Academic style tribes

From the glamorous grad student, a breakdown of dress styles for female academics.

The male version of this apparently awaits writing, but offers at least equivalent possibilities, as just in my own department the men range in dress from Wall Street chic to J. Crew preppy to Men's Warehouse ill-fitting leisure suits to "what I wore in junior high only in larger sizes" to "wow the prices are low at Goodwill".

I gave up on ties this year for my undergraduate class, figuring that I am now old enough that there is no need for sartorial tricks to establish social distance. Teaching a technical course like econometrics helps with that too. I have been dressing up more for consulting and conferences in the last couple of years though, I suppose because I feel like that is what full professors are supposed to do. I also wear more Michigan stuff than any of my colleagues, both t-shirts and ties; I attribute this to either the zealousness of the recently converted or the shock of the "amazed to be here".