| dc.description.abstract | The purpose of this report was to analyze the influence of western celebrities’ dressing styles on
the dress code of students at Makerere University. The report examined the impact of copying
these dressing styles in relationship to morals of the students and to find out possible solutions.
Purposive sampling was employed to target fashion students and other students with interest in
fashion and all were full time undergraduate students from Makerere University.
Respondents were preferred according to sex (male or female) and age (below and above 20)
since members of a given sex respond differently to fashion, and age facilitated experience plus
time of exposure of the respondents. (More information discovered in chapter two).
A total sample size of 30 students who were selected were 20 to 25 years of age and they did one
of the following courses; a bachelor of Industrial and fine Art, bachelor of Commerce, bachelor
of Agriculture and Rural Innovation, electrical engineering, civil engineering, architecture,
education or law. All respondents were single.
The study used a descriptive research design with help of a mixed research approach that was
more qualitative than quantitative.
Interviews with a questionnaire containing a maximum of 10 similar questions were organized to
collect data from respondents. Ethnography was also instrumental to further understand and
relate with the respondents. The questionnaire used during the interviews had questions that
captured; general information (name, age, sex, marital status, course and year of study), open
ended questions (what criteria do you use when selecting what to wear everyday?, which
celebrities influence your dress code?, what challenges do you face when adopting to your
favorite western celebrities’ dressing styles?, comment on the impact of copying of the western
celebrities dressing styles in relationship to the moral degeneration of Makerere University
students, what solutions could you suggest to reduce on the moral decay resulting copying of
western celebrities’ dressing styles by Makerere students).
Results from the data collected using the mixed research method indicated that most students’
dress codes were influenced by western celebrities’ dressing styles. These celebrities included to
mention but a few; Jay Z, Beyonce, Harry Styles, Nicki Minaj, Jennifer Lopez, Zendaya, Idris
Alba, Bradley Cooper…
Results revealed that most of the dressing styles of these western celebrities is observed from
media especially social media platforms like Instagram, Facebook and TikTok where students
were able to copy and even mimic their favorite celebrities.
Even though color was a great determinant on what to wear, respondents spelled out how
compelling these celebrities fashion visuals over internet were very compelling and that they
faced several challenges trying to look like their favorite celebrities.
some of the challenges were; costs involved as most of these stylish outfits are very pricey,
customized designs were also very difficult to make by most Ugandan tailors, negativity
associated with the clothes as most of them revealed a lot of skin, low self-esteem and more.
Results showed that copying was on the rise due to need to follow the latest trends and was also
highly associated with moral degeneration however some respondents specified that moral decay
also depended on which western celebrity’s dressing style was being copied take for example
Nicki Minaj vs Selena Gomez specifying the latter being a lot decent.
On the other hand, results showed that copying of the western celebrities dressing styles has also
positively impacted students at Makerere university by exposing them to the latest trends,
improving the way they appear, enhancing their confidence and more.
Results confirm that Makerere university students dress code is highly influenced by western
celebrities’ dressing styles that are consumed mainly through social media and for students to
achieve these looks, they pay quite handsomely yet again most of these styles come with a lot of
negative impacts that affect morals and culture.
Cultural galas were highly recommended to remind students of their true identity. Other
recommendations were; Fashion design challenges with prizes to motivate students to even get
more creative, keep originality and avoid copying.
A platform should be given to art students to be able to expose their original fashion creations on
national media. Findings also reveal dire need for fashion sensitization programs and also need
to link students to already established fashion resources. African fashion documentaries, journals,
podcasts and other talk shows would also be instrumental. | en_US |
