Fashion and the professoriate

Few people would identify college professors as icons of fashion excellence. Still, I found my recent wardrobe experience a bit eerie.

First, a bit of background. When I arrived at my job 12 years ago, I got to know another newly starting female professor. Laura was a few years older, having returned to academia from a different career. She shared with me some only slightly tongue-in-cheek advice she had gleaned from a book on women in academia, about dress codes for survival. She told me that pre-tenure, only two styles of dress would be acceptable for women faculty: ethnic (if applicable) or dowdy. Post-tenure, one could add in "no-nonsense business." Anything else could invite career trouble. I snickered a bit at the suggestion, but since my immediate post-grad-school wardrobe fit the "dowdy" with little effort, I thought little of it. Over time, I have wanted to "grow up" my clothes a bit, but this advice has always plagued me a bit. This makes shopping for work clothes a bit daunting. I am so happy to have my husband as a willing participant in the process, now. I know, one engineer relying on another for fashion consultation is not necessarily a good thing.

A few weeks ago, for my birthday, Jeremy took me shopping. We both remarked about how unimpressive this year's styles are. After much searching for a new dress, we gave up. Instead, I came home with 3 new summer-weight tops to wear to work.

The next week, I went back for my first real stretch of "work" since Helen was born. (I have been in for meetings, but this was a five-day workshop, requiring work attire for the whole week.) I was happy to have a reason to wear my new things, anyway. The workshop included 6 female and 6 male faculty from my institution. I selected new work blouse number one on Monday, and noticed right off the bat that another woman was wearing MY new work blouse number two. Thank goodness I hadn't chosen that one.

Since number two was a fairly distinctive bright raspberry color, I held off on wearing it on Tuesday, also. I work new work blouse number three. Another close call. A different woman was wearing MY new work blouse number two, this time at least in an alternative blue shade. Still, the blouse was a pretty distinctive design, in any color.

I waited until Thursday before I finally braved wearing my my own new blouse number two. No more sightings, thankfully, so I could enjoy it.

So, three out of six faculty women prefer this particular blouse (lacy 3/4 sleeve button-up blouse over solid knit tank top, in various bright colors), available recently on the sale rack at Younkers for $12.99. Does this mean: (a) professors all shop at Younkers and rarely make it past the sale rack prominently displayed along the aisle, (b) professors uniformly prefer soemwhat dowdy, machine-washable, pseudo-professional wear, (c) professors are cheap, (d) the fashion industry fails to produce clothing choices wearable by any real woman over the age of 30, (e) all of the above?