Should Male Faculty Wear Suits and Ties--and Wrinkle-Free Shirts?

File this one under: things people are talking about.  Case Western Reserve University Law School Professor Erik Jensen has an op-ed, A Call for Professional Attire, over at insidehighereducaion urging faculty to upgrade our appearance.  He says of faculty:

Instead of being role models, we’ve convinced everyone to slum. As clothing theorist Nicholas Antongiavanni explains in The Suit: A Machiavellian Approach to Men’s Style, “[M]any came to believe the protestation of academics that taste was nothing but a fraud perpetrated by the great to keep down the people."

I think you'll enjoy Jensen's essay, no matter your views on this, ah, pressing issue (ha, ha).  There's a lot to think about here--in terms of how we comport ourselves, the respect we show ourselves and others.  Now, whether respect is shown by physical appearance is an issue on which there can be some disagreement.  Why should my dress be set by what people on Madison Avenue think?  (Or do I sound too much like Anne Hathaway in The Devil Wears Prada?)  Heck, I've worn the same style of wire-rimmed glasses for the last twenty-five years.

Moreover, I think there are lessons in here beyond whether we wear a tie or not.  For instance, we should think about the example we set for our students in modes of analysis and how we treat those around us.   We model all sorts of behavior; I think our fashion sense is one of the less important lessons, though I understand that probably a lot of other people disagree.

Now one question: does anyone really think that it's faculty who've set the standards for students' dress?  ("We've convinced everyone around us to slum.")  Come on.  If that's true, faculty are a lot more powerful than I've observed in my years as a teacher--and as a student. 

Only once has a student imitated my dress (and that was when he dressed up as me for Halloween)--cardigan sweater, wire rim glasses, white button down shirt, even powdered his hair black.  Basically, the whole deal.

Alfred Brophy

Comments

[John C]

I agree with both you and the article; professors should dress nicely (a shirt and tie two or three times a week won't kill anyone), but not because it has any effect on what the students do. It's just professionalism. And maybe a bit of self-interest; in school, we had one professor that would wear what he apparently thought was cool, casual clothes. Much mocking ensued. It's tough to mock a shirt and a (reasonably in-fashion) tie.

[Jill Andrews]

I sincerely hope Case Western encourages its faculty to pursue more rigorous legal scholarship than this tripe.

[Laura]

Al, please tell me you have the picture of the student dressing up as you. If so, do post!

[Jason]

Professors should dress well. But "well" can mean a whole variety of things, and needn't include a tie -- look at Barack Obama in Iowa! Really, the key is buying clothes that fit. They need not be impeccably tailored, but please, men, let's start buying shirts that don't have so much cloth in the back that babies could be suffocated in them!

One of the more elegantly dressed professors at my school, a distinguished gentleman, never wears a tie that I've seen. Slacks, shirt, sports coat, but: (a) they match; (b) they fit!

[eric]

Only once has a student imitated my dress (and that was when he dressed up as me for Halloween)--cardigan sweater, wire rim glasses, white button down shirt, even powdered his hair black. Basically, the whole deal.

I had a student do that this past Halloween. He came in what I refer to as my "country club semi-formal" outfit -- red slacks, white shirt, repp stripe tie, navy blazer -- and sat down on the lectern, as I am wont to do. I broke out laughing. Sadly, nobody got a photo.

[Sam Bagenstos]

I used to wear a suit and tie to class. Then I started to get teaching evaluations that compared me to Michael J. Fox as Alex P. Keaton. I now wear whatever I find in the closet -- but certainly not a suit and tie. I don't know whether, per John C., that makes me less professional. I like to think people are coming to my classes for the intellectual content, not for a fashion show.

[used cars audi a3]

I agree with your concept that proffessionalism come from proper dressing sense..
Suit and tie give different look and enhance your personality
Thanks