Dressing for the classroom

[feastmaster]

This thread is for all teachers and professors. How do you dress?

I recently took a position where I will be co-teaching a college course and eventually teaching my own course. In the meantime, I will be of direct service to students as a writing tutor, making presentations in other classes, and attending meetings. There are not many men at the college where I work, and their style is all over the place. I am conflicted when it comes to wearing a tie everyday and occasionally a sport coat.

How do you navigate the world men's clothing norms in the classroom?

 

[MrZipper]

Step up your game, don't let anybody keep you from dressing well -- it's an institution of higher learning! Wear a SC [almost] every day. Don't wear a tie unless you are wearing a SC. I'll be TAing as part of my graduate training next year, and I fully intend to wear a SC/blazer pretty much every day and a tie most of the time, with suits every now and then.

 

[Geoffrey Firmin]

OP you state that your teaching writing so is it a liberal arts or a creative arts. When I lectured in MM design and photography I used to go for an urbane boho look. Good casual trousers and a well ironed shirt. In summer it was linen trousers and polos, winter gabardine and a black leather jacket. Well i did have to adhere to the cultural creative look.

But if you feel comfortable in jacket and tie then go for it, I would say its a bit different in the Ivy league institutions, but here in Oz most campus lecturing staff dress far too casual if you ask me.

 

[Gibonius]

I'm a science lecturer, and I almost always do sportcoat and tie. I'm fairly young, and like having that little edge of formality. Also, like most here, I enjoy dressing up and you have tremendous freedom of dress as a professor so it's nice to indulge a bit. Other professors range from suit and tie nearly every day, down to people who challenge the students for slumming it. One guy wears Vibram Five Fingers every day, and cargo shorts nearly year round. I'll usually break out suits for test days, or if students are giving presentations.

If you're comfortable in your clothes, nobody is really going to think twice about it. I've had students ask me why I dress up, but it's never been an issue. If you don't have the confidence to rock it, well, you might have some issues.

 

[blahman]

I always imagine teacher to look like Stephen Fry and wears a brown tweed sports jacket with elbow patches, argyle woolen vest over a white shirt, corduroy pants and full brogues.

 

[6up]

Wear what you are comfortable in then add little touches like a PS to kick it up a notch. Variety is the key

 

[bslo]

Unlike many other occupations, what you wear is entirely up to you. I've taught at various locations in the U.S. (west coast, east coast, south), and I'd say that the formality varies somewhat according to the region. The kind of class you're teaching matters, too, I'd say. A professor in a professional school (say law) is more likely to wear a SC than a Humanities professor. Of course, most everyone is casual these days. I always wear a sportcoat and tie (typically, pants too!) to teach. Considering that I make some effort to replicate SF standards (but no 2 inch cuffs), the students tend to notice my dress (uniformly, in a positive way). If you're young, it can add some gravitas to your look, if that's what you want. I will say, though, that I probably would not wear a suit if everyone else in my department wore jeans to teach. Especially if you're not tenured, you probably don't want to stand out that much (and academia can have some weird socioeconomic dynamics).

Protip: the most important sartorial advice I can give you is to make sure your zipper is up before you enter the classroom. I learned that one the hard way.

 

[MikeDT]

Originally Posted by 6up

Wear what you are comfortable in then add little touches like a PS to kick it up a notch. Variety is the key

+1

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[mercedezzz]

Originally Posted by MrZipper

Wear a SC [almost] every day. Don't wear a tie unless you are wearing a SC.

+1

A lot of teachers think that to dress up a bit for their class they should add a tie. Truth is a tie should seldom be worn without a jacket or at the very least a sweater. Blazers and SCs on the other hand you can throw on over a button down collar and a nice pair of jeans or slacks and you'll look great. If you feel like a bit more formality, then add the tie in addition to the SC. If you're going to be making a presentation in another class where you know the professor usually wears a suit, then you should do the same.

All these teachers be wearin ties with no jackets, lookin like Evita's husband.

 

[SpooPoker]

Waiting for NewYorkRanger to come and Jindabomb the thread....

 

[GBR]

if you are dependant upon your peers to ensure your progress then make sure that you do not out dress them too much.

 

[mercedezzz]

Also, I generally try to look at what my department chair wears and try to match her level of formality/informality.

 

[Oleg]

I can tell you what I've generally done in my career lecturing in pol sci/public policy at universities in the UK and Australia.
I generally always worn jeans (in reasonable nick), brogues/loafers/chelsea boots and either v neck or cardigan or a sports jacket depending on weather, mood and other duties on campus on the day. Sometimes I substitute chinos for jeans and in summer ditch the jacket/v neck. I've never wore a tie nor a suit unless other matters required it (and it usually provoked comments from students and colleagues). These were usually meetings off campus. In my experience, suits are best left to the dean of faculty (even when I was doing that, I didn't usually wear one) or the shower of bastards in the central administration. Some of the older business studies people wore them sometimes but generally terrible ones, worn badly. Don't know what it's like in the US, but suits and/or ties on junior academic staff would normally have the wearer labelled as uptight and/or on the make, though you should do what you feel right doing. From a UK/Aussie perspective, I'd advise against trying to dress 'like a professor' in an endless supply of elbow patched tweeds, etc.

 

[bourbonbasted]

My cousin teaches high school at a private school in Atlanta. While there is no dress code for teachers he often wears a tweed jacket (or linen in the summer), pressed yet casual plaid/patterned button-down shirt, tie, worn jeans (not beat up but worn in from raw denim) and some sort of penny loafer or brogue.

He feels that the tie makes him look authoritative but the jeans make him more approachable. I can say, however, that I never had a teacher in HS or college that dressed as smart as he does.

 

[feastmaster]

Originally Posted by 6up

Wear what you are comfortable in then add little touches like a PS to kick it up a notch. Variety is the key

I'm definitely comfortable with myself. I guess what it comes down to is closet management (I'm using the same idea of course management in golf).

10-4 on always wearing a SC when you wear a tie. I was just throwing out feelers to get an understanding of what it's like to be a professional in the world of education. I should note that I was a part-time temp at the institution before becoming full-time, and I sometimes thought about what I would wear if I became full-time. I'm probably over thinking this way too much.