Designing healthy aesthetics: exploring ‘lived experiences’ of women with Raynaud’s Syndrome to inform fashionable knitwear that support agency and wellbeing

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Shawgi, L. ORCID: 0000-0003-1368-3755, 2024. Designing healthy aesthetics: exploring ‘lived experiences’ of women with Raynaud’s Syndrome to inform fashionable knitwear that support agency and wellbeing. PhD, Nottingham Trent University.

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Abstract

This thesis reports on research that used knitted fashion and textile practice to explore the wellbeing of women living with a disability, specifically Raynaud’s Syndrome, contributing to the current discourse on re-addressing disability and fashion design. Raynaud’s is triggered by the cold or a drop in atmospheric temperature, high levels of anxiety or stress, causing the narrowing of the blood vessels in the extremities. Such an ‘attack’, causes numbness, pain, fatigue, dexterity, and mobility issues. Raynaud’s is usually managed by keeping warm using appropriate clothing, however, this research has identified a range of ‘design issues’ within existing clothing products. Some fail to mitigate the effects of cold and poor circulation effectively and others have limited appeal in terms of style, colour, pattern, and texture. The study investigated how the condition affects the women’s wellbeing in relation to clothing and fashion, in terms of self-presentation, social interaction and ‘feel good’ factor. The findings from this human-centred research informed the development of the Re-dress capsule collection of fashion knitwear garments and accessories, designed to meet the requirements of the participants, and support their agency.

This thesis acknowledges the disability studies perspective that disability is multi-factorial, and should be addressed in terms of its biological, psychological, and social aspects. It further proposes that addressing the needs of people who are disabled, also requires an aesthetic dimension and explores the personal and external factors that shape women’s embodied aesthetic experiences. The ‘lived’ body is explored to better understand how participants’ bodies shaped their bodily aesthetic, sense of personal style and identity as they negotiate social norms through the lens of clothing and fashion.

The human-centred research design unpacked the multi-dimensional aspects of this negotiation. To comprehend the participant’s lived experiences, it used qualitative methods, including in-depth, semi-structured interviews and wardrobe studies, informed by Interpretive Phenomenological Analysis (IPA). Additionally, a workshop/focus group wascarried out with ten female participants living with Raynaud’s Syndrome using co-design methods to design an ideal outfit that supported both their physical comfort and their aesthetic desires. These findings informed a sequence of designing and making activities to create several items of knitwear, that were assessed both aesthetically and technically. A process underpinned by my tacit and experiential knowledge as a fashion knitwear designer who lives with Raynaud’s.

The research highlighted that embodied and external factors interlink to shape women’s lived experiences with Raynaud’s. Firstly, the subjective experience of living with Raynaud’s Syndrome is greatly misunderstood by society. Secondly, the participants showed that the condition shrinks women’s ability to participate in personal and public activities. Thirdly, women develop self-management strategies and DIY techniques in their clothing practice to support their physical and subjective wellbeing. Fourthly, ‘design issues’ within existing products fail to mitigate the effects of cold and poor circulation effectively. Finally, aesthetics is fundamental to enhance wearer’s pleasurable and inclusive experiences on a personal and public level.

Item Type:	Thesis
Creators:	Shawgi, L.
Date:	June 2024
Rights:	This work is the intellectual property of the author. You may copy up to 5% of this work for private study, or personal, non-commercial research. Any re-use of the information contained within this document should be fully referenced, quoting the author, title, university, degree level and pagination. Queries or requests for any other use, or if a more substantial copy is required, should be directed in the owner(s) of the Intellectual Property Rights.
Divisions:	Schools > Nottingham School of Art & Design
Record created by:	Laura Ward
Date Added:	15 Jul 2024 14:34
Last Modified:	15 Jul 2024 14:34
URI:	https://irep.ntu.ac.uk/id/eprint/51760