Iowa State University Capstones, Theses and Graduate Theses and Dissertations Dissertations 2018 Presenting a retro appearance through sewing for oneself: Motivations and methods Charity Suzanne Armstead Iowa State University Follow this and additional works at: https://lib.dr.iastate.edu/etd Part of the American Material Culture Commons, Fashion Design Commons, Home Economics Commons, and the Women's Studies Commons Recommended Citation Armstead, Charity Suzanne, "Presenting a retro appearance through sewing for oneself: Motivations and methods" (2018). Graduate Theses and Dissertations. 17141. https://lib.dr.iastate.edu/etd/17141 This Dissertation is brought to you for free and open access by the Iowa State University Capstones, Theses and Dissertations at Iowa State University Digital Repository. It has been accepted for inclusion in Graduate Theses and Dissertations by an authorized administrator of Iowa State University Digital Repository. For more information, please contact [email protected]. Presenting a retro appearance through sewing for oneself: Motivations and methods by Charity Suzanne Armstead A dissertation submitted to the graduate faculty in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY Major: Apparel, Merchandising, and Design Program of Study Committee: Ellen McKinney, Major Professor Eulanda Sanders Kelly Reddy-Best Amy Bix Michèle Schaal The student author, whose presentation of the scholarship herein was approved by the program of study committee, is solely responsible for the content of this dissertation. The Graduate College will ensure this dissertation is globally accessible and will not permit alterations after a degree is conferred. Iowa State University Ames, Iowa 2018 Copyright © Charity Suzanne Armstead, 2018. All rights reserved. ii TABLE OF CONTENTS Page LIST OF FIGURES .................................................................................................................................. vi LIST OF TABLES ................................................................................................................................... vii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ................................................................................................................. viii ABSTRACT ................................................................................................................................................ ix CHAPTER 1 INTRODUCTION ........................................................................................................... 1 Statement of the Problem ...................................................................................................................... 2 Purpose Statement .................................................................................................................................. 5 Research Questions ................................................................................................................................ 5 Limitations ............................................................................................................................................... 5 Definition of Terms ................................................................................................................................ 6 General terminology ........................................................................................................................... 6 Vintage clothing terminology ............................................................................................................ 7 Sewing terminology ............................................................................................................................ 8 CHAPTER 2 LITERATURE REVIEW .............................................................................................. 10 Dress and Identity ................................................................................................................................. 13 Vintage clothing and identity .......................................................................................................... 14 Postmodernism ................................................................................................................................. 16 Vintage as an expression of cultural capital .................................................................................. 29 Individuality/uniqueness ................................................................................................................. 32 Problems and Limitations of Original Vintage Clothing ................................................................ 34 Home Sewing ........................................................................................................................................ 38 Sewing trends over time ................................................................................................................... 39 Motivations for home sewing ......................................................................................................... 40 Third-wave feminism and sewing ................................................................................................... 44 Prosumerism ...................................................................................................................................... 48 Craft consumption and DIY consumption................................................................................... 49 Sewing as a social activity ................................................................................................................ 50 Extended self ..................................................................................................................................... 52 Consumer Decision Making Applied to Sewing Retro Clothing ................................................... 54 Consumer decision models ............................................................................................................. 54 Evaluation criteria for garments ..................................................................................................... 56 Summary ................................................................................................................................................. 57 iii CHAPTER 3 METHODS ...................................................................................................................... 59 Credibility and Trustworthiness .......................................................................................................... 61 Triangulation ..................................................................................................................................... 61 Intercoder agreement ....................................................................................................................... 62 Member checking.............................................................................................................................. 62 Sample .................................................................................................................................................... 63 Sampling strategies ........................................................................................................................... 64 Participant qualifications .................................................................................................................. 65 Participant recruitment procedures ................................................................................................ 66 Data Collection...................................................................................................................................... 67 Interview procedures ........................................................................................................................ 67 Data Processing and Analysis ............................................................................................................. 68 First-cycle coding .............................................................................................................................. 69 Second-cycle coding ......................................................................................................................... 70 Theory building ................................................................................................................................. 71 Reflexivity ............................................................................................................................................... 72 Summary ................................................................................................................................................. 73 CHAPTER 4 THE ROLE OF NOSTALGIA IN RETRO SEWING .......................................... 74 Abstract .................................................................................................................................................. 74 Review of Literature ............................................................................................................................. 75 Nostalgia as identity continuity ....................................................................................................... 76 Displaced/vicarious nostalgia ......................................................................................................... 76