? If we see things that we think the other would like then we’ll tell each other about it. Do you feel you have a similar style? We are quite similar in the way we like our clothes to look worn and vintage. We both dislike really bright clothes. Our differences would be I like to spend as little as possible on clothes but George will spend a lot on his clothes.
(fig 46. Sammy & George. 2013)
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Steff & Charles This couple directly influence one anothers dressing styles, and this is reflected within their coordination. Occupations: Events Assistant intern and Stock Auditor Living arrangements: Living with relative Do you find that you influence each other in the way you dress? Very influenced by each others opinion, choose outfits that we know would appeal to one another. Since knowing me Charles says his usual casual style has evolved and he now dresses smarter! Are you a digitally minded couple? A lot of time is spent on online blogs/clothing websites and we draw inspiration from various social media platforms such as Instagram, Pinterest, Polyvore, Lookbook etc. and are influenced by online street style blogging. Do you ever take the time to consider how your outfits work together, or singularly? We tend to gravitate towards a similar colour palette of neutrals and muted shades as opposed to bright or clashing prints and colours, so we don’t tend to look mismatched. Which particular couples do you find inspirational and why? The first one that springs to mind is Victoria and David Beckham. (fig 47. Steff & Charles. 2013, instagram) Loren & Alexander This couple actively use dress as a way to communicate their shared tastes and career prospects. Occupations: Design, Marketing and Communications Manager at A. Sauvage and Graphic Designer at Sunspel Living arrangements: Live together in our flat, Pimlico, London Do you find that you influence eachother in the way you dress? If so, how? L: Yes we do, we both are very interested in fashion, so find it quite a common topic of conversation. We have similar style so often help each other with what to wear. I often have styling crisis’ ie. ‘I don’t know what to wear’ so look to Alex for help. A: We have been known to go out in almost identical outfits, no pre-planning- I guess we’re influencing each other without knowing. Do you feel your home is a true representation of you as a couple? A: Yes Because our tastes cross over really nicely. For example Lorens favourite object is a buddha statue and mine is a wooden african carved head, so we have been able to mix these more authentic and cultural design elements within a modern space- it reflects us. 10. Do you ever take the time to consider how your outfits work together, or singularly? Do you coordinate? Because of the colour palette we both chose, it is quite hard not to co-ordinate. We both wear a lot of black, navy blue, greys and white- we both appreciate our united tastes.
(fig 48. ‘Loren & Alexander’. 2013)
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My initial intentions were to successfully construct a collection of considered outcomes in relation to the physical in-store environment, which brands could realistically develop within existing stores. However, my investigation led to the greater understanding of how couples utilize the internet and with the growing influence technology is having, I concluded that this shouldn’t be discounted. Due to the increasing consequence of Omni-channel retailing; a strategy that ensures the seamless correlation between the online to offline experience of a brand, it became significant that my research was of essence and could be integrated within the final brand proposals. A number of different outcomes and recommendations have resulted due to a greater understanding of how couples behave. The following proposals are a guide for brands to adopt in order to increase their existing target audience to cater to the couple consumer unit.
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‘When you have to go to different shopping spaces to look, it segregates the experience a lot.’
(Aldridge.2014:Appendix 2:A)
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In-Store arrangement ‘When you have to go to different shopping spaces to look, it segregates the experience a lot.’ (Aldridge.2014:Appendix 2:A) Firstly, my advice would lead to the suggestion of placing menswear and womenswear on the same floor. Outfit have understood the importance of this, so couples are able to navigate from one to the other seamlessly and in the process, being close enough to their other half to ask them for advice, opinions or make suggestions. This will stop the experience from being a segregated one, many couples commented that this would be a positive change for them. ‘Most stores have very separate male/female sections in the shop which are often on different floors. This makes it difficult to shop together as you have to split up to go to the different areas and find each other again to show things. Perhaps somewhere where the men and womens’ clothes are integrated? It would be most effective if stores had sections opposite each other, for example, men’s jeans opposite women’s jeans. This would allow a couple shopping for the same item to do it together. If brands wanted to take this to the extreme, they could in-fact merge the two genders together, which would naturally create ‘couple dressing’ within their visual merchandising, as various trend agencies have predicted, consumers are looking for retail to stop defining them by their gender, therefore this would adhere to this trend with the up side of creating a joint shopping experience. However, brands must consider if this will alienate their single consumer, or those who enjoy a segregated shopping environment. In department stores for example, where womens and mens sections are extremely separate, and often miles away from one another, they could have it segregated into brands, which have both womens and mens clothing for that brand, within that section.
Changing Rooms Another particular instance to change would be the changing rooms, provide genderless changing rooms. This allows couples to come out and show one another without waiting around, or being stared about by the rest of the shoppers, while you make your choices. Urban Outfitters has shown this is doable, and effective.
More than just shopping It is a fairly stereotypical view that males when shopping with their other half become bored or distracted easily, but my research did conclude that in some instances this is still the case. As consumers are seeking more from a shopping experience in this century, it is vital that a store becomes more than that, therefore, brands should add more for those who get preoccupied to do. In Urban Outfitters we saw music stations and old school play stations to keep those who were waiting for others interacting with the brand even if they aren’t directly purchasing. Stores could include entertainment centres that focus upon specific products that wouldn’t be out of touch with the rest of the brand, but provide seating and activity for those who need it, this also provides a meeting place for couples, who know where their other half is. If stores were to take this further, a café could be of most interest to couples within the store environment.
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In-store offers
Sharing
When running promotions and offers, often we see the likes of ‘buy one get one free’ on certain items in certain sections, student offers or loyalty reward cards. Instead of placing joint offers on items in the women’s section, or just men’s, why not cross the two sections over, creating a seamless divide. For those shopping in a couple, the option should be provided to buy one from the womens, and get one free from the mens, and vice versa. This will keep both parties interested and allow couples to coordinate without parting with extra money. Rather than taking a loyalty reward card each, couples should be provided with their own loyalty reward card that both parties can use with different incentives to single consumers. Such as a meal for two, when you reach a certain ‘stamp’ or ‘joint personal shopper experience’.
An observation that I felt was particularly relevant to this was the idea that couples often share fashion ideas between themselves, often coming home from a shopping trip with a item for their other half, or simply sending them a link to an item they think they’d like. See Fig 12 & Fig 13. This was evident with Loren and Alexander’s relationship who used Pintrest as a platform aimed at one another with HIS & HERS boards intended for their significant other. Often couples admitted to using street style blogs as inspiration, along side magazines and image based sharing applications such as Tumblr.
Online Navigation Most clothing websites online provide the option to choose firstly between genders- then a variety of options allow you to choose the type of item you’re looking for, colour palette and size. See Fig 11. For couples, this becomes very disjointed whilst they are browsing the internet together. As I stated earlier, brands are emphasizing the importance of omni-channel retailing, and in order to reflect the instore arrangement, couples should be provided with the option that merges genders whilst browsing, allowing couples to view items on screen together, this would mean the outfits could be visualised more easily as whole, allowing you to pick out items you like for the other person whilst shopping yourself. An extension to this, would be a joint shopping bag, Completely optional, this allows you to view what your other half has been buying and looking at, as-well as allowing you to purchase your items together in a mixed shopping bag. This could be particularly useful for an event such as a wedding, as the shopping bag allows you to see all items grouped together, you can view what they look like against one another, and then receive them at the same time.
Accounts As a direct reflection of the in-store behaviour aswell, which sees couples showing eachother items, recommending certain pieces. Brands should savour this opportunity, and allow individuals to link their shopping account to another individual. For couples especially, this could mean sharing clothing ideas across a private channel resembling an application within the online account. If a particular brand would implement this, it would mean the couples focus specifically on their clothing, which would alienate other brands as they don’t have this application. It is much about having a continued brand identity; one that both individuals can feel an attachment to. Browsing clothes is a personal experience between you and your other half, therefore online and offline should cater to that aspect aswell as those who don’t prefer that way of shopping. It is a simple concept, yet effective.
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(fig. 49. S,C.The Sartoralist.)
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CONCLUSION Within this investigation, we have explored a variety of techniques couples use to dress, present themselves to others, and how brands have recognised this trend and tried to cater towards it. Ultimately, my research suggests that the couple is being overlooked as a vast consumer base, which sees a merging of genders, interests and tastes. However, it must be realised that all couples don’t behave in this way, there is a couple consumer which doesn’t take interest in fashion, and has little to do with it. The idea that ‘opposites attract’ can be true of relationships, meaning not all couples have many common interests, goals and career prospects, which has a direct impact on their clothing behaviours. That being said, I believe there is a big enough appetite for this, and one that the majority of brands are choosing to neglect. As male and female consumers adapt to changing lifestyle expectations, a distinct collaboration will develop between the two. From my observations, I have drawn many opportunities for how stores can redevelop or adapt their offering to the couple, without alienating single consumers. My research has also concluded that often when in a pairing, the two individuals don’t always want to be defined by their relationship. Therefore, my recommendations provide subtle and encouraging notes to cater to both instances.
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LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS 83
Fig 1. (Cover) The Sartorialist. 2012. Couple looking at each other in the street. [image online] Available at: http://images.thesartorialist.com/thumbnails/2012/01/11212Due_5693Web.jpg [Accessed: 13 Feb 2014]. Fig 2. The Sartorialist. 2014. Lucy Chadwick with husband in street. [image online] Available at: http://i1196.photobucket.com/albums/aa419/lefashion/LEFASHIONBLOGSTREETSTYLESTYLISHCOUPLESBEARDSBABESLUCYCHADWICKHUSBANDDUFFYLONGBEARDCHAMBRAYBRIGHTBLUEDENIMBUTTONSHIRTCUTOFFJEANSVINTAGEDE.png [Accessed: 13 Feb 2014] Fig 3. Thrift Class. 2013. ‘The Casual Hipster’. [image online] Available at: https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/ YR2YtTp1cH-Q3IQF7smOWNo-RWYOEVBAcoTI8NmJfmOXP1whUbQLhUFpA_5UGQEKf7amPUcvV3kLJTG6-Y4v39BZAN0D1dG6-1xgATxwpgjgUzesoqQe6n4z_u1dWc6m4GQ [Accessed: 13 Feb 2014]. Fig 4. Tumblr. n.p. model with backpack. [image online] Available at: http://24.media.tumblr.com/3859fe1a980a615b4003942c2edbc894/tumblr_mxclb6GEe01qd8hm0o1_1280.jpg [Accessed: 13 Feb 2014]. Fig 5. Tumblr. 2013. Happy Couple. [image online] Available at: http://the-streetstyle.tumblr.com/post/53121659318/ manlul-8-roaming-the-streets-of-berlin-via-amlul [Accessed: 13 Feb 2014]. Fig. 6. My Ideal Home. 2013. Office Space. [image online] Available at: http://photofreak.us/home/inspiration-10-beautiful-home-office-design-ideas [Accessed: 13 Feb 2014]. Fig 7. The Nug blog. 2013. Young ‘Hipster’ Couple. [image online] Available at: http://www.thenug.com/galleries/thegood-the-bad-the-hipster [Accessed: 13 Feb 2014]. Fig 8. Retail Design. 2012. In-Store, Cos, Milan. [image online] Available at: http://retaildesignblog.net/2012/05/24/ cos-store-milan [Accessed: 13 Feb 2014]. Fig 9. Stylesight. 2010. Portrait of a stylish couple, Paris. [image online] Available at: http://blog.stylesight.com/street/ portrait-of-a-stylish-couple-paris [Accessed: 13 Feb 2014]. Fig 10.Women.tv. 2013. Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie together. [image online] Available at: http://www.woman.tv/angelina-jolie-and-brad-pitt-to-get-married-this-year-they-will-have-four-ceremonies [Accessed: 13 Feb 2014]. Fig 11. Subbaculture. 2013. Punk Couple. [image online] Available at: http://subbaculture.co.uk/2013/02/27/punk-couple [Accessed: 13 Feb 2014]. Fig 12. Cardana, C. 2014. Adrianna and Tomas- Mod couple. [image online] Available at: http://www.carlottacardana. com/#/personal/modcouples [Accessed: 13 Feb 2014]. Fig 13. Doc marten. n.d. doc martens couple. [image online] Available at: http://secret-hipster.blogspot.co.uk/2011/12/ dr-martens.html [Accessed: 13 Feb 2014]. Fig 14. Tumblr. n.d. Punk rock couple. [image online] Available at: http://gasolinediamond.blogspot.co.uk/2011/04/ fashion-from-my-perspective-deathrock.html [Accessed: 13 Feb 2014]. Fig 15. Unknown. n.d. boy, girl, love, summer. [image online] Available at: http://weheartit.com/entry/28165780 [Accessed: 13 Feb 2014]. Fig 16. Carpenter.B. Holiday image. [image online] Available at: https://www.facebook.com/beth.carpenter.790?fref=ts [Accessed: 13th Feb 2014] Fig 17. Outfit grids. Carpenter:Wrigglesworth [email] to Katie654@hotmail.co.uk. (Appendix 3:C) Fig 18. Berenice abbott. n.d. the streets of NY. [image online] Available at: http://ephemeralnewyork.wordpress.com/ tag/berenice-abbott/?newwindow=true [Accessed: 13 Feb 2014]. Fig 19. Own Image. Emily, Rory & myself. Street style photography, 21/11/13 Appendix 5:A Fig 20. Own Image. Emily & Rory. Street style photography. Appendix 5:A 21/11/13
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Fig 21. Own Image. Kayleigh & jake. Street style photography. Appendix 5:B 21/11/13 Fig 22. Wordpress. n.d. couple walking down the stairs, matching backpacks. [image online] Available at: http://noncommittal.wordpress.com/page/17/ [Accessed: 13 Feb 2014]. Fig 23. The Cupple. 2014. Matching couple outfit. [image online] Available at: http://thecupple.com [Accessed: 13 Feb 2014]. Fig 24. Naumann, E. 2011. Couple dressing. [image online] Available at: http://cargocollective.com/erikn/Couple-Clothing-2011 [Accessed: 13 Feb 2014]. Fig 25. Naumann, E. 2011. Couple dressing. [image online] Available at: http://cargocollective.com/erikn/Couple-Clothing-2011 [Accessed: 13 Feb 2014]. Fig 26. Couple posing in the mirror. n.d. [image online] Available at: http://bicyclette.to/tag/photography/ [Accessed: 13 Feb 2014]. Fig 27. couple taking ‘selfie’. 2012. [image online] Available at: https://www.telecomsworldplc.co.uk/advice/how-toavoid-expensive-data-roaming-charges-abroad/ [Accessed: 13 Feb 2014]. Fig 28. Fig 29. Instagram. 2013. louis tomlinson and girlfriend taking ‘selfie’. [image online] Available at: http://www.sugarscape.com/main-topics/celebrities/978172/louis-tomlinson-and-eleanor-calder-share-lovedup-selfie-their-trip-to [Accessed: 13 Feb 2014]. Fig 30. Steff Ellis. Instagram 2013. Available at: http://instagram.com/steffellisx [Accessed:13th Feb 2014) Fig 31. Madrid. 2013. ‘Cup of couple’ [images online] Available at: www.cupofcouple.com [accessed 12th feb 2014] Fig 32. Loren Aldridge: Alex Clouston. [image online] [instagram] Available at : http://instagram.com/LORENKRISTIE [accessed 12th Feb 2014] Fig 33. Loren Aldridge: Alex Clouston. [image online] [instagram] Available at : http://instagram.com/LORENKRISTIE [accessed 12th Feb 2014] Fig 34. Rokstyles. 2013. Matching Pair. [image online] Available at: http://rokstyles.com/street-style-matching-pair/ [Accessed: 13 Feb 2014]. Fig 35. Trashness. n.d. ‘winter look’. [image online] Available at: http://blog.trashness.com/winter-look-red-knitted-tiewool-jacket [Accessed: 13 Feb 2014]. Fig 36. The Kooples. 2011. The Kooples advertisement. [image online] Available at: http://www.businessoffashion. com/2011/10/the-french-contemporary-wave-thats-reshaping-ready-to-wear.html [Accessed: 13 Feb 2014]. Fig 37. Own image. ‘vinyl store’. Urban Outfitters Nottingham. Appendix 4:A . 7/12/13 Fig 38. Own Image. Urban Outfitters Nottingham. Appendix 4: A. 7/12/13 Fig 39. Own Image. The Kooples Store, London. Appendix 4:B. 25/11/13 Fig 40. Topman. 2013. ‘Kate & Johnny’ Topman. [image online] Available at: http://www.dapperq.com/2013/11/topmans-kate-and-johnny-unisex-collection-doesnt-conform-to-a-specific-gender/ [Accessed: 13 Feb 2014]. Fig 41. tumblr. n.d. Womens Coat. [image online] Available at: http://thenletitbe.tumblr.com [Accessed: 13 Feb 2014]. Fig 42. Dior. 2013. Made to measure. [image online] Available at: http://www.wwd.com/menswear-news/retail-business/dior-homme-to-offer-made-to-measure-in-ny-6752917 [Accessed: 13 Feb 2014]. Fig 43. Topman. 2013. ‘kate & Johnny’ Topman. [image online] Available at: http://www.pinterest.com/topmanuk/ [Accessed: 13 Feb 2014].
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Fig 44. Marble textures for cg artists. n.d. Marble Texture. [image online] Available at: http://www.designyourway.net/ drb/useful-free-marble-textures-for-cg-artists-and-not-only [Accessed: 13 Feb 2014]. Fig 45. Alice & Ben. 2014. Available at: https://www.facebook.com/alice.knight.39/photos [Accessed 13th Feb 204] Fig 46. Bunce. S. ‘Sammy & George.’ Available at: https://www.facebook.com/sammybunce?fref=ts [image online] Accessed 13th Feb 2014] Fig 47.Ellis,s. Instagram 2013. Available at: http://instagram.com/steffellisx [Accessed:13th Feb 2014) Fig 48. Loren Aldridge: Alex Clouston. [image online] [instagram] Available at : http://instagram.com/LORENKRISTIE [accessed 12th Feb 2014] Fig 49. Sc, S. S. 2012. Couple in Milan. [image online] Available at: http://www.thesartorialist.com/photos/on-thestreet-via-turati-milano-4/ [Accessed: 13 Feb 2014].
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My Ideal Home. 2013. Office Space. [image online] Available at: http://photofreak.us/home/inspiration-10-beautiful-home-office-design-ideas [Accessed: 13 Feb 2014]. Marble Texture. [image online] Available at: http://www.designyourway.net/drb/useful-free-marble-textures-for-cg-artists-and-not-only [Accessed: 13 Feb 2014]. S. S. 2012. Couple in Milan. [image online] Available at: http://www.thesartorialist.com/photos/on-the-street-via-turatimilano-4/ [Accessed: 13 Feb 2014]. Schumann. S. The Sartorialist. 2012. Couple looking at each other in the street. [image online] Available at: http://images.thesartorialist.com/thumbnails/2012/01/11212Due_5693Web.jpg [Accessed: 13 Feb 2014]. Schumann. S, The Sartorialist. 2014. Lucy Chadwick with husband in street. [image online] Available at: http://i1196. photobucket.com/albums/aa419/lefashion/LEFASHIONBLOGSTREETSTYLESTYLISHCOUPLESBEARDSBABESLUCYCHADWICKHUSBANDDUFFYLONGBEARDCHAMBRAYBRIGHTBLUEDENIMBUTTONSHIRTCUTOFFJEANSVINTAGEDE.png [Accessed: 13 Feb 2014] The Cupple. 2014. Matching couple outfit. [image online] Available at: http://thecupple.com [Accessed: 13 Feb 2014] The Kooples. 2011. The Kooples advertisement. [image online] Available at: http://www.businessoffashion. com/2011/10/the-french-contemporary-wave-thats-reshaping-ready-to-wear.html [Accessed: 13 Feb 2014]. Topman. 2013. ‘Kate & Johnny’ Topman. [image online] Available at: http://www.dapperq.com/2013/11/topmans-kateand-johnny-unisex-collection-doesnt-conform-to-a-specific-gender/ [Accessed: 13 Feb 2014]. Dior. 2013. Made to measure. [image online] Available at: http://www.wwd.com/menswear-news/retail-business/diorhomme-to-offer-made-to-measure-in-ny-6752917 [Accessed: 13 Feb 2014]. . Blogs. Berenice abbott. n.d. the streets of NY. [image online] Available at: http://ephemeralnewyork.wordpress.com/tag/berenice-abbott/?newwindow=true [Accessed: 13 Feb 2014]. Doc marten. n.d. doc martens couple. [image online] Available at: http://secret-hipster.blogspot.co.uk/2011/12/dr-martens.html [Accessed: 13 Feb 2014]. Madrid. 2013. ‘Cup of couple’ [images online] Available at: www.cupofcouple.com [accessed 12th feb 2014] Retail Design. 2012. In-Store, Cos, Milan. [image online] Available at: http://retaildesignblog.net/2012/05/24/cosstore-milan [Accessed: 13 Feb 2014]. Rokstyles. 2013. Matching Pair. [image online] Available at: http://rokstyles.com/street-style-matching-pair/ [Accessed: 13 Feb 2014]. Stylesight. 2010. Portrait of a stylish couple, Paris. [image online] Available at: http://blog.stylesight.com/street/portrait-of-a-stylish-couple-paris [Accessed: 13 Feb 2014]. Subbaculture. 2013. Punk Couple. [image online] Available at: http://subbaculture.co.uk/2013/02/27/punk-couple [Accessed: 13 Feb 2014]. The Nug blog. 2013. Young ‘Hipster’ Couple. [image online] Available at: http://www.thenug.com/galleries/the-goodthe-bad-the-hipster [Accessed: 13 Feb 2014]. Trashness. n.d. ‘winter look’. [image online] Available at: http://blog.trashness.com/winter-look-red-knitted-tie-wooljacket [Accessed: 13 Feb 2014]. Wordpress. n.d. couple walking down the stairs, matching backpacks. [image online] Available at: http://noncommittal. wordpress.com/page/17/ [Accessed: 13 Feb 2014].
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APPENDICES 97
APPENDIX 1 Consumer interviews via social media A- Nicola & Jacob- 8/11/13
Names: Nicola, Jacob Ages: Both 20 Occupations: Students Living arrangements: Live together in a flat How long have you been a couple for? 2 years Do you often shop together? If so, how often? Rarely - maybe once a month (he hates shopping with me, unless its for him) What are your favourite stores? Topshop, H&M, Zara, River Island (me) Nike, Vintage shops (him) Do you feel you have a similar style? if so what is that? What are your differences in style? No not really, he lives in sportswear Do you feel that you influence the way each other dresses? Yes to a certain extent, I try to anyway! More so at first than now, I used to buy him things that I like, but now I buy things I know he likes Do you share clothes? If so, what particular items? Jumpers, hats, casual things What is your favourite item of clothing? Black fur coat (me), sweatshirts, nike 5.0 free runs (him) Do you often ask the other for their opinion on what you are wearing? Yes! He hates it because he ‘doesn’t know what to say’
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Is it important to you that you look united in the way you present yourselves as a couple? (e.g. do you coordinate, mix of styles.) - No not really, but would for certain events i.e if we went to a wedding/races etc Do you think the ‘couple’ is a powerful consumer group? Yes Do you feel that you shop differently as a couple, than when you’re alone? (if yes, in what way?) Yes - probably more adventurous because they are (usually) complimentary so encourage you to buy different things. But sometimes I buy more alone because he isn’t there to make me feel guilty! What brands would you say cater to both your needs as a man and woman? Topman/Topshop, River Island, Nike Is there anything you feel that retail stores could change in order to make shopping as a couple easier, simpler, enhanced? More gender neutral clothing/not such a division of male/female but more of styles because then we wouldnt divide and go to different areas when shopping. Saying that he thinks the opposite and seems to prefer being separate haha Do you feel that brands cater to consumers as a ‘couple’? (if so which.) No
B- Jesse & Will- 8/11/13
Names: Jesse Clark and Will Horner Ages: I’m 20 he’s 23 Occupations: I’m a student and he’s a recent Masters Graduate Living arrangements: I live in a one bed flat, he lives at home in Northampton but we see each other every weekend How long have you been a couple for? Just over a year Do you often shop together? Yes probably a couple of times a month
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What are your favourite stores? Zara, H&M, Topshop Do you feel you have a similar style? Yes we both like to look quite smart most of the time with nice coats/shoes and he has a lot of shirts What are your differences in style? He plays a lot of tennis so has more sporty clothes than I do that he often wears casually Do you feel that you influence the way each other dresses? Yes but I probably have the stronger influence, I always say if I think he would look good in something Do you share clothes? If so, what particular items? I always steal his tshirts and jumpers to sleep in or wear around the house! What is your favourite item of clothing? Tricky, probably my current black Zara winter coat with leather sleeves, keeps me warm while looking understated. Do you often ask the other for their opinion on what you are wearing? Yes, think everyone wants to know their partner thinks you look good and is proud of you (as shallow as that sounds... we do care about personality too haha!) Is it important to you that you look united in the way you present yourselves as a couple? I don’t really like when people are obviously matchy but we often look subtly co-ordinated usually the same level of dressy or casual Do you think the ‘couple’ is a powerful consumer group? It depends, if the couple are ‘opposites attract’ type then it might be difficult to provide them with things they want in the same store, but if they’re similar and enjoy shopping together then yes! Do you feel that you shop differently as a couple, than when you’re alone? Definitely, usually men seem to shop for things in particular that they know they want to get whereas most women want to browse and shop for the fun of it. So when I’m alone I’d go to a lot more shops and spend more time browsing/trying on, if I’m with Will he gets bored of shopping quickly! What brands would you say cater to both your needs as a man and woman? Zara is definitely the main one, pieces for any occasion and it always looks well made and effortless. Is there anything you feel that retail stores could change in order to make shopping as a couple easier, simpler, enhanced? Perhaps a store that has more entertainment for men so that if people were to go in as a couple the women could browse while the men get distracted from being bored! Do you feel that brands cater to consumers as a ‘couple’? None that I’ve been to really, most have very separate male/ female sections in the shop which are often on different floors. This makes it difficult to shop together as you have to split up to go to the different areas and find each other again to show things. Perhaps somewhere where the men and womens’ clothes are integrated?
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C- Rosie & Loz- 8/11/13
Names Rosie Hurford, Lawrence Pollard Ages 23, 22 Occupations Student; Placement Student Living arrangements
Long Distance
How long have you been a couple for?
1 Year
Do you often shop together? If so, how often? Yeah a couple of times a month What are your favourite stores? Rosie: Topshop, COS, American Apparel, Weekday, Vintage Shops, Zara Lawrence: Topman, Primark, TKMaxx, American Apparel Do you feel you have a similar style? if so what is that? What are your differences in style? Loz: We didnt at first but Rosie’s made me buy a lot of clothes I wouldn’t have. Rosie: I had a beanie then I lost it and Loz went out and boght the same one for himself, I stole it back. There were some New Balance Herschel trainers i loved but they didnt come in womens sizes and i showed them to Loz and he bought them Do you feel that you influence the way each other dresses? Loz: She influences mine, she’s made me buy a lot. I never went into COS before. Rosie: I don’t think he’s changed mine a lot, but I do sometimes ask his opinion. Do you share clothes? If so, what particular items? Rosie: I’ve stolen a few jumpers and a beanie. I wear his t-shirts at home Loz: Yeah just beanies i think What is your favourite item of clothing? Rosie: I have this massive white vintage t shirt thats perfectly worn in and soft Loz: A grey t shirt from size
Do you often ask the other for their opinion on what you are wearing? Rosie: I usually ask but don’t pay attention to what he says Loz: Most things I’ve bought recently have been because Rosie showed them to me, i usually ask her opinion, I didnt used to go shopping much before.
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Is it important to you that you look united in the way you present yourselves as a couple? (e.g. do you coordinate, mix of styles.) Rosie: I don’t think so, I’mglad we didnt have that beanie at the same time, don’t want to look exactly the same. Its funny when we both go out in a bobble hat though. Do you think the ‘couple’ is a powerful consumer group? Rosie: I think they influence each other a lot, but I show him more stuff than he shows me Do you feel that you shop differently as a couple, than when you’re alone? (if yes, in what way?) Rosie: He wouldn’t even go shopping half as much as he does before. What brands would you say cater to both your needs as a man and woman? Rosie: Nike, COS maybe? Loz: American Apparel, Is there anything you feel that retail stores could change in order to make shopping as a couple easier, simpler, enhanced? [blank] Do you feel that brands cater to consumers as a ‘couple’? (if so which.) [blank]
D- Sammy & George 10/11/13
Names Sammy Bunce & George Walsh Ages
21 & 27
Occupations
Receptionist & Hair Stylist
Living arrangements
Live together
How long have you been a couple for?
3 and a half years
Do you often shop together? If so, how often? What are your favourite stores?
About twice a month
Cow, Wild, Urban Outfitters, topman/topshop & Vintage Shops
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Do you feel you have a similar style? if so what is that? What are your differences in style? We are quite similar in the way we like our clothes to look worn and vintage. We both dislike really bright clothes. Our differences would be I like to spend as little as possible on clothes but George will spend a lot on his clothes. Do you feel that you influence the way each other dresses? Yeah. I always value Georges opinion on my clothes and often ask him before I buy something because he is honest. And George asks me because I’m honest with him. If we find something online or in a shop that we think the other one would look good in or they would like we’ll let each other know so they can check it out. Do you share clothes? If so, what particular items? Yeah we share each others shirts and I wear Georges jumpers and t shirts. What is your favourite item of clothing? I don’t really have one…I have a dress with Daisy’s on that I wear a lot, and I have a favourite pair of black boots that go with everything. Georges favourite are his desert boots. Do you often ask the other for their opinion on what you are wearing? Yeah. I always value Georges opinion on my clothes and often ask him before I buy something because he is honest and George asks me because I’m honest with him. Is it important to you that you look united in the way you present yourselves as a couple? (e.g. do you coordinate, mix of styles.) Not for us. We aren’t too bothered about the way we look as a couple. Do you think the ‘couple’ is a powerful consumer group? I think it can be. I see so many couples who have a look going on and it’s not a mistake. Do you feel that you shop differently as a couple, than when you’re alone? (if yes, in what way?) I deffinately shop differently. George will give me more things to try on as I just pass things in the shop. And George does because I always point out he already has about 5 of the exact item of clothing he’s about to buy. What brands would you say cater to both your needs as a man and woman? Topshop deffinately does with having both Topshop and Topman. American Apparel because most of their clothes are uni sex. Is there anything you feel that retail stores could change in order to make shopping as a couple easier, simpler, enhanced? I don’t think that they need to. It’s nice having the mens and womens section and then meeting up when you’ve got your items. Do you feel that brands cater to consumers as a ‘couple’? (if so which.) [Blank]
E- Alice and Ben- 8/11/13
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What are your favourite stores? We don’t tend to shop at the same places. Alice’s favourites are Primark, H&M and ASOS, Ben likes The Hip Store, Pretty Green and Northern Boys Club Do you feel you have a similar style? If so what is that? What are your differences in style? Alice is more trend led and tends to tone down her dress sense when we’re together. Ben has a very specific style, originating in the northern working class, often known as ‘casuals’. Sometimes our styles are similar as we both sometimes dress with a nod towards mod style. Do you feel that you influence the way each other dresses? Alice - I do tend to tone down my more trend led ‘weird’ clothes when I’m with Ben as I sometimes feel I look a bit androgynous and I don’t think that’s attractive to guys. Ben – I just wear the same things regardless. Do you share clothes? If so, what particular items? No What is your favourite item of clothing? Alice - Leather jacket with black fur collar. Ben – Clarks & Trojan Records collaboration boots. Do you often ask the other for their opinion on what you are wearing? Alice – I tend to ask Ben if I can’t decide between two outfits. Ben – I ask Alice’s opinion on whether things go together, or what shirt to wear on a night out. Is it important to you that you look united in the way you present yourselves as a couple? (e.g. do you coordinate, mix of styles.) No Do you think the ‘couple’ is a powerful consumer group? Only if they like the same things/share tastes, but I don’t know if a lot of couples do. Do you feel that you shop differently as a couple, than when you’re alone? (if yes, in what way?) Yes, we tend to mainly go to shops for Ben when we go shopping because this interests me as well. If I go to all the shops only I like, Ben gets bored. What brands would you say cater to both your needs as a man and woman? Fred Perry, H&M, Ted Baker, ASOS Is there anything you feel that retail stores could change in order to make shopping as a couple easier, simpler, enhanced? Maybe integrate men and womenswear so you can browse together, and have unisex changing rooms. Do you feel that brands cater to consumers as a ‘couple’? (if so which.) Kooples is the only one that comes to mind, but I suppose there are a few brands whose values we both like which have both men and womenswear, such as Paul Smith and Ted Baker.
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APPENDIX 2 Consumer interviews via Email A - Loren & Alex - 19/12/13- 29/12/13 Fcp Research. katie ford 19/12/2013 To: lorenaldridge@hotmail.com Hiya! I messaged you on twitter yesterday about getting in touch about my research dissertation! Third year is definitely harder than i first thought! As you and Alex are now integrated within the creative working world i thought it would be really useful to get your opinion on what i’m currently researching and understanding how your create minds collaborate together. Basically, instead of looking at our next generation of female and male consumer, I want to see if brands can target ‘the couple’ as a third consumer strand, by researching into their motivations, dressing and buying habits, and comparing how they differ when shopping alone to together. As fashion communicators, whats your opinion of this as a concept? First of all, I know it’s a big ask, but I would really appreciate it if you would beable to take a photo each of your favourite items in your wardrobe/things that you think really capture your interests and personalities so i can look at similarities and differences between them. Could you possibly then take a few photos around the place you both live, i’m trying to understand how couples merge their tastes in an environment which belongs to both. Just to let you know, all of this is just for my report so I promise none of it will be put anywhere else, only Tim that will be reading it (eek) Then if you have the time, could you possibly answer these questions for me? These questions are aimed at you both answering them together, if thats ok? Names: Occupations: Living arrangements: 1. Do you find that you influence eachother in the way you dress? If so, how? 2. Do you often recommend eachother clothing to wear? 3. When moving in together, how have you merged your individual tastes in one space? Do you have certain areas which are more feminine/masculine that others? 4. Do you feel your home is a true representation of you as a couple? 5. What are your individual interests? Which are those you have in common? 6. Are you a digitally minded couple? how often do you both spend on social media sites? 7. What social media websites do you use? 8. Do you often shop together? If so, do you usually go with a purpose or for a general browse? How often? 9. Do you feel your fashion tastes come together well? Do you feel united as a couple in your dress? 10. Do you ever take the time to consider how your outfits work together, or singularly? Do you coordinate? 11. Do you feel the couple is a powerful icon? Why do you think this? 12. Which particular couples do you find inspirational and why? 13. If there was anything a brand could do that would attract both you and Alex, what would that be? 14. What brands do you like, or buy from? 15. Are there any brands you think effectively cater to the couple? 16. How long have you been a couple for? 17.Do you feel you have a similar style? If so, what is that style?
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18. Do you share clothes? If so, what particular items? 19. What kind of music do you both like? Do you have similar taste in music? 20. Is there anything that you think brands/store environments could do to enhance your shopping experience as a couple? i know it’s such a busy time of year, and that’s alot of cheeky requests, I would be soo grateful if you could help me, even if it was a section of what i’ve asked. THANKYOU! Katie F Re: fcp research Loren Aldridge (lorenkaldridge@hotmail.com)Add to contacts 20/12/2013 To: katie ford Hi Katie, Hope you’re well and not stressing out too much about 3rd year. Say Hi to Tim from us. Your research project sounds really interesting- I like the idea of looking at the unit rather than the single consumer, as it really does make a difference when you are in a relationship and living with someone else. I think its obviously a niche that the KOOPLES have managed to tap into, but they’ve been quite stereotypical with their marketing messages. It’s definitely strong to look deeply into consumer habits and always asking why? Hope our answers can help, they’re just below with your original questions. I can send over some images soon for youwe also have a joint blog, one that we haven’t released yet, but it could help? http://lorenandalexander.tumblr.com Thanks a lot, Loren & Alexander. On 19 Dec 2013, at 15:22, katie ford <katie654@hotmail.co.uk> wrote: These questions are aimed at you both answering them together, if thats ok? Names: Loren and Alexander Occupations: Design, Marketing and Communications Manager at A. Sauvage and Graphic Designer at Sunspel Living arrangements: Live together in our flat, Pimlico, London 1. Do you find that you influence eachother in the way you dress? If so, how? L: Yes we do, we both are very interested in fashion, so find it quite a common topic of conversation. We have similar style so often help each other with what to wear. I often have styling crisis’ ie. ‘I don’t know what to wear’ so look to Alex for help. A: We have been known to go out in almost identical outfits, no pre-planning- I guess we’re influencing each other without knowing. 2. Do you often recommend eachother clothing to wear? L : Yes we both do. I will tell Alex if I don’t like something he is wearing, and similarly if we are shopping I will pick things out for him, same as he does for me. A: If I find something nice online I will send them to Loren and tell her about it too. We use the internet to find inspiration and pin clothing to Pinterest- we have HIS and HER boards and they’re kind of aimed at each other. 3. When moving in together, how have you merged your individual tastes in one space? Do you have certain areas which are more feminine/masculine that others? L: We have quite similar tastes in interior design- so this is helpful as I am very conscious of what is around me. I have quite a masculine taste and like the purity of white - I always add feminine touches though, for example I must always have fresh flowers. A: Yes our minimal aesthetic is very similar, I have a lot of ceramics so we have managed to bring our tastes together and it has balanced it out.
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4. Do you feel your home is a true representation of you as a couple? A: Yes Because our tastes cross over really nicely. For example Lorens favourite object is a buddha statue and mine is a wooden african carved head, so we have been able to mix these more authentic and cultural design elements within a modern space- it reflects us. 5. What are your individual interests? Which are those you have in common? A: Starting with what we have in common- we are both very design focused so this plays a big part on our lives- from reading magazines, to what we chose to watch on tv/films (usually documentaries), we love cooking and eating nice food so are always on the lookout for new restaurants around london or recipes and as we are both very busy with work, that is quite a big topic in our lives at the moment. Individually Loren is interested in buddhism, but I often get dragged into it, doing yoga at 12 at night. We are both interested in music, but I am more interested in electronic music, so I listen to that in my own time and use sound cloud a lot. 6. Are you a digitally minded couple? how often do you both spend on social media sites? L: Yes very. Its a huge part of what we do from day to day and are on social media sites a few hours a day. We use the internet a lot to read the news, watch films and discover new and exciting documentaries, music and designers. 7. What social media websites do you use? We aren’t that big on Facebook but use twitter from time to time. Mainly we use Pinterest, Instagram and Tumblr- they are the platforms that consume most of our time. 8. Do you often shop together? If so, do you usually go with a purpose or for a general browse? How often? Yes, most of the time. We only really shop alone if its for each other (as a surprise)or if one of us is killing time, we like to buy each other gifts whatever the occasion. We shop most weekends, even if it is just to have a look, we will probably come away with something. 9. Do you feel your fashion tastes come together well? Do you feel united as a couple in your dress? Yes as we have said before, we find ourselves stepping out of the house in the same outfits. 10. Do you ever take the time to consider how your outfits work together, or singularly? Do you coordinate? Because of the colour palette we both chose, it is quite hard not to co-ordinate. We both wear a lot of black, navy blue, greys and white- its not really on purpose, but we both appreciate our united tastes. 11. Do you feel the couple is a powerful icon? Why do you think this? L: Yes. When you look at the major ‘super brands’ they are usually couples. ‘Posh and Becks’ ‘Beyonce and Jay-Z’ - there is something about two strong people coming together that makes them almost invincible. If a couple is really strong they can bring the best of what they both have to offer and support each other in every way, emotionally too. 12. Which particular couples do you find inspirational and why? A: We personally like Josh Beech and Shenae Grimesthis is a couple we have been looking at for a while now, as they have taken to working together, starting their own brand together, shooting lookbooks, their own blog etc. they’re just really interesting and a pretty cool couple too. It’s funny because Loren always really like Shenae and I like Josh Beech and his music. 13. If there was anything a brand could do that would attract both you and Alex, what would that be? Nice branding always makes the difference to us- and beautiful imagery. 14. What brands do you like, or buy from? We both shop at COS a lot for clothing, muji for homeware- we like liberty a lot and often go there too. We buy our candles from Diptyque, its an indulgence for us. We both like Acne, APC, Fillipa K and high-end wise, we both appreciate Dries Van Noten and Felipe Oliveria Baptiste right now. 15. Are there any brands you think effectively cater to the couple? COS is quite good as they have both mens and womenswear but it is quite unisex- where Alex works, Sunspel is very unisex too, a lot of women buy menswear from there and similarly where I work, A.Sauvage, we had a collection a few seasons ago called ‘menswear for women’, its not catering for the unit, but its interesting how there is a crossover. Obviously there is the Kooples, they have clearly done this the best- directly addressing the couple. 16. How long have you been a couple for? A year in January. 17.Do you feel you have a similar style? If so, what is that style? Yes. 18. Do you share clothes? If so, what particular items? A: Mainly Loren borrowing my jumpers- she often wears my t-shirts in bed and I come home from work to see she’s stolen a shirt of mine to wear. I don’t wear her clothes, they don’t fit.
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19. What kind of music do you both like? Do you have similar taste in music? A: We have a similar taste and often listen to music together, but we do both go off into our own direction too. I like more electronic music as I mentioned before, however Loren prefers more Indie and old music. 20. Is there anything that you think brands/store environments could do to enhance your shopping experience as a couple? L: Shared changing rooms- this is the biggest issue when shopping together, we only usually find this okay in COS, most other places Alex has to sit outside with all of the other men. Its quite nice when brands have mens and womenswear on the same floor too, when you have to go to different shopping spaces to look, it segregates the experience a lot. RE: fcp research To see messages related to this one, group messages by conversation. katie ford 29/12/2013 To: Loren Aldridge Have a few more questions leading on from what you’ve answered, I hope that’s okay and you both had a lovely christmas. What made you both decide to collaborate on a website? What statements do you feel you’re making by having a joint website? Do you feel there’s a new emergence of creative couples? (apart from shenae, can you think of any others?) What are the benefits of collaborating together? What outside influences do you feel are currently affecting the couple, gender roles shifting, rise of digital culture etc if there was a social platform that allowed you to have couple profiles (almost like linkedin) and share creative projects with others, would this be of interest to you? If there was a specific website dedicated to couple dressing like a Lookbook equivalent would that of interest? What could enhance the couple experience when shopping online? Is there anything you think is missing for couples in the world of fcp? Once again your help would be really appreciated! Thankyou so so much! Katie F Re: fcp research Loren Aldridge (lorenkaldridge@hotmail.com)Add to contacts 29/12/2013 To: katie ford Loren Kristie Aldridge -Sent from my iPhone www.lorenkristiealdridge.co.uk On 29 Dec 2013, at 17:29, katie ford <katie654@hotmail.co.uk> wrote:
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What made you both decide to collaborate on a website? As creative people we are both interested in similar things. As creators we are able to come together to do this, which we both really enjoy. What statements do you feel you’re making by having a joint website? We’re not trying to make any statements. Our blog is for us, to document what we are doing and to record things we like. We haven’t published it for anyone to see, especially people we know. It is more of a an anonymous reflection of ourselves to anyone who may stumble upon it. Do you feel there’s a new emergence of creative couples? (apart from shenae, can you think of any others?) It’s like any profession really, I’m not sure people are actively seeking to be in a couple with other ‘creative’ peopleit’s just more of a knock on effect as we seek to find a partner who shares similar interests. The creative industry is booming right now and with the surge of people being able to create more maybe this is making couples more creative. What are the benefits of collaborating together? You share similar interests, you’re able to voice your opinion easier and it’s easier to work together, as you have to do it as a couple too. You can be more honest when you’re in a close relationship, which makes working together much more fulfilling. What outside influences do you feel are currently affecting the couple, gender roles shifting, rise of digital culture etc All couples are different and we dot personally feel any outside influences really effecting us apart from those closest to us, such as family. if there was a social platform that allowed you to have couple profiles (almost like linkedin) and share creative projects with others, would this be of interest to you? Not really- we see ourselves as individuals. We love working together creatively and we can have the chance to show what we do together via blogs etc or if we worked on a project together we could show this via our own websites for example. We want to keep elements of our relationship private still. We can share our projects together on current platforms and tag each other if we wanted to. Also not all couples stay together forever, so this is something to think about- we both have exes and can’t imagine having a profile with them that would still exist. If there was a specific website dedicated to couple dressing like a Lookbook equivalent would that of interest? This is more interesting, but with the likes of Instagram etc look book is not somewhere we go to for inspiration at all anymore. Alex has deleted his account- and I don’t think I have one either. What could enhance the couple experience when shopping online? Navigation would be the best thing- most websites have a complete divide, it could be nicer to bring these elements together more in unison. You have to also remember the singletons though- it should be more about bringing the sexes together rather than emphasising the relationship status. Is there anything you think is missing for couples in the world of fcp? We can only speak for ourselves, but we feel that we have the opportunity to share ideas together a lot. You should look at the iPhone app called couple (used to be called pair)- it’s a nice example of how something you use to share information with your partner is kept private and away from your usual means of contact. It makes everything a bit more personal- I could see something along these lines mixed with something like Pinterest. It could make sharing nice things you find online better to organise as a couple- kept private too.
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B- Steff & Charles- 29/12/13- 04/01/14 Research! katie ford 29/12/2013 To: steffjellis@gmail.com Picture of katie ford Hello! Thankyou for agreeing to answer these questions for me! Theyâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;re intended that you both answer them together- hope this is ok! Names: Occupations: Living arrangements: 1. Do you find that you influence eachother in the way you dress? If so, how? 2. Do you often recommend eachother clothing to wear? 3. When moving in together, how have you merged your individual tastes in one space? Do you have certain areas which are more feminine/masculine that others? 4. Do you feel your home is a true representation of you as a couple? 5. What are your individual interests? Which are those you have in common? 6. Are you a digitally minded couple? how often do you both spend on social media sites? 7. What social media websites do you use? 8. Do you often shop together? If so, do you usually go with a purpose or for a general browse? How often? 9. Do you feel your fashion tastes come together well? Do you feel united as a couple in your dress? 10. Do you ever take the time to consider how your outfits work together, or singularly? Do you coordinate? 11. Do you feel the couple is a powerful icon? Why do you think this? 12. Which particular couples do you find inspirational and why? 13. If there was anything a brand could do that would attract both you and charles, what would that be? 14. What brands do you like, or buy from? 15. Are there any brands you think effectively cater to the couple? 16. How long have you been a couple for? 17.Do you feel you have a similar style? If so, what is that style? 18. Do you share clothes? If so, what particular items? 19. What kind of music do you both like? Do you have similar taste in music? 20. Is there anything that you think brands/store environments could do to enhance your shopping experience as a couple? THANKYOU! Katie :) Re: Research! Steff Ellis (steffjellis@gmail.com)Add to contacts 04/01/2014 To: katie ford Names: Steff Ellis and Charles Smith Occupations: Events Assistant intern and Stock Auditor Living arrangements: Living with relative 1. Do you find that you influence each other in the way you dress? If so, how? Very influenced by each others opinion, choose outfits that we know would appeal to one another. Since knowing me Charles says his usual casual style has evolved and he now dresses smarter!
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2. Do you often recommend each other clothing to wear? Yes, if we see something we know the other would like we would recommend it, or either of us mention a particular item of clothing to the other when dressing for the day. 3. When moving in together, how have you merged your individual tastes in one space? Do you have certain areas which are more feminine/masculine that others? Mainly feminine due to a more creative input on my part! 4. Do you feel your home is a true representation of you as a couple? Not particularly as we haven’t yet had the space or time to make it completely personal. It is organised and neat which works for both of us, however. 5. What are your individual interests? Which are those you have in common? We are both interested in similar music, trying new restaurants/food, shopping together and cinema and visiting new cities. 6. Are you a digitally minded couple? how often do you both spend on social media sites? A lot of time is spent on online blogs/clothing websites and we draw inspiration from various social media platforms such as Instagram, Pinterest, Polyvore, Lookbook etc. and are influenced by online street style blogging. 7. What social media websites do you use? Above! ^ 8. Do you often shop together? If so, do you usually go with a purpose or for a general browse? How often? We tend to spend time off/weekends looking around shops with no particular intention but just a general interest in what’s new and to feel inspired. 9. Do you feel your fashion tastes come together well? Do you feel united as a couple in your dress? My personal style tends to vary day to day depending on my particular mood and I don’t have a particular sense of my own style yet whereas Charles has found and feels comfortable in his own dress sense. Our taste tends to reflect our personalities and our fashion choices complement that of the other persons. 10. Do you ever take the time to consider how your outfits work together, or singularly? Do you coordinate? Not particularly, but we tend to gravitate towards a similar colour palette of neutrals and muted shades as opposed to bright or clashing prints and colours, so we don’t tend to look mismatched. 11. Do you feel the couple is a powerful icon? Why do you think this? I think each individual is a powerful icon in itself but combined it has more of an impact. 12. Which particular couples do you find inspirational and why? The first one that springs to mind is Victoria and David Beckham, for me mainly because of her passion and dedication to fashion and her understanding of silhouettes and what shapes work for women. For Charles David Beckham represents his youth and somebody he has aspired to as an athlete, and now as his interests have broadened he looks to him as an icon in terms of grooming, tailored suits and cuts and how the two represent themselves not only as successful individuals but as a couple too. 13. If there was anything a brand could do that would attract both you and charles, what would that be? Nothing in particular, I wouldn’t like to see brands try and merge female and male clothes together to try and attract couples as I think fashion and style is very much down to the individual and this would compromise the personal aspect of it. 14. What brands do you like, or buy from? Mainly Topshop/Topman, Urban Outfitters, Primark and H&M, usually high street stores where we can shop frequently that have a quick change-over of stock. 15. Are there any brands you think effectively cater to the couple? I admire the ad campaigns for The Kooples as I think they are clever in appealing to their target audience and have found a niche in the market. I feel if this was imitated by other smaller brands it wouldn’t have the same appeal as it’s one of very few brands which celebrates relationships and sharing and influencing style. The fact it also includes same-sex couples is extremely effective in catering for their particular audience as it acknowledges fashion is not prejudice and anyone can enjoy it. 16. How long have you been a couple for? 2 years 17.Do you feel you have a similar style? If so, what is that style? Not particularly, we subconsciously dress alternatively to reflect our similar music taste. 18. Do you share clothes? If so, what particular items? Only on a few occasions have I worn something over-sized that works well with my own outfit.
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19. What kind of music do you both like? Do you have similar taste in music? indie/rock/metal/alternative/acoustic/ beyonce! 20. Is there anything that you think brands/store environments could do to enhance your shopping experience as a couple? Outfits/styling that appeals to both men and women merged together as opposed to a divide. Re: Research! Steff Ellis (steffjellis@gmail.com)Add to contacts 04/01/2014 To: katie ford p.s the final question was Charlieâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s answer as it contradicts what I say earlier on! haha
C- Beth & Ben- 29/12/13-04/01/14 Outfit grids - Beth and Ben ben wriggleswoâ&#x20AC;&#x2039;rth (benwriggles@gmail.com)Add to contactsAttachment 29/12/2013 Photos To: katie654@hotmail.co.uk Hey mate! Hope these are okay! 2046 = my grid for myself 1759 = bens grid for me 1755 = bens grid for himself 2006 = my grid for ben The codes are the names of the images :) Hope you had a lush Xmas Bethxxxx
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RE: Outfit grids - Beth and Ben katie ford 29/12/2013 To: ben wrigglesworth Names: Occupations: Living arrangements: 1. Do you find that you influence eachother in the way you dress? If so, how? 2. Do you often recommend eachother clothing to wear? 3. When moving in together, how have you merged your individual tastes in one space? Do you have certain areas which are more feminine/masculine that others? 4 . (doesn’t apply) 5. What are your individual interests? Which are those you have in common? 6. Are you a digitally minded couple? how often do you both spend on social media sites? 7. What social media websites do you use? 8. Do you often shop together? If so, do you usually go with a purpose or for a general browse? How often? 9. Do you feel your fashion tastes come together well? Do you feel united as a couple in your dress? 10. Do you ever take the time to consider how your outfits work together, or singularly? Do you coordinate? 11. Do you feel the couple is a powerful icon? Why do you think this? 12. Which particular couples do you find inspirational and why? 13. If there was anything a brand could do that would attract both you and Alex, what would that be? 14. What brands do you like, or buy from? 15. Are there any brands you think effectively cater to the couple? 16. How long have you been a couple for? 17.Do you feel you have a similar style? If so, what is that style? 18. Do you share clothes? If so, what particular items? 19. What kind of music do you both like? Do you have similar taste in music? 20. Is there anything that you think brands/store environments could do to enhance your shopping experience as a couple? Katie F questions - ben and I beth carpenter (bethgcarpenter@gmail.com)Add to contacts 04/01/2014 To: k ford Names: Ben Wrigglesworth, Beth Carpenter Occupations: Art director/Designer - Student/Designer Living arrangements: Cheltenham UK - Nottingham UK 1. Do you find that you influence eachother in the way you dress? If so, how? Beth: Me more so i think, i love the androgynous look anyways so thats good when you have free-reign to a boyfriends wardrobe. i love simple styles and colours (as does ben) so i find myself borrowing a jumper or tshirt on occasion. I’m not a fan of tight clothes either, so a medium mens tshirt is a key element to my simple wardrobe at times. 2. Do you often recommend eachother clothing to wear? Beth: Depending on the occasion maybe? Its more of a “those black jeans would look amaze’ with that shirt” for example, apposed to “you should wear this” - at the end of the day, its down to what he/i feel comfortable in. Ben: I’m the same really. Ill say what looks good/bad when she asks my opinion on certain things, and then recommend something that would/could look better with something.
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3. When moving in together, how have you merged your individual tastes in one space? Do you have certain areas which are more feminine/masculine that others? Beth: Although we live separately at the moment, over summer months we normally end up basically moving in together at his house. We dont have any particular spaces for each of our clothes, so they happen to congrigate in one area - coats with coats, shoes with shoes. Ben: Yeh, her stuff normally takes over considering there’s quite a lot of it. My clothes normally become her clothes then. 4 . (doesn’t apply) 5. What are your individual interests? Which are those you have in common? Being from a design background, we have similar things in common - ie. both complete apple, design and photography fanatics. we normally sit down both on laptops looking at similar creative things, whether film, photography etc, as we both work on design projects as a duo most of the time outside of work/university. We both love simple, scandinavian design - being addicted to muji - as well as amazing stationary. i guess with this brings that simple dress-code ideal. no fuss aesthetic. Music is pretty key too - ben loves the libertines and i love everything from the strokes to taking back sunday (cringe) - so thats always something that is key in our interests, going to see bands etc as much as poss. We both intent to travel and hopefully work in NewYork next year too. 6. Are you a digitally minded couple? how often do you both spend on social media sites? Yes. Probably a good 5 hours a day maybe? that doesnt mean we’re both solidly on it 247. these days, you can be on facebook without actually being sat at a desktop. the joy of phones really. 7. What social media websites do you use? Facebook, twitter, Instagram, linked in 8. Do you often shop together? If so, do you usually go with a purpose or for a general browse? How often? Forever browsing - although, when we do purchase (especially for ben) theres usually the thought of “will this look good on me too?” haha 9. Do you feel your fashion tastes come together well? Do you feel united as a couple in your dress? Yeah, normally. we’re both individuals though, so we like to keep to that always. 10. Do you ever take the time to consider how your outfits work together, or singularly? Do you coordinate? We NEVER go with the purpose of coordination. ever. 11. Do you feel the couple is a powerful icon? Why do you think this? Definitely, especially the idea of power-coupling. For us - with intention of working together especially - it is important, as we can work together but also use this as quality time to spend together too. others might think thats odd however, when you share similar interests and dreams, it works pretty well. 12. Which particular couples do you find inspirational and why? no-one necessarily. Every relationship is different from the next. Although, any couple that start a creative business and it works well, are people we find inspirational. 13. If there was anything a brand could do that would attract both you and Ben, what would that be? simplicity. something we can both buy into maybe? 14. What brands do you like, or buy from? Muji, Vintage stores, UniQlo, Gap (for basics) Dr Martens 15. Are there any brands you think effectively cater to the couple? The Kooples 16. How long have you been a couple for? 9months
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17.Do you feel you have a similar style? If so, what is that style? Simple, no fuss, boy-ish? 18. Do you share clothes? If so, what particular items? Jumpers, Tshirts, socks, 19. What kind of music do you both like? Do you have similar taste in music? ^(said above) but yeh, ben loves the libertines and similar bands, but as Ben used to promote bands by putting on gigs locally and spends a lot of time attached to hype machine, we love discovering new stuff, whatever genre (bi-polar sunshine.) As a couple our ‘tunes’ are mostly odd stuff from The Police and Fleetwood Mac, aswell as Kings of Leon and Biffy Clyro. I’m a slave to The Smiths (ben not so keen) and Fleetwood Mac! 20. Is there anything that you think brands/store environments could do to enhance your shopping experience as a couple? Again, simple, no fuss. in and out kind of thing. i’m a browser but the idea of ‘woman shopping’ kind of deal, is something i’d rather avoid, although, i’m not much of an online shopper for clothes either, as i/we like quality and trying things on before wasting time/money. hope this is good! -Beth Carpenter Assistant, CFW
D- Alice & Ben- 02/01/14 research. katie ford 02/01/2014 To: avknight27@hotmail.co.uk Hello lovely lady! Thankyou for agreeing to answer these questions for me! They’re intended that you both answer them together- hope this is ok! Names: Occupations: Living arrangements: 1. Do you find that you influence eachother in the way you dress? If so, how? 2. Do you often recommend eachother clothing to wear? 3. When moving in together, how have you merged your individual tastes in one space? Do you have certain areas which are more feminine/masculine that others? 4. Do you feel your home is a true representation of you as a couple? 5. What are your individual interests? Which are those you have in common? 6. Are you a digitally minded couple? how often do you both spend on social media sites? 7. What social media websites do you use? 8. Do you often shop together? If so, do you usually go with a purpose or for a general browse? How often? 9. Do you feel your fashion tastes come together well? Do you feel united as a couple in your dress? 10. Do you ever take the time to consider how your outfits work together, or singularly? Do you coordinate? 11. Do you feel the couple is a powerful icon? Why do you think this? 12. Which particular couples do you find inspirational and why? 13. If there was anything a brand could do that would attract both you and partner, what would that be? 14. What brands do you like, or buy from? 15. Are there any brands you think effectively cater to the couple? 16. How long have you been a couple for? 17.Do you feel you have a similar style? If so, what is that style? 18. Do you share clothes? If so, what particular items? 19. What kind of music do you both like? Do you have similar taste in music?
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20. Is there anything that you think brands/store environments could do to enhance your shopping experience as a couple? THANKYOU! Katie :)
RE: research :) Alice Knight (avknight27@hotmail.co.uk)Add to contacts 02/01/2014 To: katie ford Names: Alice & Ben Occupations: Student, gas engineer Living arrangements: together at weekends when I’m not at uni 1. Do you find that you influence eachother in the way you dress? If so, how? I don’t wear as ‘out there’ things when I’m with ben as I would when I’m at uni. 2. Do you often recommend eachother clothing to wear? no 3. When moving in together, how have you merged your individual tastes in one space? Do you have certain areas which are more feminine/masculine that others? The house is mainly catered to Bens taste as it was his first. 4. Do you feel your home is a true representation of you as a couple? I’d like to put more of my stamp on it 5. What are your individual interests? Which are those you have in common? I’m interested in fashion, socialising and film. Ben is interested in biking and sport. We both like clothes, music and food. 6. Are you a digitally minded couple? how often do you both spend on social media sites? Yes, we are both on our laptops/phones all the time when watching TV etc. 7. What social media websites do you use? I use facebook, twitter, youtube, tumblr, blogspot. Ben uses Facebook and Bike Forums 8. Do you often shop together? If so, do you usually go with a purpose or for a general browse? How often? Yes we do. normally for a general browse, about once a fortnight. 9. Do you feel your fashion tastes come together well? Do you feel united as a couple in your dress? Yes sometimes when we go out we look like a matching mod couple - all polka dots and paisley! 10. Do you ever take the time to consider how your outfits work together, or singularly? Do you coordinate? We don’t coordinate, but often end up with looks that compliment each other. 11. Do you feel the couple is a powerful icon? Why do you think this? Yes, there are many iconic couples such as alex and alexa, bey and jay, brad and angelina 12. Which particular couples do you find inspirational and why? Sid and Nancy, original rock n roll couple. 13. If there was anything a brand could do that would attract both you and partner, what would that be? Cater to both of our tastes, allow us to browse separately and together, and try on together 14. What brands do you like, or buy from? asos primark topshop urban outfitters 15. Are there any brands you think effectively cater to the couple? fred perry
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16. How long have you been a couple for? 18 months 17.Do you feel you have a similar style? If so, what is that style? Probabaly Mod 18. Do you share clothes? If so, what particular items? no 19. What kind of music do you both like? Do you have similar taste in music? We have quite similar tastes in music, alternative indy kind of thing eg The Courteeners, Revered & the Makers, Arctic Monkeys, Stone Roses etc 20. Is there anything that you think brands/store environments could do to enhance your shopping experience as a couple? Joint changing rooms Hopee this is okay! x
E- Sammy & George- 02/01/14- 5/01/14 research! :) katie ford 02/01/2014 To: sammy Hello ! Thankyou for agreeing to answer these questions for me! Theyâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;re intended that you both answer them together- hope this is ok! Names: Occupations: Living arrangements: 1. Do you find that you influence eachother in the way you dress? If so, how? 2. Do you often recommend eachother clothing to wear? 3. When moving in together, how have you merged your individual tastes in one space? Do you have certain areas which are more feminine/masculine that others? 4. Do you feel your home is a true representation of you as a couple? 5. What are your individual interests? Which are those you have in common? 6. Are you a digitally minded couple? how often do you both spend on social media sites? 7. What social media websites do you use? 8. Do you often shop together? If so, do you usually go with a purpose or for a general browse? How often? 9. Do you feel your fashion tastes come together well? Do you feel united as a couple in your dress? 10. Do you ever take the time to consider how your outfits work together, or singularly? Do you coordinate? 11. Do you feel the couple is a powerful icon? Why do you think this? 12. Which particular couples do you find inspirational and why? 13. If there was anything a brand could do that would attract both you and George, what would that be? 14. What brands do you like, or buy from? 15. Are there any brands you think effectively cater to the couple? 16. How long have you been a couple for? 17.Do you feel you have a similar style? If so, what is that style? 18. Do you share clothes? If so, what particular items? 19. What kind of music do you both like? Do you have similar taste in music? 20. Is there anything that you think brands/store environments could do to enhance your shopping experience as a couple? THANKYOU! Katie :)
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[Replied via Facebook] Names: Sammy and George Occupations: Receptionist & Hair Dresser Living arrangements: Live together 1. Do you find that you influence eachother in the way you dress? If so, how? Yeah. I always value Georges opinion on my clothes and often ask him before I buy something because he is honest. And George asks me because I’m honest with him. If we find something online or in a shop that we think the other one would look good in or they would like we’ll let each other know so they can check it out. 2. Do you often recommend eachother clothing to wear? If we see things that we think the other would like then we’ll tell each other about it. 3. When moving in together, how have you merged your individual tastes in one space? Do you have certain areas which are more feminine/masculine that others? I think that as we have similar tastes we have managed to find a happy medium in how our flat looks. We have a lot of art work that one of our friends did for us that we both love and as we have just moved in thats pretty much all we have at the moment. the flat was fully furnished when we moved in so none of the furniture is our own. In the bedroom you can tell which is Georges and which is mine. This is due to our bedside tables having our own personal items on, and mine being a bit cleaner!!! 4. Do you feel your home is a true representation of you as a couple? i think its difficult because it is a fully furnished flat so we don’t have any of our own furniture but like I mentioned before we’re starting to make it our own with the art work and just little bits that suit us more. We’re quite simple people and we don’t like over the top things so we keep it simple. 5. What are your individual interests? Which are those you have in common? We’re both into music, and festivals and we both like going to the cinema. George is a massive Forest supporter and is really into Football. I have always liked football but not that much! I’m very into running and fitness and health. 6. Are you a digitally minded couple? how often do you both spend on social media sites? We are both quite digitally minded. we both have iPhones and admittedly spend quite a long time on them. Something we are both trying to do less of! I tend to spend most of my time browsing the web and on news sites. I use twitter and instagram most out of all the social media sites. George also goes on news and sports sites and he uses Facebook and twitter as his main social media sites. For both of us to be honest we go on to browse these sites more than anything, we don’t post loads. (except for me on instagram!) 7. What social media websites do you use? see above 8. Do you often shop together? If so, do you usually go with a purpose or for a general browse? How often? We usually go for a general browse about twice a month. 9. Do you feel your fashion tastes come together well? Do you feel united as a couple in your dress? Because we have similar tastes our dress sense can be quite similar. but we both dress quite simple… so we guess they match in that way. We both likes stripes and blue and vintage. 10. Do you ever take the time to consider how your outfits work together, or singularly? Do you coordinate? We never work our outfits out together. we just wear what we think looks good and feels good! 11. Do you feel the couple is a powerful icon? Why do you think this? We think that it can be. You get some couples that just have this air about them and they stand out as a couple. If both characters are quite strong it really shows through.
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12. Which particular couples do you find inspirational and why? We don’t find any couples inspirational as such, but George thinks that Fabrizio Moretti and Kristen Wiig always dress well and they have a good style together. And I always look back on Kurt Cobain and Courtney Love as a couple thats always looked good together without even trying. They never aspired to be a couple that looked good, which always makes it a bit better! 13. If there was anything a brand could do that would attract both you and George, what would that be? Brands that make things that are value for money, but still look good and classic. 14. What brands do you like, or buy from? Cow, Wild, Urban Outfitters, ASOS, Topman/Topshop & Vintage Shops 15. Are there any brands you think effectively cater to the couple? Topshop deffinately does with having both Topshop and Topman. American Apparel because most of their clothes are uni sex. 16. How long have you been a couple for? 3 and a half years 17.Do you feel you have a similar style? If so, what is that style? We both like the vintage style. and we buy a lot of our clothes from vintage stores. 18. Do you share clothes? If so, what particular items? Yeah we share each others shirts and I wear Georges jumpers and t shirts. 19. What kind of music do you both like? Do you have similar taste in music? We both like 60’s music and old school stuff. We have such a wide music taste and we’ll listen to anything if we like it. We do tend to listen to lots of the same stuff… although I’m a lot more cheesy with music sometimes!!! We went to see Chic recently but also went to see Foals… so you can see it’s quite varied! 20. Is there anything that you think brands/store environments could do to enhance your shopping experience as a couple? I don’t think that they need to. It’s nice having the mens and womens section and then meeting up when you’ve got your items.
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APPENDIX 3 Industry Interviews Via Email. A- Michel Andre- Founder of MNSWR MAGAZINE- 02/01/2014- 06/01/14 Research- messaged via twitter. katie ford 02/01/2014 To: editor@mnswr.com Dear Michel, My name is Katie Ford and I messaged you via twitter a few weeks ago with the intention of interviewing you about your new menswear magazine. I’m currently in my final year studying Ba(hons) Fashion Communication & promotion at Nottingham Trent University, and I’m writing my dissertation about ‘the couple’ as a consumer group, looking into how brands can understand them more effectively. A research avenue within this is looking at the ‘new male consumer’ and how he is evolving within the fashion landscape, and how this manifests itself within a relationship. I was hoping you could answer the following questions to help inform my findings: 1.What is the concept behind your new magazine? When is it due to be launched? 2.What is the reasoning behind it and how has it evolved? 3.What will the magazine’s visual identity be? 4.Who would be the magazine’s ideal consumer? Describe them in as much detail as you can. 5.How do you feel the male consumer is changing, or how has he changed? What influences do you feel have impacted upon this within the fashion industry? 6.Why have you chosen to target men specifically? 7.Do you feel the male consumer is becoming more confident within fashion, is he more fashion conscious, who does he look to for fashion advice/influence? 8.Do you feel that within a relationship, men are taking a more fashionable approach? (It would be quite a stereotypical that girlfriends tend to tell their partner what to wear, give them advice) Do you feel there is a change emerging? 9.How do you feel the male shopper differs from the female? 10.Do you feel the male consumer more easily manipulated than the female? Katie Ford Nottingham Trent University Re: Research- messaged via twitter. MNSWR Editors Desk (editor@mnswr.com)Add to contacts 06/01/2014 To: katie ford Hi Katie, Here’s the answers to your questions.
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Since I got a mad schedule these days I have to limit the time I can spend on your interview but will try to answer you the best I can. Also I want to ask you not to publish my answers publicly (on Twitter/Fb, etc.) and use them for your study purposes only. Please keep in mind that I’m not a native English speaker/writer and I haven’t double checked my writing for errors. 1. MNSWR will be a international orientated high-end online menswear magazine. MNSWR targets on style conscious men between the age of 25 to 50 with a ‘sartorial sense’ and who have great appreciation for the craftsmanship of tailoring. Besides men MNSWR also targets at women who want to be inspired and who love to shop for the MNSWR men in their lives. The content of the magazine will be about bespoke tailoring and sartorial high-end ‘ready to wear’ designers clothing in Western-European style. The keyline of the magazine: ‘What Men Wear’ is a direct guidline for content and themes in the magazine. So no lifestyle, gadgets, muscle cars, bikini babes, etc. Beside stuff that can be worn on the body the magazine will bring also topics of personal care/grooming. MNSWR.com will be launched in April 2014. 2. I have a background in photography and journalism. I have been running a street style fashion blog and a great passion for menswear and the idea for a menswear magazine evolved from the street style fashion blog on which I have been focussing on men’s style. 3. The visual identity of MNSWR magazine will be modern-classic and clean with a well balanced layout. 4. The MNSWR man is higher educated, socially pro-active and has his career pretty much on the line with stabile income of +75.000 euros. He has a sense for quality, durability and class and is prepared to spend money on it. He sees his investment in his style as an investment in his self. For him it’s not so much about the price of a piece but very much about the quality, how it’s made with eye for the details. With his ‘sartorial sense’ the MNSWR man rather buys one quality piece than two or three mediocre pieces. Personal care is essential for him, which is fed by a a high degree of self-consciousness.The MNSWR man has great appreciation for craftsmanship. He may be seen, he wants to be seen and he is pretty vain. 5. It’s hard to say how I feel about it. But I think that men have become a lot more self-consciouss in their style over the years. I personally believe that this is partly caused by the impact of increased individualism in society. With the changing of traditional men-women roles men are taking more responsibility for their physical presentation than before and this has a logical impact on the fashion industry. The huge rise of men’s magazines in the last decade is an important signal showing that men have become more aware of their physical being. 6. Why I have chosen to focus on men’s style is one of personal interest. I love to look at a beautifully dressed woman but I have no affinty at all with what she’s wearing. For creating interesting content I have to be able to relate it to myself to a certain degree and I don’t have that with womenswear. I can name you lot’s of brands, labels, designers but except for that I know little about it. 7. See Q 5... 8. Also see Q 5 9. Male shoppers have always been different from female shoppers. If you look at online consumer statistics you’ll see that men spend their budget on different items and that women on average spend a little more online. Women spend more on clothes and goods while men spend more on films, music and electronics. Pretty stereotype… ;) 10. Without letting my ego getting involved in answering this question, I believe that female consumers a more easily to manipulate because women are more emotionally involved in their consumer behavior while men tend to look (more than women) also at built, technical specs, etc. This makes men a bit more rational in their consumer behavior and therefor less easy to manipulate. Though advertisers know this off course and use that information again to manipulate male consumers... I hope this helps you.
Best, Michel André de Groot Founder & Executive Editor MNSWR m a g a z i n e www.MNSWR.com editor@MNSWR.com [ 122 ]
B- Erik Naumann- Photographer based in Canada- 3/01/13- 12/01/13 Would love your help for Research purposes. katie ford 03/01/2014 To: erik.naumann@gmail.com Hi Erik, My names Katie Ford and I’m currently in my final year at Nottingham Trent University in England, studying Fashion Communication & Promotion. I know this must seem very out of the blue, but I’m really hoping you can help me. I recently came across your Cargo Collective Portfolio, and was intrigued when I came across your couple clothing project in Bejjing. I’m actually researching for my dissertation, which focuses itself upon couple dressing, buying and styling habits. I’m fascinated how couples, especially in Korea and China use clothing to present themselves as together to an extreme, of which western societies appear to have a particularly negative view on. I was hoping that you would be able to help me by answering a few questions in relation to your work and findings to do with this project you carried out in the hope I can understand it a little better, and possibly make some useful observations for my research. I’d be so grateful if you could take the time to reply, and hope that you will kindly help me. Thanks again, Katie Ford, Nottingham Trent University. England, UK. Re: Would love your help for Research purposes. Erik Naumann (erik.naumann@gmail.com)Add to contacts 04/01/2014 To: katie ford Hi Katie, That sounds interesting, and I’d be more than happy to answer any questions you have! Thanks, Erik RE: Would love your help for Research purposes. katie ford 04/01/2014 To: Erik Naumann Great! I will send over some questions to you tomorrow, thanks for the quick response! speak to you soon, Katie.
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RE: Would love your help for Research purposes. Katie Ford 05/01/2014 To: Erik Naumann Hiya, so these are a list of questions that would be great if you could answer in as much detail as you can :) 1. What did you find so interesting about the way couples dress in Beijing? 2. What statements do you feel they were making by dressing in this way? Why do you think they do it? 3. Why do you feel Western societies have such a negative view upon the way they choose to dress in couples? 4. What do you feel is different about Chinese culture which means this type of dressing is so widely adopted and accepted? 5. What key observations did you make from your project? 6. What made you decide to publish it as a magazine? 7. Describe your experience of this phenomenon, why did it interest you so much? What key conclusions did you draw, or what observations did you make from your project? 8. Do you feel that couples in western societies dress to communicate something about their couple? But possibly in a different way? If you could also just briefly explain what things you noticed generally about the couples you took photographs of, I want to try and understand as much as possible why this type of dressing is so widespread in these cultures and not accepted here and what are their motivations? Any other trends you noticed, just generally describe as much as you can about what you learnt about it, I would be extremely grateful. Thanks for the help, hope to questions aren’t too difficult! I really liked the description you added below your photographs explaining how you were most interested in the social and cultural context of it all, thats what I’m trying to understand as best as I can. If you think of anything else that would be interesting to do with it please let me know. Really appreciate the help! Hope to hear from you soon. Katie Re: Would love your help for Research purposes. Erik Naumann (erik.naumann@gmail.com)Add to contacts 06/01/2014 To: katie ford Those are great questions! Give me a few days and I’ll try to have good answers for you Thanks, Erik
Re: Would love your help for Research purposes. Erik Naumann (erik.naumann@gmail.com)Add to contacts 12/01/2014 To: katie ford Hi Katie, Here are my answers to your questions, finally! I hope they have some insight for you and help with your paper. Please don’t hesitate if you have any follow up questions or want clarification on anything.
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Thanks so much, and good luck on your dissertation! Erik 1. What did you find so interesting about the way couples dress in Beijing? I first saw it in a blog post, and I thought it was interesting and cute. I’m kind of drawn to cute stuff, in a way. Then in a certain area of Beijing, Xidan, kind of an affluent shopping area, it was really common. I would just hang around for a few hours and I could find a few couples to photograph everyday. At first it was just an interesting visual, couples dressed like a team, or in uniform. But the more I photographed the more meaningful it seemed to me. 2. What statements do you feel they were making by dressing in this way? Why do you think they do it? I’m not sure if they feel they are making a statement, it’s probably just a fun thing to do. It’s more common there so it’s not a big thing that stands out. I think if you did the same thing in Canada, it’s different because you would stand out and make more of a statement here. 3. Why do you feel Western societies have such a negative view upon the way they choose to dress in couples? It’s funny because the blogs where I first discovered couple clothing and t-shirts, had so many negative comments, but I think the whole idea is really more of a western phenomenon that has spread to Asia. The idea of “his and hers” clothing isn’t new but maybe it’s kind of passe in western culture now. The extremity of the negative comments on blogs might have something to do with the anonymity of the Internet, which seems to bring out the worst in people sometimes. 4. What do you feel is different about Chinese culture which means this type of dressing is so widely adopted and accepted? It’s difficult to say, and I’ve had many theories about it. Once, I thought it might be related to the way clothing in China has evolved from communist era “Mao suits”, and been influenced recently by the West. I also had thought it might have something to do with the 1-child policy and how that has put so much pressure on relationships since there are so many more men than women, people might value those relationships more highly. However, it’s not something that’s restricted to China, it also appears in places that have very different dynamics than China, for example Korea and Eastern Europe. I definitely started noticing something in the way couples dress when I came back to Canada, but sometimes it’s more subtle: http://eriknaumann.com/display.php?src=people/people_23.jpg 5. What key observations did you make from your project? I think in the end I was just much more aware of how important clothing is, in the way we express ourselves. If you dress to blend in, or dress to stand out, or fit in with a particular group, it always means something. 6. What made you decide to publish it as a magazine? I was always really interested in street fashion photography, and influenced by street fashion magazines like Fruits from Japan. I was interested in how my project was related to that world, and I thought it was appropriate. It’s also just a very convenient way to look at and distribute the work. Gallery shows are so restricted, only a handful of people will be able to experience something that way. Magazines seems a lot more accessible and democratic to me. 7. Describe your experience of this phenomenon, why did it interest you so much? What key conclusions did you draw, or what observations did you make from your project? I think it just gave me a different perspective on clothing in general. How it’s represented and evolved with culture over time. How many hours have great painters spent rendering the clothes of their subjects, in the history of art. 8. Do you feel that couples in western societies dress to communicate something about their couple? But possibly in a different way? In some cases, yes. I definitely noticed this when I returned to Canada, but it’s more subtle. I actually bought matching shirts for my girlfriend and I when I was in China. There are shops that will have a large selection of couples shirts, and I bought some Comme des Garcon knockoffs. We tried wearing them out once, but it was extremely awkward, and we never did it again. However I definitely noticed couples coordinating outfits here, but not matching per say.
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C- Buyer currently working at Next- wants to remain anonymous. 18/11/13- 29/12/13 Research Dissertation katie ford 18/11/2013 To: ..........@next.co.uk Dear ..... , Thankyou very much for agreeing to answer questions to help me with my research dissertation. It’s very much appreciated as I realise you are very busy! 1. Who would you say is Next’s typical consumer? 2. What are your main roles within the buying department from day to day? 3. Are there separate buyers for womenswear and menswear? If so, do you communicate between the two sectors or are they entirely separate? 4. Does the womenswear department have a larger variety of trends than the menswear, how does it compare? 5. Do you target men and women completely separately, or do you consider that couples will often shop together? 6. Are there items that coordinate, or are interchangeable betweens menswear and womenswear? (e.g. taking into account the coordination of a couple’s outfit for an event or such.) Looking forward to hearing back from you, Katie Ford
RE: Dissertation, Next. (......@hotmail.co.uk)Add to contacts 29/12/2013 To: katie654@hotmail.co.uk Hi Katie, Please see the answered to your questions below, I hope it helps. Please ensure my identify is kept confidential, I answered these questions on my iPad at work so some spelling may have auto-corrected , so feel free to change words that don’t make sense ! Kind regards, anon.
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1. As we sell a variety of products ; womenswear, menswear, kidswear, home products , and even pet products, there is no one typical customer. The customer changes depending on their product buy intention. E.g a customer buying womenswear is usually a middle-class working lady who likes contemporary fashion, whereas a childrenswear customer is low-middle class looking for fashion forward and fun childrenswear. However, all customers have one thing in common and that’s our renowned quality. 2. Some of my day to day tasks involve : actioning samples, chasing samples, customer liaison, ordering photoshoot samples, checking lab dips, doing approvals, looking on websites at their products and sites such as WGSN and style. com. Then we have meetings a lot so I shall be pulling out and laying out products and near selections there shall be a lot of comp shops, supplier meetings and range building. 3. Every product group has its own team- buying and merchandise and we sit in departments. Womenswear sit in their teams on one side of the floor menswear on the other, and womenswear non-clothing on an upstairs mezzanine. My team consists on 3 buyers and 2 merchandisers and we share a fabric tech and garment tech with nightwear. We work separate to menswear, however we do compare sales and look at what products are doing well for them. Then we shall communicate. Also, if we are using a fabric base the same as menswear e.g linen, we shall then communicate to increase the volume and reduce the price. 4. Although menswear and womenswear both follow trends, menswear moves a lot slower and there’s more opportunity to set the trends whereas womenswear moves a lot faster so we have a lot of design presentations to ensure all womenswear departments are following the same trends. The two sides differ by womenswear having set stories that have their own prints and colour palettes in each season, whereas menswear do not have this. 5. We tend to buy our ranges independently on menswear. Styling couples happens when there are items that coincidentally match due to seasonal colours, 6. To go into more detail of the above, if the seasonal colour is blue for summer, dresses shall do blue dresses and menswear may use the same colour for a tie or shirt, not with the intention of couples buying them together but to make the store look nice and due to it being a key trend colour. I can only speak for the departments I have worked on, but we have never selected items to match the opposite sex’s range, this would take a lot more work for next and as trends change and colours change at different speeds for men and women, it would be very challenging to coordinate. Hope this helps, anon.
D- Hannah Stodell- Insight Editor at LS:N: Global & Joanna ThompsonResearcher at LS:N:Global- 07/01/14 Nottingham trent- research! katie ford 07/01/2014 To: joannalucythompson@gmail.com Hi Joanna! Thanks for getting back to me via twitter. I was hoping you’d be able to help me with a few questions in relation to the LSN:Global trend briefing which focused upon XX-vs-XY. I’m currently writing my research dissertation along side the future lab project, and i’ve chosen to focus upon ‘the couple’ as a consumer group, which brands can target and manipulate more effectively. I found the briefing on the new male and female very interesting in relation to this, but was wondering if you’d be able to help me put it into context with my project. Basically, I really want to understand how infact this new emerging male and female are impacting on the couple? The briefing discussed in detail them as individuals, but I was uncertain how this actually affects how when the two come together and what happens then? How does it affect same-sex couples? How does these new individuals balance one another out?
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If you feel you could help me answer these questions iâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;d be really grateful! Thanks so much for your time, Katie F. Nottingham Trent, Fashion Communication & Promotion. Re: Nottingham trent- research! Joanna Thompson (joannalucythompson@gmail.com)Add to contacts 07/01/2014 To: katie ford Hey Katie, I have contacted my colleague who worked directly on the content for the Trend Briefing as she is in the LS:N publishing team. I think she will be able to provide you with more of a analytical approach to your questions as she worked on the XX-XY trends. Iâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;ll let you know what she comes back to me with, Jo RE: Nottingham trent- research! katie ford 07/01/2014 To: Joanna Thompson This sounds great, thank you so much. Look forward to hearing back from you. Katie Re: Nottingham trent- research! Joanna Thompson (joannalucythompson@gmail.com)Add to contacts 07/01/2014 To: katie ford Hey again Katie, My colleague Hannah Stodell, who is Insight Editor at LS:N Global, said she can help out as there was some interesting research about convergence of traditional gender roles, but might not have so much on the same-sex part. Please send her specific questions (maybe a list of 5 or so really clear ones?) that she can get back to you on. She is quite busy so she will reply over email asap. Hope that helps! Jo RE: Nottingham trent- research! katie ford 07/01/2014 To: Joanna Thompson Ok great, that sounds perfect!
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i’m just in the process of coming up with some questions so will have them sent by tomorrow. Do you have an email I can contact her on, or will you forward them on? Thanks for the help! Katie Re: Nottingham trent- research! Joanna Thompson (joannalucythompson@gmail.com)Add to contacts 07/01/2014 To: katie ford Sorry forgot to add in the email, it is : hannahs@lsnglobal.com No problem! Research Questions- forwarded email via Joanna. katie ford 07/01/2014 To: hannahs@lsnglobal.com Dear Hannah, Thankyou for taking the time to answer my questions as I know you must be very busy. I’m currently writing my dissertation on ‘the couple’ as a consumer group in their own right, looking at how brands can better manipulate them through a development of greater understanding of their buying, dressing and styling habits. I am keen to ask you these questions as the XX-vs-XY briefing was of great interest to me and very related to my project, although I’m finding it difficult to place the information in the couple context. Hope these are ok! 1. Having researched specifically into the new male and female as individuals, what conclusions have you drawn that relate to the couple? 2. Given that your findings conclude that traditional gender roles are vanishing and retail futures will no longer define age or gender, what effect do you see occurring in terms of ‘the couple’ as a collaborative force? Will there be more of a balance in decision making? How do you feel each gender views these changes of each other? 3. Do you for-see that couple identity will become stronger as the couple find quality in terms of their balance of leisure activities? 4. With the rise of male consumption and this new fashion-led male, how do you feel this will impact on the definition of the couple as a consumer group going forward? Will males have more influence on women then they used to? 5. Lastly, how do you feel your research impacts same-sex couples? Thankyou once again for taking the time to help me! Looking forward to hearing from you soon. Katie Ford Nottingham Trent Uni.
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Re: Research Questions- forwarded email via Joanna. Hannah Stodell (hannahs@lsnglobal.com)Add to contacts 08/01/2014 To: katie ford Hi Katie! thanks for these – I’ll look to get something back to you this week. Thanks, Hannah Re: Research Questions- forwarded email via Joanna. Hannah Stodell (hannahs@lsnglobal.com)Add to contacts 08/01/2014 To: katie ford Cc: Joanna Thompson Hi again Katie, took the opportunity to tackle these Qs today as the week is shaping up to be busier nearer the tail end.. See below some thoughts. Hope these are helpful – let me know if any queries and good luck with your dissertation! Best wishes, Hannah Having researched specifically into the new male and female as individuals, what conclusions have you drawn that relate to the couple? A collaborative mindset among Millennial men and women is changing the way that both sexes live, think, and maintain their relationships. We’re seeing women fill the world’s universities, start businesses and take up positions of power and we’re seeing men abandon traditional roles and re-calibrate their own identities with a new sense of freedom. Against these changes, couples are increasingly taking a gender-neutral approach to work/life balance. For example, when we look at families, fathers are still lagging mothers in terms of time spent caring for children and doing household chores, but there has been some gender convergence in the way they divide their time between work and home. Men are proactively and proudly taking on more responsibility at home which is freeing women to pursue their careers and own life ambitions. According to a recent Pew study, fathers’ time spent doing household chores has more than doubled since 1965 (from an average of about four hours per week to about 10 hours) while mothers’ time doing housework has gone down significantly over the same period (from 32 hours per week to 18). We’re seeing a new iteration of men and women – the Recon man and Athena woman – who rather than battling it out as some commentators would suggest, are working in collaboration. They’re embracing parity and breaking free from traditional assigned roles to create their own. Given that your findings conclude that traditional gender roles are vanishing and retail futures will no longer define age or gender, what effect do you see occurring in terms of ‘the couple’ as a collaborative force? Will there be more of a balance in decision making? How do you feel each gender views these changes of each other? The change in traditional gender roles is prompting a whole new set of wants, needs, demands and behaviours which all have big implications on brands in the lifestyle sectors. In the near future, there will be a greater dissonance between what is expected of the modern male, and what he can achieve, while the empowered woman is seeing more doors open to her. Both sexes will have to acclimatise to new home, social and work environments and assess how they fit together in this era of ‘re-quilibrium’. The Recon man and Athena woman do not conform to the social norms of their predecessors. They see the blurring of traditional male and female roles as positive – and inevitable. Do you for-see that couple identity will become stronger as the couple find quality in terms of their balance of leisure activities? We’re seeing the elevation of ‘the relationship’ over the traditional imperatives of coupledom, such as getting married or having children. We’re seeing a shift away from having children, which has traditionally been a part of the experience of ‘the couple’. As procreation becomes more of a lifestyle choice, more and more partners are deciding that having children might impact negatively on the quality of their life together. The DINK (Dual Income No Kids) lifestyle often allows couples to use discretionary income that might have been spent on kids for travel, eating out and decorating their home.
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With the rise of male consumption and this new fashion-led male, how do you feel this will impact on the definition of the couple as a consumer group going forward? Will males have more influence on women then they used to? Men will take more ownership and accountability for their domestic as well as professional lives and this will undoubtedly have an effect on their influence on partners and household spending. We see this in the stats. In 2012, men spent an average of $36.26 in grocery stores per trip, up from $27.49 in 2004, according to Nielsen. This will have a knock-on effect for retailers and how they need to target men and women in terms of product design and tone of voice as the previous rules no longer hold true. For example, given that more and more single fathers are heading up families than ever before (2.6m households in the US with minor children are run by a single father according to Pew Research Center), products that appeal to design-conscious parents of both genders are likely to prevail. While Millennials may have been defined by their plate-spinning mothers, future generations will also be defined by their plate spinning fathers – or as we call them Plate Spinner Dads. How do you feel your research impacts same-sex couples? It is echoed in same sex-couples. Millennial couples – same sex or otherwise – share a fluid and progressive approach to gender norms.
Industry Interviews via email - Unsuccessful The Kooples- 18/12/13
Fashion Student- Research into Couple behaviour katie ford 18/12/2013 To: presse@thekooples.com Dear The Kooples Team, I submitted a message via your website in the hope of being able to get in contact with someone that can help me, and was given this email address.
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I’m currently exploring couple behaviour in relation to fashion for my final year dissertation, studying Fashion Communication and Promotion. We were able to choose any topic to focus our research project upon, and I decided to explore the idea that brands are missing out by choosing to not look at the Couple as a consumer in their own right. You can understand why your brand is of such great interest to me and my research. I have come to realise than our tastes, choices and motivations when in a relationship differ greatly from when we are single, and that often couples subconsciously dress similarly. Is it possible to get in contact with someone that would be able to answer some questions in relation to this? Thankyou very much, Look forward to a reply. Katie Ford Nottingham Trent University.
Blog- www.wheredidyougetthat.com- 18/12/13 Couple Street Style katie ford 18/12/2013 To: karen@wheredidugetthat.com Picture of katie ford Hi Karen, My name is Katie Ford and I’m currently studying Fashion Communication and Promotion at Nottingham Trent University. For my final research dissertation, I have chosen to focus upon couple’s style and buying habits. I want to prove that brands overlook the couple as a consumer in their own right, as often we behave differently. You can probably now understand why I have contacted you, I came across your blog just now and find the whole concept very interesting and unique. I would be so grateful if you could take a few minutes out of your time to answer some questions that would help influence my research outcomes, I would be extremely grateful. I realise it’s a very busy time so very sorry to bother you so near to christmas! Thankyou Katie F Nottingham Trent University
Sergio Ines- Editor at www.what my boyfriend wore.com- 19/12/13 Questions about the blog! Messaged via twitter katie ford 19/12/2013 To: whatmyboyfriendwore@gmail.com Hi, I contacted you via twitter yesterday in the hope you would help me with a few questions!
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For my final research dissertation, I have chosen to focus upon couple’s style and buying habits. I want to prove that brands overlook the couple as a consumer in their own right, as often we behave differently. You can probably now understand why I have contacted you, I came across your blog recently and find the whole concept very interesting and unique. I would be so grateful if you could take a few minutes out of your time to answer some questions that would help influence my research outcomes. 1. What is the concept behind the blog? How did it begin? 2. Why do you feel it is successful? 3. Do you feel that the male consumer is still nervous when it comes to fashion? 4. I really like the idea that your blog is run by ‘a fashion loving girlfriend and boyfriend team’, do you think this sets you apart from other blogs, if so, why is this? What advantage does this have? How does this work? 5. Do you believe that couples influence each other in the way they dress? 6. I’ve come across various ‘couple blogs’, how come you choose to focus upon menswear, rather than collaborate between yourselves and create a menswear and womenswear blog? 7. Do you think the menswear market is changing? If so, in what way? 8. Do you feel that women have a large influence on men when it comes to fashion, or have thing shifted? 9.Do you feel that men behave differently within a relationship when it comes to fashion and dressing, compared to being single? I realise it’s a very busy time so very sorry to bother you so near to christmas! Thankyou Katie Ford, Nottingham Trent University. Re: Questions about the blog! Messaged via twitter Sergio Ines (whatmyboyfriendwore@gmail.com)Add to contacts 20/12/2013 To: katie ford Hi Katie I regret telling you that me and my girlfriend have actually split (recently) So not only would I not be able to answer these questions honestly...I also just wouldnt be able to answer them in my current state I’m afraid. I hope you understand. Regards Serg Sergio Ines
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Editor - What My Boyfriend Wore C: 083 601 0184 T: @whatmybfwore W: www.whatmyboyfriendwore.com RE: Questions about the blog! Messaged via twitter katie ford 20/12/2013 To: whatmyboyfriendwore@gmail.com I sincerely apologise. Of course i understand. Hope you feel better soon Katie
Gabriel Garcia & Mike Madrid, Founders of www.cupofcouple.com17/11/2013 Fashion student- My research Dissertation. katie ford 17/11/2013 To: cupofcouple@gmail.com Picture of katie ford Dear Gabriel García & Mike Madrid, My name is Katie Ford and I’m currently in my final year studying BA(Hons) Fashion Communication and Promotion at Nottingham Trent University. At this moment in time, I’m working on my research dissertation; exploring the idea that the ‘couple’ are a consumer in their own right and one that is extremely powerful of which most brands seem to overlook. I came across your blog via instagram and find it really captivating and extremely effective. I was wondering if you’d be willing to help me by answering some questions that will help inform my findings. I would be extremely grateful if you could. I didn’t want to send an email bombarding you with questions as you both seem extremely busy, so wanted to check it would be a possibility and if you are willing toI will get on to sending you some straight away! Any help would be very much appreciated. Thankyou, Katie Ford
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APPENDIX 4 In-store observations A- Urban Outfitters, Nottingham. Imagery & Observations - 25/11/13
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Notes: Engaging No categorisation Entertainment Little gender distinction Right mix of seating and space Lifestyle and music interest orientated Interchangeable Similar colour palette Thing to do never far away from clothing displays can’t get lost and apart from eachother Mixture of men and women staff In changing rooms and on both floors only one till located in the womenswear section Men and women queuing at the same place anyway- don’t have to go to different tills Streamlined process Keep both genders interested for longer. Longer you keep a consumer in a shop the more they will spend. men’s and women’s gifts at the tills things that interest both parties Men walking in unaware they’re in the prodominately innately in the girls section and dont realise for a long time meaning they take seriously the clothes are there without automatically thinking they’re for women and dismissing them Equal mixture of men and women Still the right gender distinctions do it doesn’t become confusing
B- The Kooples Stores- Imagery & Observations - 7/12/13
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Notes: THE KOOPLES 36 KING’S ROAD SW3 4UD LONDON +44 (0) 20 7589 7696 THE KOOPLES 22 CARNABY STREET W1F 7DB LONDON +44 (0) 20 7734 8020 THE KOOPLES 76 HIGH STREET WIMBLEDON SW19 5EG LONDON +44 (0) 20 8944 9932 Take into consideration how the couple demographic differs in locations Twos of everything Stores laid out similarly Variations of type of store- boutique and normal stores, in department stores Two changing rooms One mirror opposite Encourage you to try at the same time Same colour palette Woman store assistants in all stores Are men less afraid to ask for help from women? Is this new male consumer schzophrenic/ one minute what’s to be a part of it the other side he isn’t- proving that males have pride in being in a couple- will this be a way to make them more confident without particularly emphasising on them as a singular consumer group?
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C- Observations in-store at Outfit, Riverside retail park, Nottingham. - 12/12/13
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APPENDIX 5 -Street style observations in Nottingham. -21/11/13 A- Emily & Rory
Emily & Rory- Together 1 Year 7 Months Living Seperately 17 & 16 Do you influence what each other wears? Emily- ‘He gives me more advice, than i give him, hes more stylish than I am!’ Are you aware of how you look as a couple, do you match or coordinate? Both- ‘No, we never consider it’ Notes: More reserved than the previous couple, Rory seems at ease with discussing their relationship, whilst Emily seemed unsure. She looks uncomfortable, whilst once again Rory looks at ease.
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B- Kayleigh & Jake
Kayleigh & Jamie- Been a couple for 6 months 17 & 18 Students living seperately Do you influence eachother in what you wear? Jamie- ‘Not really, we like shopping together alot though, and we always look for the latest trends’ Kayleigh- ‘I tend to match with my boyfriend all the time. We never do it on purpose, but somehow we’re always on the same wavelength when we’re picking out clothes.’ Are you aware of how you look together, do you coordinate? Notes : Kayleigh & Jamie were extremely relaxed talking about their fashion, they seemed more at ease with discussing it together. In their pose, Kayleigh looks fairly uncomfortable, with arms crossed, whereas Jamie looks strong and more imposing, proud, with his hand around his girlfriend.
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APPENDIX 6 -Online consumer surveys
A- Couple Behaviour - 18/11/13 This survey will form part of the research for my final year report looking into couple behaviours and forming recommendations to better cater to them as a consumer group. Some or all of the answers may be quoted or included in my report. By submitting feedback on a question you have given permission for me to use it in my work. If you want to withdraw your comments at any time or want more detail on my incentives or any of the questions please email me: katie654@hotmail.co.uk Thankyou for taking the time! 1.What is your age? 18-20. - (33.33%) 21-23. - (45.45%) 24-26 - (18.18%) 27-29 - (3.03%) 30+ - (0%) 2. How long have you been in a relationship for? Under 6 months - (15.15%) 6 months- 1 year - (15.15%) 1-2 years - (27.27%) 2-3 years - (15.15%) 3-4 years - (9.09%) 4-5 years - (12.12%) 5 years + - (6.06% 2) 3. Do you feel you have any influence on what your partner wears? Yes - (66.67%) No - (21.21%) Not sure - (12.12%) If so, how? Theyâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;ll ask for advice
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I tell him some things he’s wearing are a bit too much I don’t personally say anything, but he always asks my opinion Just advice on what looks good he asks for my opinion, i suggest things i think we will like or look nice in. They seek my opinion on clothes purchases Shop with them, pick out suggestion for outfits. If it looks nice I am sometimes successful stopping him from wearing some of the hideous things he owns He usually asks me before he buys anything, sometimes ill pick out stuff for him, we usually shop together I help buy his clothes He’s got his own style but I just help pick out the right colours and shapes. He often asks me for style advice! Take them shopping, buy them clothes We often buy each other items and have a similar style so take inspiration from each other Suggest clothes to buy he asks my opinion and wil take it into account to me she looks beautiful in anything she wears and i tell her that no matter what she wears but i dont know if i have any influence by saying that though He asks me for fashion advice 4. How often do you go shopping together? Rarely - (27.27%) Once a month - (27.27%) Few times a month - (36.36%) One a week - (9.09%) More than once per week - (0%) 5. Which gender do you feel has a greater influence on what men choose to wear? Women - (69.70%) Men - (30.30%) 6. Do you feel there is any drawbacks to shopping as a couple?
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yes - (42.42%) no - (57.58%) What are they? please explain them! The man gets bored and irritating embarrased to say you like/dont like something sometimes Getting in the way of other girls shopping the sales. my partner hates shopping I love it when (very rare occasion) my brother and bf shop with me (they chat and I shop), whilst getting some advise when something looks good or not men get bored an awful lot quicker HE’S SO ANNOYING! men find it hard to make decisions, not sure why but could be because they don’t have as many fashion magazines or blogs so haven’t got as much of an idea what they want to buy want to go in different shops! Women look at everything. Men just go in and get out. waiting awkwardly in the mens section whilst he’s in the changing room men don’t want to shop for as long If your both on the same page and can choose without falling out, you may as well give your partner a helping hand I take ages browsing in shops I like and he gets bored Men and women are usually separated so it isnt a joint experience as you tend to go off on your own partner might over rule individual purchase choices 7. What could stores do to make shopping as a couple more simple, easier, or enhanced? Not putting mens clothes on the second floor - put womens and mens both on the ground floor Don’t put clothes on separate levels and shows male and female outfits together Not sure More mens clothes more seats for men in girls shops, maybe magazines for them Ipads on the walls allowing you to browse what stock is in store and direct you too it. Compile a list online at home, log into the stores system and it give you all the information you need. have a plane style seating/ library booth area where men can watch what they want and browse the internet the while you shop. Zara is a great example of a shop for both couples. As both genders of garments are of similar taste unlike topshop and topman (I personally think topman is really laddish). Maybe stores should have both genders of garments on the same floor so couples can enjoy the shopping experiences together and give advise. Also I think shops need more sofas for
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and give advise. Also I think shops need more sofas for bf’s to sit down with mags and music headphone stations. Also good aircon, my bf will refuse to go in a shop if it is stuffy/hot :S A lot of smaller branch clothes stores have female only sections. These should cater to both genders. Unisex sections for basic clothing, I.e. Unisex fashionable jackets, tops etc. Changing rooms closer together! Unisex changing rooms! Sell male and female clothes A place to sit down whilst partners shop. unisex clothing areas of the shop, or areas with both girls and boys clothes so couples can browse for clothes for themselves together. integrate male & female stuff together. he always complains that i spend ages in the womens section then hurry him through the mens Provide more seating for the men Well changing rooms are a bit of a pain as you can’t go in the same fitting room and if your partner feels a bit silly coming out then you don’t get to see them. Maybe a unisex changing room. My boyfriend always wishes there was more seats for him to sit on! He also likes to pick out things he thinks I will like to perhaps more style guidance for men buying for women? Same sex, and perhaps larger changing rooms. My boyfriend always moans that the menswear is always miles away (upstairs or in the basement) and we have to look through all the womenswear first. It would be nice to have things in the same area so we can both go off and look at different things unisex changing rooms bring items together not be so specific about what gender the shop is aimed at Not sure, maybe have a unisex part? seating areas for men whilst women shop, a meeting point instead of buy one get one free from say the womens section why not have a buy one from the womens section but get the mens free or vice versa? Provide an experience for men to keep them occupied ( I heard the new UO has put playstations downstairs for the men to use ) More ‘lounging’ areas for men, or a cafe or something 8. Do you ever share/borrow clothes from your partner? Yes - (78.79%) No - (21.21%) What types of clothing?
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I wear his t shirts to bed and sometimes his jogging bottoms and jumpers Hoodies only a hoody or something Girlfriend borrows Shirts, Track pants, Jackets, Hoodies etc big wooly jumpers scarfs, his jumpers. T shirts, hoodies, joggers t shirts, jackets, coats, jumpers... and then socks when ive run out. Jumpers, scarves, hats Coats, hoodies, t shirts Hoodies t-shirts, shirts and hoodies she wears jumpers/hoodies/tshirts of mine sometimes. jumpers, t shirts, beanies t shirts, hoodies Jumpers Tshirts (Usually band merch) some shirts / hoodys she likes to borrow my shirts Hoodies, tshirts 9. Would you say you adapt what you wear when you’re with your partner? (e.g. do you tone it down, wear more comfortable clothing etc) Yes - (39.39%) No - (60.61%) If so, in what way? She has very high standards and its usually for different situations. Because I work all the time, if I do anything with my bf or friends, I’ll make the effort (unlike work) Dress smarter Tone it down, most of the time i’d say i dress for girls (more trend led) whereas my boyfriend thinks things like patterned leggings and stuff are odd so i tend to stick to jeans and jumpers More comfortable
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Dress more to impress I used to tone it down when we first started going out but now I wear what I like as I’m completely comfortable around him. On a night out I definitely dress more covered up than if I was single! Wear more comfortable I am more casual, i still make an effort but dont dress up as much tone it down depending on the situation
B- Couple Fashion- 18/12/13 This survey will form part of the research for my final year report looking into couple behaviours and forming recommendations to better cater to them as a consumer group. Some or all of the answers may be quoted or included in my report. By submitting feedback on a question you have given permission for me to use it in my work. If you want to withdraw your comments at any time or want more detail on my incentives or any of the questions please email me: katie654@hotmail.co.uk Thankyou for taking the time! The following images are of Couples. As best as you can, describe as much as you can about the couple from what you can see. What assumptions can you make about them? For example, are they in a relationship? What can you say about their personalities or interests? What do their clothes, position, body language say about them? Tell me what you think of them. 1. What are your comments about the above image? These people look like they think carefully about how they dress, sticking to a monotone wardrobe. They could be complying to a dress code or uniform but they look happy about it and seem to enjoy each others company. They obviously have a very similar sense of style, which is very distinctive. They look like they are very happy to be around one another, but I don’t think they look comfortable enough together that I would say they are in a relationship. Monochrome Very similar - unisex Relaxed Young japanese friends. Male is iffeminate. Both are over-keen on fashion, probably having made the decision to both wear black on that day. Adorable Androgynous Casual sport/alternative asian couple. Outfits reflect their relationship/ connection cute, bit nervous I think they are good friends/partners. Girl laughing - comfortable in each others’ company Similar clothing styles - celebrity couple wannabes?
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i think they share the same interests more than anything, they don’t necessarily express they are in-fact a couple - although they could be. They are aware of current trends in both the male and female fashion landscape, as well as key colours for particular seasons. I imagine they have similar day to day routines or jobs, again interests, hobbies etc highlighted from the brands they’re wearing etc, as well as elements such as tattoos. This couple look like they’re modelling Asian maybe Chinese or Korean. Fashion conscious young couple. Perhaps into alternative cultural e.g skate boarding, rock or hip hop music Cute fashion conscious japanese couple in love Look like a good couple, with similar interests and equal values flirty body language so probably in a relationship/matching style-look like a fashionable couple/both happy they look cool , they look like they have carefully considered how their outfits will look together. The clothes are very matchy, both the boy and the girl are mirroring each others style and colour palette. 2. What are your comments about the above image? This couple look nicely dressed and look happy enough to be on their honeymoon. Their style fits with each other. They definitely look like they are a couple, they look happy and relaxed, and have quite a laid back, not trying too hard kind of style. Smart casual Look like a couple Happy These are a couple of young go-getters, they attend lots of fancy parties and trendy bars, and are the hottest couple on the block. They are very fashion conscious and go shopping together on a fortnightly basis to keep up with the latest fashion trends, giving each other advice on what looks good or not. Boyfriend and girlfriend. Both are young proffessionals and have had a priviledged upbringing. Probably live in the city in a swanky flat. No kids. Both wearing pastel colours, giving indication of a calm peaceful relationship. No statement. travellers, confident Not trying too hard, generally have good style which someone has taken a photograph of Early 30s wealthy successful arty couple. Into photography, fashion, art etc probably live in London They seem more of a couple - purely due to body language obviously. Again, i think they may work similar jobs or share similar interests in terms of style etc, considering they’re both into the kind of ‘smart-casual’ idea with shirts yet mixing it with jeans. Young professionals? relaxed/look career focused/artistic couple they look like they are dressed in expensive clothing but they look classic and boring to me
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3. What are your comments about the above image? These people look like they like each other for the way they dress and they probably share similar interests The fact that they are holding hands and standing so close suggests that they are in a relationship, but they don’t look particularly comfortable especially the guy. This guy is a classic punk rocker, he likes sticking it to the man, playing bass guitar, and refuses to wear anything other than his trusty old doc martens, signed by the lead singer of his favourite band, “cunt-slug”. His new girlfriend is a lot more fashion conscious and tries to clean up his look by buying him nice new black jeans and t shirts from topman, but he stays true to his punk roots by cutting the sleeves off, saying “you can take the boy out of the punk scene, but you can’t take the punk scene out of the boy”. She has tried to appeal more to his sense of style by adding things like leather jackets and ripped tights to her wardrobe. They met at an alternative music festival. He was there to see flogging Molly and she was there to see Bastille, but they met at the silent disco after they both lost their friends, bonded over their mutual love of pear cider and ecstasy, and the rest was history. Edgy girl - she looks too cool for him, he is trying too hard to look cool but his top looks way too small for him. He also looks like he is posing and not interested in her Alternative couple whose love of rock music bought them together. Live for the moment kind of people and money doesn’t matter. Bold statement, obvious connection in fashion.young into their relationship perhaps Obviously a younger demographic and a couple. Fashion conscious but trying to rock a more ‘thrown together’ approach with the ripped tights etc. more faux-social-statement couple? i can imagine her leather jacket is more like h&m apposed to real leather, and who may shop the style at Topshop or Urban outfitters. Similarly with him - considering the Dr martens were a big statement of non-conformity, punk style - this is mixed with a flat peak and shop bought/ripped Ramones tshirt which kinda means otherwise. Those who buy into brands without knowledge of their previous connotations kinda thing. Mainstream? Young couple probably from a northern city such as shrffield or Manchester. Into alternative culture and music. Anti conformist. Into rock and punk music Slightly awkard Again, similar clothing styles they look like they have bought everything they are wearing from Urban outfitters, nothing particularly original Part of the same tribe Both seem to mirror one and other, they are wanting to be perceived in a certain way, thus dressing androgynously. music interested/look like they are into the same things/not as serious
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4. What are your comments about the above image? These men look like young professionals who spend a lot of money on their style. Although they do not dress the same their outfits compliment each other. I can’t tell if they are in a relationship or if they are just friends, but they do both look very casual in their stances, and content to be with one another. They seem to be playing it quite cool, and are obviously style conscious. Though they have slightly different styles, the guy on the left is slightly more formal and put together. Cool guys Smart - well dressed Male friends. People think they’re gay but aren’t, just have the disposable income to invest in fashion/image, probably from parents.
I would not assume a gay couple more a fashionable friendship.
Smart work trendy attire. Looks like an image on the front of a mens fashion magazine.
tim on the left haha! been together for a while, don’t need to be touchy with each other in public Again young professionals, with a well paid wage packet. Classic, simple layering and colour choices show they are both aware of trends and seasons etc - especially with the beard and rounded glasses. They don’t strike me as a couple, however no-one can be really sure. They could be stylish best friends who are into similar scene, music etc. Modern, scandinavian? I imagine the coat may be an expensive item, but might mix those then with topman jeans and a vintage hat - kinda style.. Wealthy arty gay couple that work within the fashion or arts industy.probably in their mid 30s. Probably live in London Generally good style Don’t want to attract too much attention that they are “a couple” (if they are?) classic, well put together, lovely colour palette Although you could argue that the two men are dressed completely differently, the two men are both smart, sticking to the same conventions of dress; shirt, tailored jacket, jeans and sunglasses. look like friends/smart/look quire wealthy/probably in fashion induustry Well dressed
C- Couple motivations and decision making-18/12/13 This survey will form part of the research for my final year report looking into couple behaviours and forming recommendations to better cater to them as a consumer group. Some or all of the answers may be quoted or included in my report. By submitting feedback on a question you have given permission for me to use it in my work. If you want to withdraw your comments at any time or want more detail on my incentives or any of the questions please email me: katie654@hotmail.co.uk Thankyou for taking the time!
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1. What is your gender? Female - (76.67%) Male - (23.33%) 2. Which category below includes your age? 16-18 - (6.67%) 19-21 - (50%) 22-24 - (40%) 25-27 - (3.33%) 27+ - (0%) 3. Please give an answer on each row.
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APPENDIX 7 Visual Inspirations: http://www.pinterest.com/katielouisef A- Layout
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B- Cover
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C- Imagery
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APPENDIX 8 Consent forms
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