Active discussions

Meet the Other Phone. A phone that grows with your child.

Meet the Other Phone.
A phone that grows with your child.

Buy now

Please or to access all these features

Talk
AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

Power dressing in school?

123 replies

Smilegrumpypants · 15/03/2019 11:59

I'm a teacher. We've recently had a change in leadership and the head has made a lot of changes including a strict dress code.
I've always dressed smartly in dresses and skirts but teamed with cardigans. My outfits are always pressed and clean and I wear minimal jewellery.
A middle leadership role has recently come up and I am keen to apply for it. After a meeting this week the head asked to speak to me. She said that she would welcome my application but I should consider changing my outfits to include blazers and tailored jackets and trousers. That she felt cardigans and flat shoes (!) aren't appropriate in senior roles and I would be taken more seriously.
She often says odd things (don't get me started, whole other thread) but as this new role doesn't include an increase in pay and still includes a full teaching schedule, I am reluctant to invest in clothes that I won't suit or enjoy wearing. I've never been told I've been dressing inappropriately before.
This is all coming from the head that wears fishnets and leather tunics.
Advice please, thank you!

OP posts:
SmarmyMrMime · 15/03/2019 13:48

I started off wearing blazers around my PGCE/ NQT year... it didn't take long to realise that they are just not me and were only really decorating my chair. People work best when they are comfortable. I started wearing dresses more after having DCs and dropped my usual trousers and shirts. Doing supply in PE and having to teach while in sportswear taught me quite quickly that being comfortable is far more important than a stuffy formal look for the sake of it.

It does sound unfortunately like you may have to temporarily play the game, and your chances are slim if you don't.

I hate the sweeping changes of management with their grandious delusions that don't have any practical benefit.

ADHMeeee · 15/03/2019 13:52

I'd be fucked then, I cannot even wear a slight heel, I have to were flat shoes/ trainers.

I guess having the paperwork to explain why, is a positive thing in my case. But I still get people giving me the side eye over it.

It's shoes FFS. And in any role not involving being sat at a desk all day, heels are inappropriate.

carrotflinger · 15/03/2019 13:57

Are you primary or secondary? Blazers and heels are inappropriate for primary, especially lower primary. At secondary level they aren't so impractical.

However, are you sure you want to move into middle management in this school (without any financial reward)? The HT sounds like hard work. I've been there (and quit).

If you do want to stay and progress then, unfortunately, you will need to listen to her advice about how she expects you to dress.

MyOtherProfile · 15/03/2019 14:25

My DD is a classroom teacher at a private gir's' school and she has to wear heels AND makeup . Ridiculous but that's the code
Bet the male teachers look great in high heels and make up!

I do quite a bit of work in a couple if private schools near me. One of them always makes me smile when all the nursery and reception staff are trying to join in with the children while dressed in tight skirts, blazers and heels.

YouWinAgain · 15/03/2019 14:31

As a parent whose just chosen a school for their DD and finds out soon where they're going I can tell you the attire of the staff did help me choose.

But it wasn't the school where they all wore suits and heels that I chose. I preferred the schools where leggings and a smart dress where worn, or trousers and a smart top. These kids are at best 9 years old (3 tier system) so the teachers/TAs are going to be bending down and speaking to kids, or taking part in PE or getting covered in glue and paint. My absolutely favourite school which I really want DD to go to the HT covers staff teaching if they're ill, and she wore smart trousers and a long sleeved top. She had a blazer in her office for meetings understandable but otherwise she looked like the rest of the staff but slightly more important.

Coyoacan · 15/03/2019 15:30

However, are you sure you want to move into middle management in this school (without any financial reward)? The HT sounds like hard work. I've been there (and quit)

The best teacher my dd had in primary school was an elderly man with his hair in a ponytail. My priorities as a mother are for the school to be compassionate, understanding and ethical first; and good at teaching second. How the teachers are dressed is absolutely the least of my worries.

Graziass · 15/03/2019 15:37

What do the male teachers wear?
I often feel there are double standards in schools. The men in shirt and tie and the women in clothing chosen for comfort.

AdamNichol · 15/03/2019 15:43

What do the male teachers wear?
I often feel there are double standards in schools. The men in shirt and tie and the women in clothing chosen for comfort.

Hmmm....not sure the female equivalent of suited and booted (dress, jkt, heels) is any more comfortable. And there's many a male teacher in cords, jumper, blazer type caboodle.

TiddleTaddleTat · 15/03/2019 15:45

Sorry but I just can't get past the idea that a middle management role involves a full teaching timetable and no increase in pay Envy

riotlady · 15/03/2019 15:45

I’d be tempted to buy a cheap blazer for the interview and then ditch it as soon as I got the job tbh.

SheeshazAZ09 · 15/03/2019 16:10

I'd nix the heels idearecipe for an accidentbut agree with some PPs that a jacket is smarter than a cardigan. Depending on the jacket it can look great with dresses and/or skirts, but I generally go for shorter jackets with dresses/skirts than I would wear with trousers. In other words, not a blazer but a short tailored jacket. I used to insist on wool and other natural fibres but these days prefer clothes I can fling in the wash and not have to iron, so am a fan of M&S polyester navy tailored jackets (they look better than they sound, honest).

Re shoes, ankle boots can be smart and flat at the same time. Clarkes and Jones Bootmaker do some nice ones.

Dippypippy1980 · 15/03/2019 16:10

I work in a corporate emvironmemt - and like most females were a combination of suits, dresses, blazers and cardigans. Very, very senior women wear cardigans and flats.

Your bosses fashion sense sounds firmly grounded in the 1980s!!!

OneStepSideways · 15/03/2019 16:49

Not unusual for a management level position. Cardigans do look frumpy/casual competed to jackets and blazers. I wear cardigans to work but wouldn't wear one if I was inline for a senior promotion or to an interview!

At the end of the day they're just clothes! I have jackets in soft tailored jersey (with stretch), tailored trousers (also in stretch jersey) and shoes with a small heel (just as comfortable as flats thanks to their gel cushioning) but they do look smarter and improve my posture.

They're asking you to look professional/ambitious/driven and smart business dress helps!

I'd also recommend manicured nails, good make up and a smart trendy hairstyle. Google images of business attire for ideas.

MereDintofPandiculation · 15/03/2019 16:54

Interesting that she has asked you to start wearing trousers. When I started work, trousers were a no-no for women, then slowly "trouser suits" started to be acceptable in the more easy going places. It seems things have turned around completely if trousers are now the smart option.

Missmarplesknitting · 15/03/2019 17:03

Bugger the dress stuff....they want you to take on management role without pay?

Umm, there's your answer. They're taking the piss.

Don't do it.

Dippypippy1980 · 15/03/2019 18:10

I disagree that cardigans look frumpy. If I am speaking at a conference I will wear a blazer, but for day to day meetings cardigans (tailored, ironed, smart) are fine as part of the mix.

I think some people watch too much American tv. Men’s ties are also on the way out. It’s all about confidence and being able to do the job. Not manicures. I have never had a manicure on my life, yet manage a large team. No one has ever suggested my hair cut or nails or choice of cardigans has gotten in the way of my career. I would be shocked if teaching had a stricter dress code Han the corporate finance roles I work in.

Hollowvictory · 15/03/2019 18:11

Tailored cardigans are OK. Long cardigans look a bit shabby

ForalltheSaints · 15/03/2019 18:19

No-one should be forced or required to wear heels, except for stage performances. If I ran the country a law would be passed to outlaw any such obligation.

As for a dress code, in a school perhaps other than no jeans, cover shoulders and no visible underwear, why perhaps does it matter?

Gronky · 15/03/2019 18:23

I imagine a quick mention of your 'plantar fasciitis' and maybe a casual question about liability for the injury you suffered due to their new dress code would shut the new head up fairly quickly.

elephantoverthehill · 15/03/2019 18:24

Over my 30 odd years of teaching I have up with a theory that the height of the heel of a woman's shoe is in inversely proportional to the amount of teaching they actually do.

avocadochocolate · 15/03/2019 18:31

I think your HT is actually breaking the law. I'm sure a woman won a case a about 3 years ago because she was told to wear high heels at work and she didn't want to. It's a known fact that high heels are bad do your feet.

Dippypippy1980 · 15/03/2019 18:46

Your head teacher has aced quite foolishly with her comment about flat shoes limiting promotion potential. It’s sexist, and potentially discriminatory if a female team member has a disability which makes heels impossible to wear.

I would ask her to clarify the exact dress code. Again, I have a mental picture of Melanie Griffith’s in working girl!!! The corporate world has thankfully moved on leaps and bounds since then. YOU are not applying to work on the Lancôme counter!!!!!

UnicornRainbowsRain · 15/03/2019 18:56

Forallthesaints plenty of excellent teachers wear jeans and even trainers to school. It's a nonsense job for a dress code - working with children, a fairly physical job and on your feet all the time.

UnicornRainbowsRain · 15/03/2019 18:57

OP is this a head you really want to work under? Sounds ridiculous!

TheMuminator2 · 15/03/2019 19:02

coatigans