my methodology
by katherine f macdonald

social character weird eccentric boredom humanistic edginess androgyny categorisation auto-didactic Virginia Woolf Quentin Crisp absurdity angry young men satire London as a centre Eccentricity as a force against homogeny commodification of eccentricity (punks, teddy boys..) looking for meaning humanity digital slavery reason

Plate 41. Study made on the typewriter. (Albers, 2017) Notes on Boredom: a sort of abstract/ long read/research paper/ monologue/reflection/podcast(?) Serving suggestion: I recommend listening to this essay, rather than reading it because the speaking function on a laptop or phone adds a little something special to the experience (Well mine does anyway and it’s funny how the computer voice changes with different words) Eric Fromm got me thinking about boredom and how it

my notes from reading Elizabeth Wilson, Sherry Ortner and the Fabien Society 2025 Authentic vs. Modernist Frameworks Wilson draws comparisons between “authentic” and “modernist” approaches, presenting them as thesis and antithesis in the discourse of fashion. This reminds me of wider binaries such as culture vs. nature and male vs. female (Wilson.E 2003) This raises the issue of perspective; whether feminist critiques of fashion arise from different standpoints (women’s, men’

First thought and written in 2025 now publishing in 2026 and as relevant as ever How to get through the day How to go from colleagues to dream team How to stay informed when the news feels too negative How to deal with a crisis How to get through the inevitable loss of a mother Bob Mortimer on last one laughing A work of genius make me laugh comedians are important humour is human more humour in fashion communication please 'The Theories of Freud and Bergson in Relation to Fa

A reflection on my rejected research paper submission, because it's all about methodology... In 2025 I wrote my original Proposal: This research investigates the persistence of male dominance in the fashion industry, despite fashion’s historical role in destabilising gender norms and reimagining masculinity and femininity. Through the lens of karmic theory, the study explores whether gender hierarchies remain entrenched, why they persist, and whether this imbalance is inevita

image credit: Andreas Larsson in The Gentle Woman 2012 https://thegentlewoman.co.uk/library/sinead-oconnor I wanted to add the voice of Sinead O’Connor because no matter when I listen or how I am feeling her voice and words have something to teach me. Her perspective matches mine in various ways, this doesn’t mean I have lived her experience or want to but it does help me understand myself as a woman as it did when I listened in the 1980's and 90’s she articulates so well the

Voices on Love, Sexuality and Matriarchy from Social Psychology My search for differing perspectives on love was brought on by reading Love. by Tom Ingls and my discovery of the views by Fromm and Funk has set me off on another thought spiral so I am documenting it here. As ever it will relate to my other writings and creative practice which may or may not become clear later. Conversations with male friends offered interesting counterarguments to the continued dominance of pa

I want to write about change and how it is the constant of living. I want to say that rather than waste energy trying to stop it, control it and fight it, put energy into learning from it. Moving with it; being open to opportunities which will come along, they always do, all we have to do is be prepared by knowing who we are. I wanted something for myself and thought I had it but then it ended or is in the process of ending (which is annoying but as I say everything is a proc

Last year, I found myself in the company of people I’ve never met; writers, thinkers, observers, who somehow feel familiar. The kind who quietly rearrange your perspective without making a spectacle of it. Through sociology and anthropology especially, I’ve encountered voices that don’t just argue; they explain, untangle and steady something in me. There’s a clarity in their plainness, a reassurance in the fact that their ideas are not just felt but evidenced. Reading them is

Karmic masculinity: a form of masculinity shaped by accumulated social, cultural, or historical patterns (e.g. class, media, or inherited norms) which are reproduced over time but can also be reworked or interrupted. Situated from a fashion angle, masculinity as something circulated, repeated, and “returned” through visual culture (e.g. fashion) rather than fixed in social structure alone

I came across this book ‘The Limits of Masculinity’ entirely by accident, in a tiny vintage bookshop in Chipping Camden. At first, I bought it as a joke; thinking it would amuse my male colleagues, as part of our ongoing “bantification” of creative design and social theories and occasional role-playing of gender stereotypes. The book turned out to be unexpectedly interesting and in some ways quietly profound. Reading the book answered some questions I had, particularly aro

Themes creative problem solving mindset efficacy design process Interdisciplinary design mixed media textiles product development mistakes and serendipity The Meta Creativity Model discipline stereotypes craft and the handmade This project grew out of my passion for the knitting process itself and my desire to push it beyond its familiar boundaries. While studying textile design at university, I became interested in how knitting works; the logic of the loop, the construction

snipets of conversations for contemplation, reflection and contextualisation..... nothing exists in a vacuum interpretation metadata (again) data fashion and death iteration (again) actions and consequences karma (again) fashion nonsense algorithms social consequences ethics. credibility and morality performance anxiety love purpose all of life perspectives opinion over expertise boredom novelty queer perspective and hows its changed society for the better social suggestion g

Do you ever feel that moment when something resonates with you so deeply that you just have to share your thoughts? That’s exactly what I’m experiencing right now......so here’s my response! I’ve been reflecting on the topic of Love, internally and reading how Inglis articulates Love Capital got me thinking about my own research. It's loosely related to my semi planned/ written research paper on the cause and effect of male dominance in fashion; although I am not entirely con

have a think time to to think 'you think too much' 'you are a thinker aren't you' deep thinking don't over think it 'stop overthinking things' thinking fast and slow fashion thinking design thinking thinking through doing lateral thinking unhelpful thinking styles intrusive thoughts thought challenging happy thoughts thought police thought leadership Have you thought this through? think before you act I want you to think carefully about your actions today what were you thinki

Reflections on the Meta Creativity Model https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.3102/00346543241258226 Interesting bit from the meta: Like earlier research by Budge et al. (2013), we found that teaching for creativity is a lot more complex and influenced by multidimensional processes than traditionally believed. It appears that to foster creativity, we do not actually teach for creativity directly; instead, we teach students the path to creativity, in other words, the way t

OBSERVATION Carefully noticing what others are doing in order to gather information JUDGEMENT Opinion or conclusions based on a number of...

(A multi - disciplinary perspective from anthropology, sociology, cultural and fashion theory) 'All the articles included in this issue...

(An Anthropological perspective) 'My point is simply that every culture implicitly recognises and asserts the distinction between the...