Trying on a New Identity

Marie Martin

Louisiana Tech University

Description of Dress

I decided to dress in rainwear on a perfectly sunny day. The attire I wore included Hunter rain boots, a rain jacket, and an umbrella.

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Recordings of Experience

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On a beautiful sunny day in Ruston I decided to first take a walk in Hideaway

Park, but in rainwear attire. When I started walking down the stairs I passed a guy

student who gave me a funny look and asked “is it supposed to rain today” and as I

proceeded walking I put my umbrella above my head and heard many chuckles from

the runners both male and female who passed me by. Many of the responses I got

were nonverbal. They would just walk by stare at me, laugh, and proceed on their

walk. Most of the verbal responses were mainly from females I somewhat knew who

saw me, telling me that there is “a 0% chance of rain today, you know” or “Is it

supposed to rain today?” I also made a trip to Wal-Mart where mainly the older

couples came up and talked to me. They were worried that during their short trip in

the store it started storming (My hair was also wet from a shower I took to make it

look like it I got soaked). Mainly though, I just got looked up and down from the

customers at Wal-Mart, probably thinking if it was pouring outside, or that I was a

lunatic because the forecast for the day said clear sky’s. Before going on this

venture I was kind of hesitant. I hate getting unwanted attention, and when multiple

people stare at me. Hideaway was probably the most embarrassing at first because I

saw most of my peers there, but as my time there progressed I found more humor in

it and enjoyed when people came up to me and asked about my choice of attire.

Questions to Ponder

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1. Yes, the reviews I received were consistent with my program of dress

because with my choice of dress, I expected to get asked a lot of questions

about the weather, and sure enough I did.

2. I was challenged big time during this experiment. I’m never one to really

dress out of the norm. I like fitting in… and when I was in full on rain wear

attire, surrounded by runners in Nikes and tank tops, I was a tad bit

intimidated. All of the looks I got were unbearable at first, but as the day

went on I started to get used to the staring and comments. By the time I got

to Wal-Mart I was already prepared for the comments that I would hear, and

the looks that I would get.

3. The factors that may have affected my accuracy in interpreting responses

from others was the way that I dressed in the current weather. The top

comment that I got was “It’s a 0% chance of rain today, you know”, which

was exactly what I was expecting.

4. I learned a lot about how people respond to others on the basis of

appearance. The main thing I learned was that when you dress out of the

norm you get unwanted attention, whether it’s a stereotypical Goth, or a girl

who got confused with how to dress in 75 degree sunny weather. I picked my

choice of attire because it’s something that I would really wear if it were

raining, but since I wore it on a bright, sunny day, I got looked at like I was a

freak.

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5. I am already a really shy person, and I knew going into this that it would take

a lot of confidence for me to go out in public in this attire, and to keep a

straight face while doing so. At first when people commented on my choice

of attire I barely said one word as a response, but as the day progressed, I

started to get more comfortable with what I was wearing and joking around

with them with my responses. But would I ever do this again? Probably not,

because I enjoy my preferred identity, and didn’t realize how much I relied

on my normal appearance until this project.

6. Yes, I will dress this way again, but only when the weather permits me to.

Who knew that wearing something socially acceptable in rainy weather

would get you stared at/laughed at in sunny weather. Yes, I was expecting to

get a few looks, but I was not expecting for multiple people to come up to me

asking me if I looked at the Ruston forecast, or if I’ve looked up at the sky

recently. I did get more comfortable, and more used to the comments that I

got from people, but I enjoy going on with my day without the staring, and

without the laughter.

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