Question: Why did you choose fashion/art with science, how has this helped you?

SarahJayne Boulton answered on 28 Jun 2012:

This is a brilliant question – thanks so much for asking!!

I chose art and fashion because I was really interested in them and at the time I was unsure whether I should try for a career in one of those subjects instead. I think i learned a lot from art and fashion. There’s a huge amount of critical thinking and a lot of emphasis on developing really keen hand and movement skills in Art, I’ve got the steadiest hands in the lab, and I think I owe that to the amount of time I spent in life drawing classes and learning fine tool control for drawing and painting.
From fashion, I learned how to recognise and predict trends, which works in science because you can see what people are going to pick up and be interested in. I also learned a lot about personal conduct and good communication from my fashion tutors – you learn how to politely disagree with someone!! I guess I learned to research from both subjects too, like how to go back to the original sources and pick out the good methods for achieving the right finished product (exactly the same as in science) and how to present my work so it looks good and is taken seriously (more important in science than people realise!!).

I think making yourself a good all rounder gives you lots of hidden skills that single minded people sometimes lack. It’s always good to have an ace up your sleeve when it comes to making yourself stand out. 😉