Going Back to the Beginning: Learning Engineering as a Fashion Designer

I'll admit it - I almost didn't write this article.

It feels much more personal than the others I've shared so far, and there's a part of me that wanted to wait until I felt more confident before writing about this stage of my PhD.

But then I realised that's exactly why I should write it.

Research isn't just about breakthroughs and exciting discoveries. Sometimes it's about sitting in a lecture wondering whether you're the only person who doesn't understand what's being said. Sometimes it's about leaving a room feeling completely out of your depth. And sometimes it's about accepting that becoming a beginner again is part of the journey.

This week was one of those weeks.

From expert to beginner

For most of my career, I've lived in the world of fashion.

Pattern cutting feels instinctive. I can usually look at a garment and understand how it's been constructed. Years of study, industry experience and practice have built a confidence that I rarely think about anymore.

It's easy to forget that confidence wasn't always there.

It was earned.

Then I started learning electrical engineering.

Suddenly I found myself writing down basic circuit equations, trying to understand electrical resistance, voltage and signal pathways, and realising that everyone around me seemed to be speaking a language I'd never learned.

I walked out of those first sessions feeling surprisingly small.

Not because anyone made me feel that way.

Simply because I was back at the very beginning.

The uncomfortable part of learning

There's something strangely humbling about becoming a beginner again.

When you've spent years becoming confident in one profession, it's easy to assume you'll naturally feel capable wherever you go next.

The reality is very different.

I questioned whether I'd made things unnecessarily difficult for myself.

Wouldn't it have been easier to stay within fashion?

Why choose a research project that required me to learn electronics, programming, physiology and engineering from scratch?

Those thoughts definitely crossed my mind.

But every time they did, I came back to the same conclusion.

If I want to create clothing that genuinely integrates technology rather than simply attaching gadgets to fabric, then I need to understand both worlds.

I don't need to know everything.

But I do need to understand enough to ask better questions, collaborate effectively and make informed design decisions.

That's worth feeling uncomfortable for.

A conversation that stayed with me

One evening, I was sitting at the dining table surrounded by notes, textbooks and far too many highlighters.

My children were colouring nearby and eventually asked what I was doing.

Without really thinking, I replied,

"Mummy's learning engineering."

I remember smiling as I said it because it sounded so strange out loud.

For years they've known me as someone who makes clothes, sketches ideas and spends hours sewing.

Now they were watching me wrestle with circuit diagrams instead.

It struck me that they weren't seeing me at my most confident.

They were seeing me struggle.

And perhaps that's just as important.

They're seeing that learning doesn't stop when you become an adult.

They're seeing that being good at one thing doesn't mean you'll immediately be good at the next.

Most importantly, they're seeing that it's okay not to have all the answers.

I don't want them to think confidence means knowing everything.

I hope they learn that confidence can also mean being willing to keep going when you don't.

Looking at my research differently

As difficult as those first engineering sessions felt, they've already changed the way I think about clothing.

I no longer look at a garment and only see seams, pattern pieces and fabric.

Now I also think about pathways.

About where sensors might sit.

About how electrical connections could move with the body.

About how engineering decisions influence comfort just as much as design decisions do.

I'm beginning to realise that fashion and engineering aren't separate disciplines at all.

They're simply different ways of solving the same problem.

Looking ahead

I know there will be many more moments during this PhD where I'll feel completely out of my depth.

That's probably inevitable when your research sits between multiple disciplines.

But perhaps that's exactly where the most interesting ideas come from.

Not from staying within what we already know.

But from being willing to step into a room where we're no longer the expert and learn anyway.

This Month I Learned...

• Expertise in one field doesn't automatically transfer to another, and that's okay.

• Some of the biggest opportunities for growth begin with feeling uncomfortable.

• Becoming a beginner again isn't a step backwards. Sometimes it's exactly how you move forwards.