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[camchiga]

I don't know if this has been discussed before, but since I see that clothing threads are fairly popular, bear with me on this one.  I have two upcoming campus interviews and I am wondering how I should dress, especially for the teaching demonstration.  I wore pant suits (one brown, one black) to my MLA interviews but I cannot imagine going into a classroom to teach in a suit.  I would like something elegant but more "me" -- maybe a nice skirt and blouse or something like that.  What about those "dinners" that follow the actual campus interview?  I will add that none of my interviewers at MLA were dressed super formal: they were nicely dressed but no suits or "stiff" uniform-like outfits.
Thanks for any input.

[creationrebel]

  I will add that none of my interviewers at MLA were dressed super formal: they were nicely dressed but no suits or "stiff" uniform-like outfits.
Thanks for any input.

It's funny.....I'm hardly a clothes horse but I do dress with something like "taste" (if a rather idiosyncratic one), and certainly like wearing unusual shoes, and was struck by how many interviewers were sporting ratty old sneakers. 

I've been wondering about general protocol for campus visits, too.  Aside from the job talk, is the suit-and-tie too much?  I imagine dinners would be more casual, but "casual" has many different definitions.

[histgeek]

Thread on threads are the best!

A suit (and formality) is always the safest.  And keep in mind that the job talk, while a "teaching demonstration," is not actually teaching with bleary-eyed freshmen sitting before you.  It is a professional presentation that should show how you present yourself, the information, and interact with people on your area of expertise.  Don't distract them with something too flashy, or too casual. 

That said, for girls I don't think that a nice blouse and skirt are inappropriate.  If suits make you uncomfortable, you might consider ensemble with a jacket that you can remove when you are about to speak.  And as for transitioning to the dinner, you might get the chance to change (which I have done -- to slacks and a sweater -- and still got the job), but you might not.  Wear something that you can live in all day, if necessary.

For boys at dinner, I should think that changing out of the suit into a jacket and tie would be acceptable as well.

Rather than the boxy, generic suit, try something with a little more originality and flair.  Have you seen the suits at Victoria's Secret?  Some of them are stylish enough to be interesting and comfortable, while still fundamentally conservative and "appropriate."

Don't go by what the SC was wearing.  You are not one of them...yet.

BTW, creationrebel is absolutely right!  Unusual, funky shoes are a GREAT way to spice up an otherwise bland outfit.  I live by funky shoes!

[camchiga]

Victoria's secret sells suits???? I didn't know that!
In any event, I am not going to buy another suit, I was thinking more along the lines of a bluose/skirt or blouse/pants/ jacket combination maybe from a store like Ann Taylor. . .?

[mrhistory]

Don't over-worry this. Even at my conservative Southern-ish State U, the expectation among the mid-very conservative majority of the faculty is as follows:
a man should wear a jacket, slacks, tie.
a woman should wear a pants *suit* if wearing slacks and otherwise a skirt with jacket or skirt with blouse.
For dinner you get clues as to who is going (i.e., "Joe and some of the Asst Profs are taking you to BBQ World for dinner"  I'd take that to mean break out the business casual rather than the business meeting formal outfit. Or, you can ditch that jacket and break out the lflat shoes or loafers--- both male and female!)

What causes problems is lack of jacket tie combo for men (seen as lack of seriousness or lack of knowledge about business dress), jeans for either sex even with a jacket for daytime meetings and presentations. For women anything too low in the neckline, 4 inch heels (we make you walk and walk and walk) and very short skirts. Remember your region or type of school. If you are in a culturally conservative area, religious school, etc. you want to be more "gender" or "occasion" appropriate no matter what you think of those norms or not.

And, the local faculty attire means that is what you can wear *when* you get the job, not as you are "auditioning"---at AHA I saw our unfailingly formal-in-classroom-dress guy in slacks and a sweater. His explanation? I'm sitting in a chair for 8 hours a day for three days, I am being comfortable!  If a candidate showed up on campus dressed on his AHA interview model, he'd personally lead the charge to deny on "lack of sense!" which he'd see as extending to all sorts of areas.

Err on the side of conservative attire.

[cattoys]

And keep in mind that the job talk, while a "teaching demonstration," is not actually teaching with bleary-eyed freshmen sitting before you.

It is for some of my campus visits. In some fields, you do a 'job talk' or formal research lecture, AND a teaching demo in a real class. I read the OP that way, perhaps because I have a similar dilemma. I certainly plan to wear a suit for the formal job talk day, but I have a whole other day of meetings, teaching demo, etc. For that, I don't want quite the same level of formality, plus I don't want to wear the same outfit two days running.

My concern is whether a nice skirt and sweater is too informal. I think of myself as a stylish dresser, in that my professional clothes are not casual, but they're not business preppy either.

[camchiga]

That is correct.  In my field there is no job-talk or presentation.  There is a real teaching session in whcih I actually take over for the actual professor for that session, plus there are meetings with the Dean, the Provost etc.  I just cannot imagine teaching what I teach in a suit.  I have a nice skirt/sweater from Banana Republic with some very nice shoes (high heels though) and I think I may go with that.  But I need something for dinner too . . .

[cactus]

That is correct.  In my field there is no job-talk or presentation.   .

No job talk for a job in an MLA field!  Never heard of this.  You prob. don't want to tell, since it might make it easier for someoen to "out" you.  But I'm so curious.

PS: You prob. won't have time to change for dinner, as someone mentioned in an earlier post.  Plan to wear what you've had on all day.  (This will make your bag lighter anyway!)

[camchiga]

I am in foreign languages.  There is no job talk, candidates are only asked to teach one class in the tharget language, that's all.  The rest are just meetings, luncheons, dinners etc.