Sometimes readers send me their delightfully specific academic style conundrums, but today, I’m coming to you with my own! I have been asked to facilitate a professional workshop…in nature. This has led me down a rabbit hole of outdoor professional clothing for women. These might be for you if you do fieldwork, lead classes outside, or otherwise need to get dirty!
Here’s the brief: I’m facilitating a leadership workshop for a group of professionals I don’t know. The workshop is at a campground on a gorgeous mountain lake. There is no actual outdoor component to my workshop, but in between sessions, participants are invited to hike, walk, and hang out in nature.
The coordinator suggested that I plan for the workshop to actually take place outside. No powerpoints + 4 hours of workshop content!!!
But of course, I’m not fixated on that. Instead, I’m wondering, what the heck do I wear?!? Here are some of my ideas so far.
Outdoor-friendly tops
I think I will either pick hiking-adjacent pants, nice top, or vice versa. Here are a few outdoor-friendly-but-I’m-still-teaching-leadership-theories options:
Not-quite-hiking pants
This category is mercifully easy to shop in right now. Athleta and LuluLemon are both creating great trouser-cut pants in athletic materials! A few I love:
–Twill pants (I love these!)
Accessories make the outfit
Sometimes the thing that separates a casual outfit from an elevated outfit is just having a few accessories on. This would likely not work if I was truly hiking a mountain during fieldwork or something, but for a talk in an outdoor setting, I am eyeing:
-A nice belt
-A small headscarf (I would feel like a fool wearing this but I often get a sunburn on the part in my hair and it’s a very practical way to prevent that!
All that’s left to do is buy a new pair of dress Tevas. Those are just your pair of Tevas that haven’t been in the river yet. But I did get distracted by these absurdly cute gingham Keen sandals, the monochrome Chacos, and these waterproof sneakers.
Here are a few looks I put together for different outdoorsy-professional challenges:
For those of us holding class outside or in the field!
For the talk in the outdoor amphitheater.
For the hike. But at this point, you’re probably just with grad students, and professional will be in demeanor, not necessarily in your hiking clothes. Still! A couple smart UPF layers and you’re ready to go.
These are my ideas for outdoor professional clothing for women! Would love to hear yours, as it is a tricky category. I know, I know, “who cares, just wear whatever!” If only “wear whatever” were a simple fashion prompt that had no bearing on our performances or careers…
PS: how to run your closet like a researcher.
This post contains affiliate links that may generate commission for the author.