Read Surveys (By Author)
Elje Doodhagen
1. When do you feel at your most attractive?
When going out
2. Do you notice women on the street? If so, what sort of women do you tend to notice or admire?
Casual chic
3. What are some things you admire about how other women present themselves?
?
4. Was there a moment in your life when something “clicked” for you about fashion or dressing or make-up or hair? What? Why did it happen then, do you think?
No
5. What are some shopping rules you wouldn’t necessarily recommend to others but which you follow?
Buying in sales
6. What are some rules about dressing you follow, but you wouldn't necessarily recommend to others?
Nearly always wearing trousers
7. What is the most transformative conversation you have ever had on the subject of fashion or style?
?
8. Do you have a unified way of approaching your life, work, relationships, finances, chores, etc.? Please explain.
Rather relaxed
9. Are there any clothing (or related) items that you have in multiple? Why do you think you keep buying this thing?
Two sweaters in different colours
10. Have you ever successfully given someone a present of jewelry or clothing that you continue to feel good about?
Yes jewelry to my granddaughter
11. Is there any fashion trend you’ve refused to participate in and why?
Everything that feels uncomfortable like tight skirts
12. Can you say a bit about how your mother’s body and style has been passed down to you, or not?
The body is almost the same, as a teenager she bought my clothes but at the age of seventeen I convinced her that this needed to be done differently
13. Have you stolen, borrowed or adapted any dressing ideas or actual items from friends or family?
Do not think so
14. Was there a point in your life when your style changed dramatically? What happened?
No
15. Is there anything political about the way you dress?
No
16. Please describe your body.
Average length, good breasts with are aging, belly a bit too fat, beautiful legs
17. Please describe your mind.
Rather relaxed, rather intelligent
18. Please describe your emotions.
In balance
19. What are you wearing on your body and face, and how is your hair done, right at this moment?
Bathrobe, my rather short hair is combed
20. In what way is this stuff important, if at all?
No way
21. With whom do you talk about clothes?
Woman friends, my husband
22. How do institutions affect the way you dress?
?
23. Do you think you have taste or style? Which one is more important? What do these words mean to you?
Taste I acquired after leaving the house of my parents and marriage, my style became more casual.
Taste is your own pick of what is supposed to be tasteful in your cultural world.
Styles are often defined in the fashion world, but you have to wear what becomes you and is acceptable in your environment
24. Do you remember the biggest waste of money you ever made on an item of clothing?
No
25. Are there any dressing tricks you’ve invented or learned that make you feel like you’re getting away with something?
No
26. Do you have style in any areas of your life aside from fashion?
Yes I am fond of the Scandinavion / international style in the seventIes with regard to furniture and am fond of modern architecture
27. Can you recall some times when you have dressed a particular way to calm yourself or gain a sense of control over a situation that scared you?
No
28. Would you say you “know what you like” in the area of fashion and clothing? If so, do you also know what you like in other areas of life, that is, are you generally good at discernment? Can you say where your discernment comes from, if you have it? Or if you don’t have it, why or why not?
Yes I know what I like. I read a lot of books about culture, art, architecture and that s how I developed my taste.
29. Did your parents teach you things about clothing, care for your clothing, dressing or style? What lessons do you remember? Or did you just pick things up?
I learned about how to take care of your cloths, how to clean them etc.
30. What sorts of things do you do, clothing or make-up or hair- wise, to feel sexy or alluring?
If I wear my best outfits I feel OK
31. Many people say they want to feel “comfortable,” or that they admire people who seem “confident.” What do these words really mean to you?
Comfortable is when your cloths and shoes do not bother or hinder you. You are confident when you do not care too much about the meaning of others about you
32. If dressing were the only thing you did, and you were considered an expert and asked to explain your style philosophy, what would you say?
Buy the best you can afford, it is better than buying a lot of cheaper things and be sure it fits well.
33. What is really beautiful, for you, in general?
Something balanced
34. What do you consider very ugly?
A fat body in tights
35. Are you generally a good judge of whether what you buy will end up being worn? Have you figured out how to know in advance?
Yes I think so. If it is comfortable and fits well it will be used a lot
36. When you look at yourself before going out, and you are trying to see yourself from the outside, can you describe a bit about what this “other person” is like? What do they like, dislike, what sorts of judgments do they have? Is this “outer eye” based on someone you know or once knew?
A woman, not beautiful but not bad looking,good hairstyle, good clothes
37. What is your process getting dressed in the morning? What are you considering?
If I will be home during the first hours I'll wear something old and change later on
38. What are you trying to achieve when you dress?
To be comfortable and ok
39. What, for you, is the difference between dressing and dressing up?
Dressing up is to achieve the best outcome that is possible
40. If you had to wear a “uniform” what would it look like?
Jeans, cashmere or cotton sweater
41. What would you say is “you” and what would you say is “not you”?
Sweater, comfortable trousers is me
Tight dress not
42. What is your cultural background and how has that influenced how you dress?
European intellectual, yes that influenced my dressing since in my circle it is not very usual to be very busy with fashion
43. Do you remember a time in your life when you dressed quite differently from how you do now? Can you describe it and what it was all about for you?
I once had a job in which skirts and dresses were normal, a adapted a bit.
44. What sorts of things do you do, clothing, make-up or hair-wise, to feel professional?
The cloths have to be immaculate, no make up, hair washed and dried with a hair dryer/blower
45. How do you conform to or rebel against the dress expectations at your workplace?
I had my own twist
46. Do you have a dress code, a school uniform, or a uniform that you wear for an extracurricular activity?
At field hockey I wear a kind of uniform
47. Are there ways in which you conform to or rebel against these uniforms?
No
48. Do you find it comforting or constraining to have a uniform?
It is adequate
49. What is an archetypal outfit for you; one that you could have happily worn at any point in your life? What do you like about it?
Trousers and sweater, flat ballerinas.
It's comfortable and adequate. If in black or dark blue with a good jewel you can go anywhere
50. Do you ever wish you were a man or could dress like a man or had a man’s body? Was there ever a time in the past?
Yes when I had my periods
51. If there was one country or culture or era that you had to live in, fashion-wise, what would it be?
The present one
52. Do you consider yourself photogenic?
No
53. When you see yourself in photographs, what do you think?
Mostly that I do not look at my best
54. Are there any figures from culture, past or present, whose style you admire or have drawn from?
As a teenager I liked Hepburn
55. Have you ever had a dream that involved clothes?
No
56. What would be a difficult or uncomfortable look for you to try and achieve?
Lots of make up
57. If you were totally comfortable with your body, or your body was a bit closer to what you wish it was like, what would you wear?
The same
58. Is there anyone that you are trying to attract or repel when you dress?
No, just me
59. Are there any dressing rules you’d want to convey to other women?
Be comfortable
60. What do you think of perfume? Do you wear it?
On rare occasions
61. What are some things you need to do to your body or clothes in order to feel presentable?
To keep it clean
62. How does makeup fit into all this for you?
It does not
63. Is there a certain look you feel you’re expected to like that you have absolutely no interest in? What is it? Why aren’t you interested?
Cloth with patterns
I like it plaine
64. Can you describe in a basic way what you own, clothing and jewelry-wise?
Jeans in several colours, cotton and woolen trousers in several colours, cotton, quite a lot of woolen and cashmere sweaters, some basic tops, some woolen blazers, several capes, two long raincoats, a few woolen coats, sport tops, sport jackets, sport trousers.
Minimal style also for my jewelry that is mostly of silver and steen less steel.
65. What is your favorite piece of clothing or jewelry that you own?
My watch
66. Tell us about something in your closet that you keep but never wear. What is it, why don’t you wear it, and why do you keep it?
A silk suit that a wore at the wedding of my son, it soes not dit me anymore but it is too beautiful to throw away
67. Looking back at all your purchases over the past five to fifteen years, can you generalize about what sorts of things were the most valuable to buy?
The woolen jackets and coats
68. Is there an item of clothing that you once owned, but no longer own, and still think about or wish you had back? What was it, what happened to it, and why do you want it back?
I owned a woolen dress with jacket that I got rid of because I owned it for years and years, it kept its beauty and I could still wear it though I do not know if I would since I hardly wear dresses.
69. If you had to throw out all your clothes but keep one thing, what would you keep?
My best cashmere sweater
70. Building up your wardrobe from nothing, what would you do differently this time?
Select even more severe on what is really my style, never buy anything because it is a bargain
71. What’s the first “investment” item you bought? Do you still own or wear it?
A blue woolen coat with one red rim, I wore it until it's beauty faded.
72. Was there ever an important or paradigm-shifting purchase in your life?
Yes my watch.
73. What item of clothing are you still (or have you forever been) on the hunt for?
I'm always looking for simple sweaters of the best Italian brands?
74. What are your closet and drawers like? Do you keep things neat, etc?
I try too, but the heaps of tops and sweaters need rearrangement once in a while
75. Were you ever given a present of clothing or jewelry that especially touched you?
My husband gave me the watch I admired.
76. Did you ever buy an article of clothing without giving it much thought, only to have it prove much more valuable as time went on? What was the item and what happened?
Yes a sweater in a sale. I wore it while cleaning the gutters and could not get rid of the stains. That is when I realized I should have been more careful since I liked it very much.
77. How and when do you shop for clothes?
About four times a year I go to the sales of my favorite shops. Additionally I buy on the internet the brands I favour.
78. Do you like to smell a certain way?
I would rather not be smelled.
79. How does how you dress play into your ambitions for yourself?
When you dress at your best you feel very confident, which is always good for realizing ambitions.
80. How does money fit into all this?
Hardly. When I was a student I just bought less.
81. Is there an article of clothing, a piece of make-up, or an accessory that you carry with you or wear every day?
My watch
82. Did anyone ever say anything to you that made you see yourself differently, on a physical and especially sartorial level?
No
83. Do you remember the first time you were conscious of what you were wearing? Can you describe this moment and what it was about?
As a girl my grandmother bought me a yellow dress with bolero. For the first time I felt I wore something that I needed to take care of.
What’s your birth date? Where were you born and where do you live now?
1946, the Netherlands, still live there.
Say anything you like about your cultural/ethnic/economic background.
European.
What kind of work do you do?
Retired.
Are you single, married, do you have kids, etc.?
Married
Please say anything you like about yourself that might put this survey into some sort of context.
I am fond of art and cloths are related.
How do you feel after filling out this survey?
Bit silly to have spend the time