I took one hour to watch people around me. One of them is a girl. She was wearing a casual jacket which I can tell the brand and it is expensive. Her paints is black and it is the same color with her jacket. When I looked at her feet, she was wearing UGG boots. When I were watching her, she was holding her big LV handbag and walking to the Lilis hall in a hurry. From her wearing, I can know that she was born in a rich family. She very cares about her wearing and have some tastes about clothes. Her wearing is adorable and fashionable. So she must be young and maybe a freshman here. It seems that she is just 19 or 20. From her features and hair color, she is a Asian people who is possible from China or Korea. When she was walking into Lilis hall, I saw anxiety from her face. Maybe she was late for her class or maybe she had a midterm exam.
The second person I observed was in Starbucks. She is a American girl with long golden hair. She was wearing a Burberry coat and a skirt with high-heeled shoes. Her makeup was fine. When I saw her, she was talking with her friend. From her wearing, it seems that she is not a student anymore. Maybe she has a job with good earnings because not anyone can afford Burberry. Many professional people like this brand, so she may work in a bank or a financing institution. Her age is between 25 and 30. From her style of conversion, she must be well-educated. I noticed that there was a ring on her middle finger, so it is more possible that she got married. She looked relaxed and excited. It seemed that she just got rid of her busy work and got ready to have dinner with some friends or maybe her husband.
The third person I saw is on my way to library. She was wearing a blazer, sports pants and Nike shoes. She is a American girl with blond hair. Her eyes are blue and very beautiful. Also, she has a good figure and looks very healthy. It seems that she cares more about her body shape and loves fitness. The gym is near the library. Combined with her wearing, it is more possible she was ready for excise. We all know that these two weeks are midterm-weeks, but I cannot see any stress form her face. Maybe she is a new student here and is just 20. She looks very energetic. I also noticed that there is a tattoo on her whist. I cannot see it clearly but it is more like a kind of plant. I guess she may believe this plant can represent her personality. Some people like to choose something which can represent himself /herself as tattoos. Like me, I like wings and I believe they represent freedom so I have one on my body.
I like that you developed your thought about someone step by step. You started by looking at someone’s outfit, then you inferred her family background and her own preferences. After that, you guessed one’s age and their ethnicity from it, and you also inferred one’s situation by their movements. In this week’s reading, the author quotes “A person’s physical appearance affects his or her self-definition, identity, and interaction with other (Cooley, 1964 [1902]: 97-104, 175-178, 183: Stone, 1970: Zurcher, 1977: 44-45, 175-178).” (Page 1) one’s physical appearance truly represents their self-definition, identity, and interaction with other. For example, I, as an Asian, can tell where every other Asians are from by only looking at how they wear. There are slightly different styles or trends they follow among Asians. Their appearances are interacting each other somehow. I really enjoyed your post and you’ve described random people in your own perspective very well.
First, thank you for sharing with us. I like reading your weekly assignments as it feels to be a smooth and enjoyable process. Most part of your people watching (two-third) is towards people with higher SES (social economic status), because the outfits (i.e dressing style of LV, Burberry coat) and appearance tend to be above the average level. I am guessing here that nowadays the average national life quality has been increased, and people are more pursuing for higher education which in turn benefits in better future career. Meanwhile, it is interesting to see all of your observers are female. I would take a big guess that if it is your gender unconsciously biases your personal selection of observers.
Hello, one thing that I found interesting about your post on people watching was your opinion of the third person. I don’t know how long you’ve been in Eugene for, but in my experiences I’ve noticed that no matter how old someone is, Nike is still a popular brand to wear. Maybe it’s because of Nike’s strong roots in the city, but the company has a pretty wide base of customers. Other than that, I typically notice the same things about people here.
I really enjoy your opinions about how you think of these three people that you chose to describe. I agree with your opinion about how one’s appearances can represent his or her personal values and background. I am quite interesting on comparing your opinion on the first two women. Both of the two girls are wearing some luxury brands like LV and Burberry. Does your guess on the second one about her job and background also relate to their culture background?
It is interesting that you noticed that anxiety on the girls face who was walking into Lills, it sounds like it was very clear that she was late to something important, which would indeed be a very stressful situation. I almost feel that her ability to be motivated to get up and really put herself together for class hints towards the fact that she’s probably younger, maybe a freshman. I feel that the longer people spend in college the more they start to dress down for class/being on campus. Freshman year I thought it was crucial to look a certain way to go to class, since these people would be seeing me every day for the next ten weeks. However, a time goes on you realize that most people are there for one reason and that’s to learn the information being taught, and not to judge people based on what they’re wearing.
Haha, I think we got a Sherlock Holmes here. Your observation of people is incredible with really well done details. In the first case, you watch the girl and you get the information about she’s from a rich family and she’s probably freshman since she looks really young. Also, last but not least, you judge she was late for her class or something similar according her facial expression. This is really well done, but I also want to add that anxiety may present something else. Maybe she lost something in the library. I can say we are both right because every observer can actually have different observing result. Thank you for your wonderful analyze .