teachers and denim skirts - whaddya think

[FredAboutAFred]

yay or nay
we arent talking pammy anderson ones here
more like white stuff

and it aint me

Men have to teach - and do most office jobs - in suits all day and every day.

No to denim in schools.

Not professional.

Particuarly not in a seconedary school.

What makes teaching in smart clothes so difficult? unless you are a PE/Art/foundation stage tecaher you should be able to manage. Many in more active professions still manage to be smart.

Most teachers can find something between jeans and a sharp suit with killer heels which is appropriate for a school environment.

I don't know why teachers feel that they as a profession can opt of the professional look required for most other professional jobs.

Would not care less if teachers wore whatever dodgy fashions they see fit, asl ong as they don't go power mental and make the girl students wear nylon pencil skirts and have to have ties a certain lebgth etc.

That said would prefer to see a teacher in a denim skirt (especially in primary school) than a hideous wash and wear pinstripe suit like a recruitment consultant.

Suit jackets make it very difficult to reach up to write up on the board and also attract chalk [old school emoticon]

So glad my inoffensive white stuff skirt isn't getting a pasting. Is very nice on, I might add.

Am not a teacher but I wouldn't wear it to work. Would be slightly surprised if a teacher did but wouldn't particularly give a toss unless indicative of a general lack of professionalism.

I tend to be a smart trousers with shirt/jumper person

BUt that would be ok at our school
Or at the boys' school

I couldnt teach in a suit. Very weird

Sometimes what some of you are calling a professional look is soo nt practical

I don't really care if teachers wear denim - I just want them to be good at their job, and more accountable if they are not!

Think teachers in suits deeply weird.

If you want to wear a suit be an accountant.

I think it is one of those professions where it speaks more about you if you don't wear a formal suit which is completely inappropriate for the job you are doing.

Used to work in a school (not a teacher, was Business Manager) and you could always spot a tacher which was on a 'career path' by the skirt suits combos, court shoes inappropriate to go dashing off in a crisis and over zealous interest in administrative affairs. The best teachers which were most respected by the kids were the ones who wore distinctly casual clothes.

What is it with women teachers and statement necklaces though? female teacher MNers can you answer?

Apols for appaliong grammar, I can actually write decent English but it all fails whislt ion MN.

Kids like 'em (statement necklaces that is) - so says my DM ex-primary teacher.

Not sure my 20 yr old are interested in mine, perhaps more interested in what's underneath!

I don't know any male teacher who wears a suit when working in a primary school. To do so would be a bit daft. Think of thejob - spend half the day knelt down, bobbing up and down at tables, hands in paint and glue and playdoh, water tables and sand, running about outside, etc. A suit would be very impractical in a primary classroom.

I have known secondary school teachers, ale and female, wear suits - and did do myself occassionally. But that was very different and depends on the subject, what you are doing that day and the school itself.

I have worn a smart White Stuff denim skirt in primary before and it was fine. I normally wear skirt and top, not normally denim I have to say as doesn't feel quite smart enough for me. However one of our teachers - who is very good as it happens - wears denim a lot, esp when doign lots of art based worke=, which is her specialism.

Only teachers who should wear a suit if they really want to are the leadership team in a senior school. And the women - do no actually wear a suit for crying out loud, you can look perfectly smart and professional woithout going down the Deborah Meaden route. Stay away from the skirt suits and secertary ranges in Dorothy P, Next and M&S.

I am right on this subject.

i am just home from work - ds ill
have on a lamsbwool jumper
cotton smart cas trews
boots
scarf

I wouldn't expect a primary school teacher to wear a suit. I agree that would be strange. I would expect the headteacher of a secondary school to wear business dress though - they are in effect the managing director of a medium sized company and ought to look like it.

Art teachers are different - floaty clothes, statement scarf and necklace is practically uniform.

I think it depends on the teacher.

We have a fifty-something RE teacher who is very slim, trendy,with well-cut , choppy bobbed hair. She dresses very well and occasionally sports a very dark blue denim skirt. It looks stylish rather than casual. I think she carries it off in a way that only certain women of a certain age can.

I am nodding vigorously to Getorf's description of female SMT suits. At our place it's almost a uniform.

tomorrow I will be wearing
layering
as my classroom gets hot so quick

slate grey flannely type trousers
thin knit jumper

flat boots
and er s statement necklace or scarf

Why are some posters insisting that teachers wear suits simply because they "are professional" ! Not all professions demand a suit. The general look in an architect's practice is smart casual. Suits are worn ONLY for meetings - in most cases this is a blazer thrown over a shirt, no tie. Women wear skirts/trousers with a smart top, no blazer or suit. And, yes, we are all professional.

There are two male teachers - the head and one other - in my children's state primary school. They both wear shirts and ties and smart trousers.

But I was thinking mainly of secondary schools.

My point was that if you go "oooh, no, suits, how sweaty and itchy, yuk!" that's fine, but please spare a thought then for your poor DHs who, if they work in anything white-collar and not "creative", will probably have no choice!

Agree Geneva that just because you are a professional, you don;t have to wear a suit. I am an aerospace engineer so work in a very conservative environment, if you wore anything too formal you would stand out. MD and the grown ups of the company are smart, say they wear a shirt but not a tie, and the women smart separates, and the only people who do wear a suit as a breed are the younger ones who are starting their climb up the slippery ladder. The ones who are senior already are pretty relaxed sartorially.

Are there any posters insisting teachers should wear suits??

Some posters are suggesting that teachers should dress in a smart professional manner which as you say is not necessarily a suit, but is also not denim.

'Most teachers can find something in between jeans and a sharp suit with killer heels which is appropriate for a school environment.'

I wouldn't have lasted 10 minutes in a suit when I was teaching. I spent much of my time crawling under desks reconnecting computer cables or climbing on desks to try and get the fecking data projector to work.

Baroness, I didn't reach the last page before posting - the consensus on the last page is close to what I said in my post. The first two pages were predominantly insisting that teachers must wear suits if they are to "look professional"

Oh, and I often wear a denim skirt to work. As long as it's a "boring" one, not something ultra-short or with chains or studs