1. Martin 1
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.

2. Martin 2
M
Recordings of Experience

3. Martin 3
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

4. Martin 4
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.

5. Martin 5
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.