If you are a new professor or teaching assistant, it can be tricky to think about how to build a teacher wardrobe full of basics that really work. Where should you spend your cash? Is there some teacher capsule wardrobe checklist of must-haves? In my experience, what counts as a basic varies from person to person. But, here are the five best items in my wardrobe this year that got the most use!
Do you track your closet? I track how many times I wear things with Style Book and I find it SO insightful. For this list, I filtered my items to see what my “most worn clothes” were from 2024. The findings were a bit surprising, but make sense as teacher wardrobe basics!
#5 A reliable belt
This belt from Madewell doesn’t seem that exciting, but that’s exactly why it became a teacher closet essential…I wore it 30 times, this year alone. When choosing a belt for your teacher capsule wardrobe, just think about if you tend to favor silver or gold jewerly. I had a belt with a gold buckle but once I swapped to a silver option everything made much more sense with my closet.
#4 Sweat dress pants
I thought a great pair of dress pants would make my teacher style essentials list, but I didn’t know the best cheater pair would! This is actually a pair of sweats, but the fabric looks sleek and I totally dress them up for work (they’re also great for travel!). This pair is from Gap. But! There are also many many more pairs I love at Leze–you can see my reviews here! I wore these pants 35 times this year.
#3 Stylish sneakers
Some people think professors can wear sneakers to work, some don’t. My life changed when I decided I was in the first camp. Campus is too big and classes are too spread out not to wear sneakers, I say! This pair from Asics was a comfy and supportive shoe for teaching. I wore them 38 times!
#2 A striped tee
I’m not at all surprised button downs and blouses aren’t making the list here. While they seem like appropriate teaching clothes, they just aren’t comfy. Because college teaching doesn’t have a dress code, I love to opt for a tee and blazer combo instead. This one from Uniqlo is the perfect cut if you don’t want to look too curvy in front of students (the almost-elbow length sleeve really balances you out but can also be rolled up). This Madewell one is also a fave!
#1 A tote that works
My number 1 most-worn item is sadly out of production, but it’s a green laptop tote from Everlane (similar, or here’s the exact tote secondhand!). It makes sense that my teaching bag gets the most use–I wore it 61 times this year (I swap bags once or twice a semester for fun, this one also got a lot of wear at 23 days, and this one at 16 days). You can see more reviews of great professor and grad student bags here!
What would make your closet wrapped? What counts as a work style essential to you?
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