The issue of attire has surfaced this week in good ol' Chronicle. Stewgad's thoughtful response on classroom confrontations and dress has prodded me to pull out one of my favorite lectures: "Attire in the Academy: Why Matching is a Scholarly No-No." I'll deal with the belligerent student issue another time....
I've never understood how sloppiness came to be defined as a sign of brilliance or "coolness." Think about it and look around. If you've ever attended college, worked at a university, or even seen various portrayals of professors on television, the sloppiest or most eccentric dressers are generally those thought of as the "most intellectual" or the "coolest." Don't get me wrong, casual is one thing, but too many academics are just down right sloppy and un-groomed. I mean is a comb non-environmental or something?? Does matching violate some post-continental philosophical statement that I'm not aware of?? Did Habermas say, thou shalt not change your shirt more than twice a week?? Ok, really, I'm picking on a small minority of academics whose basic attire annoys me immensely.
In all seriousness, I think that it is easy to oversimplify the academic classroom uniform as a smoking jacket/pipe or jeans/tshirt or tie-dye/birkenstocks (oooh I hate those shoes). No one in campus administration really dresses that way and most instructors/professors don't either. Whenever we talk about norms of classroom appearance in particular, we need to take into consideration sooo many things, especially--age, gender, race/nationality, region, and discipline/nature of institution. I went to high school sponsored by a religious college/seminary--the norms for attire in that environment were pretty formal. Having taught and attended school in both the Northeast and the Southeast, there are vast differences in just region. At my ritzy, private undergraduate institution in the Southeast, only science professors dressed like they were about to go into the woods or a swamp after class, mostly because they actually might. Generally, professors looked--professional. "Formal" dress does not at many institutions communicate rigidity or strictness; it can also communicate style, flair, respect, religious beliefs, and/or professionalism. As an undergrad, I did not assume professors who dressed up were prudish, mean, or inflexible; if anything, I really didn't even notice at all. What I noticed was the few professors who looked...well, a hot mess: the hippies, the goth chicks, the farmer, the lumberjack, etc.
Perhaps dress is a sensitive area for me because I teach public speaking and we talk explicitly about what nonverbals such as dress can communicate. I believe it is important for me to practice what I preach. I tell my students that in formal speaking situations they should always dress one notch above their audience, stand out just a little bit--so I do the same. This does not make my classroom formal or rigid--those peers who have seen me teach know that I maintain an interesting balance of being in charge and "cool." I prefer communicate my openness to students in other ways--like respecting them and being friendly.
Given all of my various cultural/social influences and the models I had as an undergrad, it never occurred to me to dress casually, and it's not in my nature to be sloppy :). Where I come from, everyone dresses up to go to work--and this was my job. I quickly had to get used to being in the SMALL minority of graduate student instructors who wore anything other than jeans or khakis to class--interestingly enough, most of us in that group were women, Black, or Southern (and generally some combination thereof). In contrast to what I had seen in the Southeast, quite a few of the young women instructors at my Northeast institution seem comfortable in jeans and other casual attire. I've even seen some wear tank tops and other trendy apparel that show off interesting things like tattoos and belly button rings. That would be uncomfortable for me, especially being so close in age to my students and with all of the stereotypes about Black women's sexuality. Overall, I wear what is comfortable for me; what I've always worn to any job--dress clothes. And like most jobs I've had, I build "casual days" into the calendar. In my classroom, those tend to be days when I am critiquing speeches and sitting in the back of the room for the period. But, I can't get down with Ms. Mentor on being dowdy. I love sharp clothing--I'm not flashy in the classroom, but I'm not afraid to wear things that I actually look nice in. I'm also extremely petite so in general, I wear a lot of heels, in and out of the classroom. I have a pair of Nine West 3" heel boots that I had to retire because I wore them out--they were my favorite shoes to teach in and my dissertation advisor called them "self-esteem boots." My students and co-workers often comment on my clothing, and although occasionally with my co-workers it serves as another marker of my "difference," with my students it is always very positive. Every semester at least one student would say that they appreciated the fact I "actually got dressed" to come teach them.
Review: 1) Smart people can match. 2)When you brush your teeth, comb your hair, and change into something that doesn't resemble what you slept in, people appreciate it.
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