If you’re starting out as an instructor or professor, you may be wondering what to wear as a female university lecturer. It’s pretty common to be told to “dress one level above your students.” But what does that actually mean? And what would those outfits look like?? Here are some ideas!
When people give this advice, they typically mean you should dress slightly more formally than students. If you are starting out as a woman lecturing at a university, it’s a handy teaching trick once you figure out what the culture is like on your campus! Here are some examples and outfit ideas…
If your students dress super casual….
Think: pajamas to class, oversized tees, ripped denim, and lots of sneakers!
…then you could wear elevated denim:
If you aren’t dressed as The Dude you’re probably in good shape. As a good rule of thumb, you can choose polished jeans, casual and business casual tops, and casual-to-business shoes.
Here, I went with:
-A better-than-basic tee (mine is super old; this is a similar vibe)
–Medium wash jeans (similar)
-Comfy, smart flats
-A tote bag and belt for added pizazz
If your students dress athleisure to casual…
Think Lululemon, Vineyard Vines, jeans, giant sweatshirts, and sneakers that occasionally cost more than your rent.
…then you could wear smart casual:
Smart casual is your dress code of choice! Ok, true, universities don’t often have dress codes. But if they did, you could choose jeans and business tops, smart dresses, and casual-to-business shoes. (I’m not saying this doesn’t go for the above campus, but when I wore dresses on my ultra casual campus, people would often ask me what I was all dressed up for, hah!).
I chose:
-An oversized shirtdress (15% off with code INFS-AMBREBECCAR)
–Tevas (yes I do wear sandals to teach, but that’s up to you!)
-A carry-all laptop bag
Your students dress like a fashion show…
Are you teaching at a design or art school? On the east coast of the US? Your students may be showing up in awesome fashion-y outfits, which means just wearing jeans might not set you apart from them!
You could wear business casual with personality!
Business casual doesn’t have to be stuffy, especially not at the university. You could try comfy dress pants and flats but also play with oversized proportions and fun accessories.
For these outfits, I chose:
-A big big button down!
-The best dress pants
-The best work flats
And:
-A super soft tank top
-Smart wide-leg jeans (15% off with code INFS-AMBREBECCAR)
-Fun (FUN!!) boots (which are old but here’s a whole page of other fun shoes)
Did I miss any campus “dress codes”? What are your students all wearing right now??
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