Starting teacher training at nearly 40- what to wear?

[CultureAlienationBoredomandDespair]

I’m starting a PGCE in September which will be 3-4 days at placements and then wfh. I’ve spent the last 5 years as a SAHM with the odd bit of wfh that’s mainly been done in PJs so I need a bit of a refresh!

What would you wear if you were 5ft 3, size 18, huge boobs, unhappy with my lower stomach but with a waist (hourglass turned apple). I’m blonde, and pale (a light summer if you believe these things)?

School dress codes vary. Some are corporate, others more relaxed. No cleavage or short skirts and as a trainee you have to stick to the rules. Do wrap dresses work for you? Otherwise trousers suits or those smart suit dress type things.

Primary or secondary? Primary tends to require you to bend and crouch a lot.

The don’t really. They’re always suggested for my shape but I find they are too low cut and just stretch across my boobs and belly in a really unflattering and semi indecent way!

It’s for food tech so it needs to be practical as well as smart a suit might be a bit too much?

Secondary- food and nutrition.

For your days in uni, you can be super casual so jeans and a top. For your days in school, go normal workwear. Are you primary or secondary? If secondary you’ll have to be a bit smarter for your days in school. In primary you’ll need to wear smart clothes but mainly make sure you’re comfortable. Nothing showing if you lean over or sit on the floor! On instagram/TikTok there’s a few accounts about what I wear everyday as a teacher for inspiration. Just make sure you pick British ones because USA is more casual than here.

For secondary, if you don’t like smart trousers and a top, I’d have a look for some nice workwear dresses. I’m short and quite like H&M or some of the smarter dresses from Joanie.

Every teacher I see wears black or navy trousers with a blouse. Post covid shoes are more casual but flats rather than trainers.

Can you suggest some accounts to follow please?

I'd go for black trousers and a smart top (I got all mine from Dorothy perkins or newlook) when working as a junior Dr. Suits prob too smart and will get ruined

Our food tech teachers wear an apron - would this work for you?

Otherwise, you may want to consider clothes with pockets. Mine are full by breaktime - keycard, spare pens, confiscated phone, confiscated notes… :)

Food and nutrition your clothes may get ruined. Go for separates so you aren't having to wash a whole outfit. Black trousers and blouse tops are what the food teacher at my school wears.

Loafers or similar, comfortable as you’ll be on your feet all day!
Trousers with a loose blouse or more fitted top.
A jacket that will go with different outfits so you can be more formal when necessary.

Definitely an apron for cooking in.

I’d get dark trousers, plain t shirts and plain flats or sketchers type to start and make it more or less casual as you start your placements.

Shirts or tops with three quarter sleeves so you don't have to roll them up for hygiene.

Long gloves in the winter to fill the gap.

As pp have said, please check the school's staff dress code, than work from there. We are not allowed to wear trainers of any kind. I've noticed that the food tech teachers wear dresses and DMs, or brogues. Sometimes loose trousers and shirts. Always covered by a big apron. You're going to get hot and a bit messy, so natural fabrics.

Some schools will require a jacket, others are more casual. Having a jacket won’t hurt at all- you can keep it over your chair and pop it on if necessary (for parents evening, for example). I’d suggest some decent, comfortable trousers and tops. The last thing you want to be worrying about it your clothes!

When I was a trainee they said “no bums, no bellies, no backs, no boobs” and I would stick to that.

I would go into Lucy and Yak to try on some Alexa trousers and then order from Vinted. They’re comfortable and spacious enough that you can do yoga in them (yes really!) but they have pleats and belt loops so they look quite smart and accentuate your waist. The waist is high so you can avoid a gap between top and trousers.
I personally would avoid shirts as I have never found a smart one that worked for me as a booby apple shape. They either swamp my waist or gape at the bust, and they’re not comfortable.

I’d also get a versatile jacket that would work with a couple of different pairs of trousers, (maybe velvet or corduroy, or whatever suits your style vibe) and a nice apron, maybe a cross-back pinafore type with pockets that you can just fling on and again, forget you’re wearing it. I have one from Seasalt which is really comfy, but lots of small businesses sell them and they can be more or less funky and exciting!

Good luck. I hope you love your new career!

If it were me, for the sake of simplicity and building a reliable and hard wearing wardrobe, I’d go straight to:

Community Clothing

That would completely cover my day to day wardrobe, head to toe, (apart from a tailored jacket and maybe some loafers) so I could concentrate on the new work / study.

M+S have great trousers - I'm the same height as you, and they do a short length. They also have jumpers that can be layered - it will likely be cold in school when you arrive, then hotter than hell when the kids are cooking! They have some nice boat neck tops that look smart.

Supermarkets have good workwear- in particular Asda, but the turnover is high. Often nice dresses/blouses.

I'm also a fan of popsy dresses - there's plenty of muted ones if the patterns are too much. They're a great material and have pockets.

Snag for tights- yes, they're expensive, but they last and don't fall down.

If you don't like dresses, you are onto trousers!
Whatever shape you like, but not denim.
I'd go for layers on top. Smart teeshirt or a shirt. Jumper or cardi if you end up at the end of the heating circuit and aren't cooking.
Comfy shoes (not trainers).
You'll need to take school culture into account with the jacket.

The no boobs, belly, bum or back is an excellent rule of thumb. Also consider any tattoos - again visibility of those will be school dependent.

Im primary but I’d wear a jersey half length sleeve dress with short leggings underneath and smarter type trainers (tights and boots in winter).

I’ve just left secondary teaching after 14 years but an absolute must is comfy shoes. You’ll be on your feet a lot. I also loved trousers with pockets as these are so useful for popping your whiteboard pen/interactive pen in so you know where it is when in the middle of a lesson. With trousers I’d usually wear a smart top/blouse with a smart cardigan or a blazer. I like wearing just below the knee dresses too as these were practical for me (I taught a written subject).
I always did a mirror test and stretch test when I wore something for the first time. So was it slightly see through (women’s blouses can be terrible for this). If I reached up to the top of the board, how much did my dress or skirt move? If I sat down, did any buttons gape? Etc.

When I first started I had loads of suits/ pencil dresses etc as that was much more the thing then but things are much more relaxed now. When I left, the only rules were no trainers/ flop flops/ suitable length skits and straps had to be a certain thickness (ie not spaghetti straps)

If food tech, could you wear a chef’s jacket? Our FT teacher used to wear this over trousers/top combo and it was appropriate and technical, and got her around the ‘everyone wears a jacket’
school dress code (which had just been introduced, to much staff rage).

Some schools will require a jacket, others are more casual.

Wow - do many schools do this? I've taught for 30 years in a wide variety of schools (including independents) and a jacket has never been compulsory, thank goodness!

I’ll be going placements at different schools across the year and then hopefully getting a job after so I guess anything I buy will have to be flexible to different schools’ dress codes.