Welcome back to a week of academic outfits. Each week, someone fashionable in higher ed will show us what they wear! This week, Katherine, a PhD Candidate in Philosophy, shows off her outfits!
Katherine is a PhD candidate in Philosophy at Villanova, right outside of Philadelphia. Here, she discusses how gothic architecture inspires her outfits (!!!!).
Style inspo: My dissertation is on the metaphysics of love, and I have a soft spot for medieval philosophy and literature. My best outfits aspire to the likeness of gothic architecture. Tall, elegant, flowing, directed, and glorious. Hence, I like to dress myself in saints, gargoyles, and an A-line silhouette. I’ve worn the exact outfit to classes, lectures, my own teaching, conferences, church, or a day writing at the cafe.
This outfit is really about the coat unveiling the gentle pleats of the skirt. The coat is a Ralph Lauren trench coat that I thrifted many years ago for $30. I’ve since had it tailored at the waist to feminize its silhouette (though I would prefer an even more dramatic cinch), and I replaced the original black plastic buttons with these ornate metal ones myself.
On finding personal style: [I would describe my style as] femme dark academia. But there’s also considerable influence from “vintage” styles, from my youth amongst goth culture, and from my current religious devotions. I’m a trans woman, so there’s been both periods of exploration and periods of timidness. I fluctuated, for instance, in my early transition between body-con dresses, which should not have fit, and ultra “flowy” garments, which translated to “formless and void.” It wasn’t until around the pandemic that I started to develop a sense for sartorial form, helped in good portion by my friends who insisted that I try on this and that dress. Every flow has a source and an end point; find them.
How do others in your field dress? Among grad students, it’s usually very casual, unless at a conference (but sometimes even then!) Jeans and a t-shirt, typically. Faculty and older grad students will dress more “professionally” which usually means slacks/pants and a shirt/blouse, or some kind of suit. You don’t see dresses and skirts quite as often among women in their academic roles. The color palette across the board tends to be rather dark and earthy, too.
In my color palette, I fit the norm. But in my preference for skirts/dresses and a generally “feminine” silhouette, I break the norm. In my circles, this “breaking” isn’t socially punished as far as I’ve experienced. The idea seems to be: if you’re philosophical enough, you can wear anything within reason.
I also break the norm for incorporating embroidery and religious symbols in my outfits. For instance, my favorite purse has a medal on it for the Blessed Virgin Mary. Philosophers don’t tend to be very religious these days, and if they are, they don’t necessarily wear it on their sleeve.
The magic of tailoring: Finding clothes that fit right has been a challenge. This isn’t uniquely a challenge for academic garb, but well-fitted clothes go a long way in feeling “myself” in a space. I have sometimes taken clothes (like my coat) to a local tailor to get a better fit.
One other challenge is my worry that someone in more feminine dress might be treated less seriously. In this respect, I have had to be encouraged and reminded that most people don’t care that much about what others wear in philosophy. In the event that I put on a more masculine outfit, however, I risk getting misread as male, which, at its best, makes things awkward and uncomfortable for a moment or, at worst, puts me at risk of transphobic discrimination. I’m blessed, however, that Villanova–as an Augustinian Catholic university–cultivates an environment of love which minimizes the worst of these risks.
The beauty of academic friendship: Philosophy is nothing without friendship. Make friends with your peers, bring your non-philosophy friends into conversation, share paper drafts, go out together, throw a potluck, go frolic in a meadow, read together, read frequently, read aloud. You will enjoy your life more and you will be a better philosopher for it.
(PS: in this photo I’m reading Eamon Duffy’s Stripping of the Altars and Emmanuel Falque’s The Wedding Feast of the Lamb.)
(PPS: one of the friends with me just out of frame is Ceire Kealty, who has written quite a bit on fashion and the clothing industry!)
Thank you so much, Katherine! You can follow Katherine on Instagram and Substack.
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