What does a professor wear on the first day of class? How does she decide which dress, skirt, pants or shirt to wear? How does she know which kind of outfit to wear? Dress? Shirt and pants or skirt? What will people think about her choice? So many questions. So many answers.
In deciding what to wear on the 30th first day of my teaching career, I chose stripes: big, bulky, contrasting navy and red stripes.
Today I wear another version of the cotton shirt dress--though not a Polo dress. (Talbots, if you must know.) This scoop-neck, loose-fitting, slightly-above-the-knee stretchy cotton/spandex dress is the perfect choice for a "first day" dress. Why?
The first day can be a difficult day, and wearing something that still feels like a nightgown (cf. Polo dress), makes that day easier.
The dress does not wrinkle, so when you stand in front of your class you don't have that "I slept in this" look, even though you could have cuz it feels like a nightgown. Right.
Feeling comfortable in your clothing tends to help you feel comfortable in the classroom.
The contrasting colors hide any "problem" areas that one might worry about.
The colors are "fun"!
The colors are patriotic! 'merica!
The contrasting stripes remind me of naval-themed clothing and the sea--which I don't get to see when I am stuck in the concrete walls of Roberts. One can dream!
Be careful not to look too sloppy, my friends, in wearing such a dress. That comfy striped t-shirt dress might look like nightgown if you don't dress it up.
Bling to the rescue! Thanks to Betsey Johnson, I have a supply of kitschy pendants and bracelets. I guess some part of me gravitated toward the nautical as I grabbed my sweet mermaid necklace from the drawer.
Mer-misty is the epitome of fun! So to add fun colors and stripes with my mermaid pal is a total win. She also moves along with the little anchor, rhinestones, and pearls attached to the chain. Like I said, fun.
To complement the necklace I chose Abeo sandals with rhinestones and bronzy tones. Also, the sandals are faux snake skin--just to give the whole outfit a bit of edge. Just kidding about the edge part. These sandals are so girly.
I could have chosen a number of things to wear today, but mermaids and stripes gave me just the right amount of sass I needed to show up at 8:15 a.m. and smile on the first day of school.
