What Men (at Universities) Wear

Shout out to Professor Indiana Jones.

The idea for this post comes from Samuel Carignan, my student who shared the article discussed below with me, and Stan Spilecki, Resident Scenic & Lighting Designer/Technical Director of Emery Community Arts Center at UMF.

One day in class Sam heard me talking about how much I now hate khakis, and he knows that I am a professorial fashion blogger, so he suggested I read Pernille Ripp's December 2011 blog post, "HOW TO DRESS LIKE A TEACHER – MALE EDITION." Little does Sam know that I am going to blog in response to it! Hi, Sam! Stan, who is married to my recent guest blogger, Linda Britt, thought that it might be fun to write a response to her post on pockets. Thus, I give you a blog post today about what men wear in academia--even when they are not professors.

From the beginning of Ripp's post it's clear that she received requests to talk about what men wear. Rather than starting with the "what to wears," Ripp's first set of rules are "don'ts."

• Don't wear khakis.

• Don't wear cargo pants or shorts.

• Don't wear polos.

• Don't wear white sneakers.

• Don't dress like your students.

• Don't wear dad jeans.

• Don't default to a boring shirt, tie, slacks combo when you aren't wearing your khakis and cargo pants!

Need some visual references? :D

Jerry Seinfeld in the 90s wearing dad jeans with white sneakers: his uniform.

This guy wearing a polo with khakis.

OK, readers: does this sound like you? Are you wearing white sneakers with dad jeans? How about khakis with a polo shirt? Maybe you feel like you're OK because you wear a shirt and tie to work and that's professional! If you want to take Ripp's advice (and mine), find ways to rethink those wardrobe choices. Spice it up! Get rid of clothes that make you feel like you are wearing a uniform. Get rid of clothes that don't fit or are so worn out that the threads are thinning.

Check out Ripp's "do's," and see what you think (my thoughts are added in parentheses).

• Do know what fits you well (pants too big cuz you've lost weight? pants too small cuz you gained weight? get new ones!)

• Do care about how you look (and let your wardrobe choices show that).

• Do update your wardrobe (if you haven't bought a new shirt in decades, now is the time).

• Do the bend over test (this one is a tag on to the first--if you bend over and your pants are falling down or your butt is showing, it's time to ditch those pants).

• Do wear deodorant (um, weren't you already doing this?)

• Do incorporate color into your wardrobe (still wearing white button-up shirts every day?)

• Do add some fun to your wardrobe (got a cool vest or cardigan? wear it every now and then!)

• (Finally) Do find your style (what is that thing that is so you? sweater vests? plaid? let these things accentuate your wardrobe, but don't overdo them).

A great wardrobe has a sense of balance. Don't wear the same basic outfit every day. You're a professor, so unless you work at a military college, no one should be telling you what to wear. Remember that what you wear says something about who you are.

***

A Corollary: Non-Professorial Academics

Written by Stan Spilecki in response to Linda Britt's post

"I am, and am not, a professor. I teach one class every other year as an adjunct but most of the time I am the university's theatrical technical director. This means that most days I am building sets, hanging lights and otherwise doing hands-on, creative arts kinds of things. Why does this matter? Pockets. I need pockets. I need pockets of screws, sometimes in several different sizes; for tie line, for tools, for pencils and notes. When you are crawling under the platforms of a set or high up above the deck on a seventeen-foot ladder doing lights it is much easier to have what you need in a pocket. And yet, when I teach at 8am that morning, I am conscious of the overabundance of pockets I am sporting compared to appropriate professional attire in the professory world.

Luckily, in the current American world construct, being dad-like (older, with an impressive white beard and definitive attitude) and wearing cargo pants is not all that odd for my students. I am not sure they notice the pockets I am overly conscious of…and scarily enough I am aware of this potential disconnect. Maybe, I like to think, I represent that person of action…one of the sage people with real world experience that transcends and connects the rarified academic experience with the calloused, word-a day life many of them know and may well experience after graduation. What do pockets represent? I can’t say that I am sure. I know I have all the stuff I need when I need it, including, at least this year, the pencils I need for my class so I don’t need to borrow one from a student to take attendance (does the fact I take attendance line up with the fact I have so many pockets mean something? I may discuss this with a Psychology professor at some point…one of the perks of the job I guess) Maybe it means nothing…maybe I should have been a Boy Scout, being prepared and all that. But does it read as Professor? I have considered coming to class, at least the first day, in a turtle neck, tweed jacket and dress slacks…just to set the stage, so to speak…even then I would have pockets….so…maybe next time."

In response to Stan's post, I say, Stan, wear those cargo pants! You need as many pockets as you can find. While Ripp says that male professors shouldn't wear cargo pants, what she really has in mind are professors who don't have to deal with tools, equipment, and such--who don't have to climb on ladders and work on lighting for a theater or presentation space.

Stan's response is a reminder that we should dress for our parts. Stan has technical work to do that requires a certain kind of wardrobe. If Stan were to show up in a turtle neck, tweed jacket, and dress slacks to work in Emery or even to sit in his office answering messages, it would seem odd and pretentious likely. Stan's post, in referring to that kind of outfit, recalls an outdated version of what men wear, especially male professors. So, male profs, if you are still reading this post, don't try to be a prof from the 50s, don't dress like you are about to climb a ladder when the most physical thing you do in a classroom is help move the tables around, and don't look like you just picked day 3 of your work uniform. ;)

Do you want to write a guest post for What Professors Wear? Send me a message! -- MK