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23712. Jenerator - 3/4/2008 2:40:22 PM Lol!
Wear your ID badge. :-)
23713. thoughtful - 3/4/2008 5:40:09 PM MsNo, I love to watch "what not to wear" and your story reminds me of a gal they had on who was often mistaken for one of the students given how youthfully and casually she dressed (jeans, tshirts, flipflops). So they gave her a makeover including comfortable, casual but more age appropriate clothing (jackets, blouses, skirts, sweaters, trousers) and she found she got more respect from the students, her peers and the administration than she did before. It's a matter of getting what's going on on the outside to match with what's going on on the inside in terms of age, experience, personality, confidence, etc. When they don't match, that person is doing a disservice to herself in that her personality has to overcome her outward impression rather than be enhanced by it.
I'm not trying to be judgmental here...only offering a suggestion based on what you said about yourself and your concerns. 23714. judithathome - 3/4/2008 5:51:12 PM Jen, we have a few schools that require uniforms that aren't private. In fact, the elementary school just blocks away requires them and it's with FWISD. 23715. thoughtful - 3/4/2008 6:05:54 PM I always crack up with the uniform controversy given my experience growing up.
In our high school we had a strict dress code which the senior class negotiated away with the administration so the dress code became one of nothing too naked (like a bathing suit), too distracting (like a clown outfit), or anything that would damage the building (like cleats). The net result was students wearing 'uniforms' of bell bottom hip hugger jeans and t shirts. And this was in the heyday of the "do your own thing" 60s and 70s.
In fact the 'uniforms' even went to hairdos. When I look in the class yearbook, every girl has long straight hair, no bangs, parted in the middle.
So much for individuality! 23716. Ms. No - 3/5/2008 12:36:30 AM T'ful,
No, I agree that it helps to dress the part whether it's stage or real life. It was no end of frustrating in the corporate world to find useless, do-nothing morons who got perks simply because they looked sharp.
I was never inappropriately dressed for any of my jobs, but corporate chic has never been my, (ahem) strong suit. I'm well aware that not dressing the part put me at a disadvantage as did the lack of desire to get up and spend an hour each moring "doing" my hair and make-up. I'm not a fixy person.
I think I can manage to get up each day and dress like a grown-up, however. ;-> Also, a recent make-up discovery that takes me 15 minutes total from moisturizer to mascara has been a major miracle. I like wearing it because it doesn't feel nasty and it's quick and easy to apply. Plus, it looks great.
Jeeze, I'm such a girly-girl lately. Currently I'm in jeans and clogs and preparing to go hang with lots of stray dogs at the SPCA this evening. It's my first volunteer orientation meeting and I'm really excited.....although it's still over three hours away. 23717. arkymalarky - 3/5/2008 12:41:58 AM When we dress like schlepps, we're looked down on. When we dress a notch higher than everyone else, we're respected.
I've worked for administrators who think like that, including my current principal, who was a friend of mine before she was hired. It often doesn't hold true for the classroom, and I think they waste energy worrying about stuff like that when they need to be focusing on more important things. Of course I've done this a long time and I don't have problems with discipline or lack of effort on the students' part, and in my AP classes, the class--including me--is a team. We don't have time or interest to consider what anybody's wearing. 23718. arkymalarky - 3/5/2008 12:43:23 AM Ooooh, Thoughtful--Mose told me she's submitting my name for that show. 23719. arkymalarky - 3/5/2008 12:51:44 AM I don't wear makeup to work. I rarely wear it at all. The older I get the more rebellious I am, but I also have a strong reputation where I work and could easily go to work elsewhere if I had to (I turn down offers every year), so I really just don't think about stuff like that. I could retire with full benefits after next year, and I'm just loving work with zero stress right now, especially since finishing grad school.
Enjoy your animal evening, No! 23720. thoughtful - 3/5/2008 12:53:25 AM Oh, I wasn't suggesting corporate for an education environment...only suggesting that something like this:
is just as comfortable and takes no more time to put on than jeans and a top, but you won't be mistaken for a student.
My makeup routine used to take 5 min but I had to have my makeup done professionally for a video the co. was making of me and it intrigued me to spend a little more time and take a little extra care when doing my makeup. I switched to a mineral foundation and now find it takes a few minutes longer.
Of course, as I've gotten older, my makeup takes longer anyway. Things change, like I never used to have to tame my eyebrows like I do now...not to mention tend the moustache (thanks to my polish grandmother who sported a good one!) 23721. arkymalarky - 3/5/2008 12:57:26 AM That's cute. Looks about like what I wear now that I don't wear jeans. Oh, and I HATE to iron. 23722. Ms. No - 3/5/2008 1:01:37 AM I don't have much that must be ironed, but what I refuse to do is wear "dry clean only". 23723. Ms. No - 3/5/2008 1:03:04 AM Cute shirt, Thoughtful! 23724. judithathome - 3/5/2008 1:20:02 AM Thoughtful is the mineral stuff the brush on? Becase I find that takes me far less time than liquid makeup base used to. I can get out of the shower with sopping wet hair and be ready to walk out the door in 20 minutes...hair done and makeup on and dressed.
I use Bare Minerals and it stays on ALL DAY as does the lip product I use. I can eat anything and my lip color stays on...even greasy stuff like French bread dipped in olive oil and garlic. 23725. Jenerator - 3/5/2008 3:59:23 AM My previous boss' idea of 'casual day' consisted of slacks, a cigarette jacket and an ascot!
Personally, I think teachers should be able to wear business casual dress, but it's the freak fringe that ruins it for everyone.
The principal will send a memo that reads: Under NO circumstances are faculty and staff to wear jeans unless designated on speical jean days - Sept 25, Jan 14, and May 17, and unevitably, a small group of morons will wear them on our in-service days so that we cannot wear them ever!
Furthermore, casual dress is entirely TOO casual for some people. Again, it's that small group that that ruins it for the rest of it.
Students DO judge us, but usually it's whether or not we look cool.
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Judith,
Here, standardized dress is different from uniform.
23726. arkymalarky - 3/5/2008 4:10:22 AM "No jeans" isn't a deal breaker for me, but it's close. I will say, of the districts that have been recruiting me in the past four or five years, none of them have a teacher dress code (besides not being trashy or immodest) and the district superintendents and principals know me well.
My favorite teacher dress code story involves a colleague (now a principal who offered me a slot in his district) who worked in a district with his wife. The rule was "no denim." His wife wore a beautiful tailored dress--she's a slim woman who looks great in anything--and, I'm not shitting you, got sent home to change. Their science teacher wore cheap, stained, double-knit pants, a "free Calley" t-shirt, and ratty sneakers almost every day and never once got called on it. 23727. arkymalarky - 3/5/2008 4:12:24 AM And you're right, Jen, but I absolutely cannot stand an administrator who doesn't have the guts to go to teachers individually and deal with any unprofessional behavior. I highly resent rules imposed on the rest of us to deal with idiots that administrators don't have the balls to deal with one-on-one. 23728. arkymalarky - 3/5/2008 4:18:15 AM My own principal doesn't fall into that category, btw, because she's very consistent about her own view of what a dress code should be. But the reason I haven't squawked about it is because the teachers voted on it. I voted against it, and I lost, fair and square. 23729. Jenerator - 3/5/2008 4:42:32 AM I'm with you, Arky! 23730. Jenerator - 3/5/2008 4:43:10 AM In this district, if we want to wear jeans, we can only do so on special days (3 max), and we have to make a donation to the March of Dimes. 23731. arkymalarky - 3/5/2008 5:33:09 AM Oh wow, compulsive charity. Your situation is a lot different, too, because it's not rural. There's a whole lot of variety in dress code for kids and teachers. I don't know of any rural districts that have gone to uniforms or standard dress for kids. But we're also more prone to jerk kids up for coverage--in fact, for a long time they couldn't even wear sleeveless--and we either put ugly xxl t-shirts over their clothes or call their parents and make them send more clothes or send the kid to ISS. And our principal says sagging is indecent exposure and she has had the deputy (not that big a deal, since he's around a lot) call kids down on that at school. Some districts I know have rope they make the kids tie up as belts or suspenders. Rural folks apparently don't mind casual, but they can't stand anything revealed, even shoulders or jockey shorts.
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