If you're in Higher Education, what do you wear for work

[HelloHiBonjour]

Hi all,

I have been in HE for a while now but about to start a new job, so using this as an opportunity to go shopping. With lockdown, I seem have forgotten how to dress - also at that stage in my 30s when not everything I wore in my 20s looks necessarily looks great now (I blame lockdown pounds).

It doesn't help that I have always loved to play with fashion and make-up and thus often feel a little overdressed (why wear jeans and a t-shirt when I feel like wearing a pretty dress that is just as, if not more, comfortable?).

So I am looking for some inspiration!

Bonus Question: I am eyeing the dress attached to this post - do you think it would be "too much" if dressed-down?

I’m a lecturer. I wear a mixture of dresses, jeans, jumpers, cords… My go-to for a while was a pinafore dress with various stripy tops underneath, or dark jeans (navy/black/grey) with various jumpers. I’m in a humanities department & I think we’re quite informal most of the time - many of our students are better dressed than us.
I think that dress is lovely but you’d definitely be on the dressier end of the spectrum among my colleagues at least. I’d wear something like that if I was presenting at a conference or attending some evening reception or similar.

I’m a lecturer. I do tend to wear dresses but sometimes trousers and a top. Most of the dresses I wear are longish but fairly casual shirt type dresses. Personally I’d think that green dress was a bit much. Maybe if you wore it with trainers it might look more casual?

I’m also a lecturer. I dress much like @user1499609760 - I’m in a creative subject area. I always wear red lipstick and have a cool haircut, so I think that helps more low key outfits (eg black jeans and black polo neck) look polished.

I like the dress but would wear it with trainers or DM boots. As it’s styled it’s far too fancy for me.

I work in professional services at a university. Work wear has always been quite casual especially since lockdown although I'm trying to up my game a bit more as we get back to normal working patterns on campus. I mostly wear non tailored trousers/chinos with chunky boots, a casual blazer/poncho or lambswool jumper as it's so cold with all the windows and doors open everywhere on campus!

I think the dress would be on the smarter side in my department. Agree with pp's that it would probably be worn with trainers and a denim jacket to style down!

I work in professional services and it was already pretty casual before the pandemic, now it's very very casual even for staff who have front facing roles. All the pandemic messages saying it's about what you do (regardless of where you are doing it, what time of day and what you are wearing) have really taken flight. Very easy to look completely overdone but at the same time it's a university so you do get loads of different looks (from the students if nothing else).

I wear jeans or cords with ankle boots and a naice top and cardi, pretty dull but this uniform takes me almost anywhere and I like having clothes that I can wear any day of the week, not some for work, some for evening out etc.

The only time I'd dress up would be for interviews and special events like graduation.

Thanks all, that is really helpful! I was thinking of styling the dress with a pair of Docs, so glad someone else tought the same. My pre-pandemic style was/is very much black jeans or stretchy pencil skirt + blouse or nice top. Dressed up or down with some jewellery depending on context. Don't know, when I try those outfits on now, I just feel a bit "meh" about it - it looks fine but maybe I just need to switch things up a bit!

I'm in sciences, so anything more than a 20-year old t-shirt will look dressy