LISNews: You're Wrong. No, You're Wrong.

“Dress for Other Reasons”
R. Lee Hadden LeeHadden@aol.com

Many people have made tons of money by writing "dress for success" books. Here is my "dress for other reasons" for librarians, which you can take or leave as you wish. I have often mounted on my soapbox and spouted off about dressing “as a librarian” on discussion lists. Some fashions are to make it easier and safer for the librarian to do their job. Other styles of clothing are worn as fashion statements. Or to define class or position or authority.

As you can see from the following post, I am no expert on fashion, or men’s and women's clothing, but I have watched librarians at work for a number of years and have drawn some conclusions about their work attire.

Men have more choice in clothing styles than women do, since men's clothing is more closely tied to profession rather than class. Among working men, you can line up a number of them and easily identify the lumberjack, the banker, the cowboy, the sailor, the librarian, the construction worker, the school teacher, the steel maker, the watch repairman, etc. fairly well by their outfits, fashions and tools. Men fit more comfortably in a variety of guild uniforms than women do. The men are interchangeable, but the
uniforms are not.

Women's clothing styles reflect more economic and regional attributes, although this is also slowly changing. Clothing styles for women in the south, northeast, Midwest and west are all slightly different, and often can be easily told apart. However, in academia, women do have several different fashion traditions to call upon.

General rules: women who have to reach up high to get books, stoop low or bend over book return chutes frequently should consider pants instead of dresses for modesty's sake. Shorts should not be worn by public service staff except for relaxed Fridays or costume days or special work days. Especially for women, shorts can eliminate an appearance of professionalism and invite intimacy and perhaps unwelcome companionship.

Shoes should be comfortable and protective first, and only fashionable afterwards. Women who stand on their feet for eight hours straight need shoes with arch support and a good toe box, if not room for orthotics. Open toed shoes, sandals, moccasins, tennis shoes or other feet constructions which expose the foot to ouch points from falling books,
wayward truck wheels or protruding shelf ends should not be worn by working library staff. Industrial shoes can look homely, but I can certainly tell you after my own experiences with bone spurs and museum feet, that if your feet hurt, nothing else will be ever be right. Circ library staff who have to stand up behind a desk all day should also insist on a cushioned floor pad to reduce strain on their feet as well.

Many people laugh at the women librarian stereotype in sensible shoes. I don't. And I know that the women librarian who don't wear sensible shoes, don't often laugh at all.

One of my other suggestions for the librarian who wants to earn a million bucks is to figure out how to make mandatory photo ID badges fashionable. Anyone who can figure out how to make a faux diamond tiara to hold your identification badge, so the librarian would look somewhat like Princess Di; or who can figure out a Renaissance “Old Master’s” painting frame to wear with gold plastic filigree, will make a killing. I have seen these things dangling from strings of plastic pearls, cut crystal beads, as a Hawaiian lei, a chain of small silver charms, battery-operated blinking lights at Christmas, beads with Dewey Decimal numbers on them, and other unique contraptions and constructions. If ya gotta wear an ID badge, then use your imagination and your sense of humor.

Also, many of these id chains are made of one single piece of cloth, and if they catch on something, they'll pull your head down. If you can find the ID necklaces with a plastic joining in the back that will release the chain if caught suddenly, you will save yourself a little pain neck.

As an addition, many conferences and other meeting have name tags with a stick or safety pin on the back, which can harm the fabric of a dress or a man’s dress shirt. See if you can attach it to one of these strings of beads or something other than directly to your clothing. If all else fails, men sometimes pin it to one end of a business card, and then stick the card inside the coat or shirt pocket with the name tag hanging out. Saves wear and tear on the threads, man!

The tweedy, English-squire's daughter look with sensible shoes has been a staple of librarians since the late 1930's. Not a bad outfit, economical, and well fitted for the role. Not bad for reference, circulation and the serials librarian, and the fashion appearance is approachable, comfortable, and it reminds everyone of their high school English teacher or Katharine Hepburn. This can be either good or bad.

If the tweedy look is severe, it can also be daunting or downright scary (think of Diana Riggs as Mrs. Danvers in "Rebecca"). Softened up with some gentle jewelry and contrasting bright color somewhere makes a difference.

Remember though that long necklaces and dangley ear rings get caught in equipment and book corners. Any jewelry should remain close to the body for the working woman to avoid an "Ouch!" And no jewelry proclaims authority and credibility better than simple gold. (Yeah, right. On our salaries!).

The professorial look is also not bad for reference librarians. However, on a pragmatic side, very dark or very light clothes clearly show dust marks from shelves, etc. that can be distracting. For some reason, chalk streaks are appealing or endearing on men's trousers or coats, but not on women's coats or skirts. Go figure.

Remember also that toner cartridges are needed to be changed or printers repaired only on days when men or women are wearing their white clothes. When selecting clothes for your job, remember that Edsel Murphy of “Murphy’s Law” fame is the true Chief Librarian, and dress accordingly.

An interesting concept is for librarians to use the old medieval heraldry rules for colors (see the 11th Encyclopedia Britannica article on "Heraldry" from 1911). These rules are arbitrary (don't wear gold next to silver) but subtle (contrast dark colors on top of light color), and most people are unconsciously comfortable with these rules.

Now, the problem of this style is that it is very traditional, and in some degree, stereotypical. If the woman is comfortable in this role, it is fine. This is the role most students expect of librarians: traditional, approachable, credible. You are what the students expect- think of Harry Potter and English private schools. This is also the role most professors expect of librarians as well: the role of colleague and consultant.

However, this style may type cast the woman librarian and keep her in her comfortable niche, and may, to some degree, be a career blocker. And the stereotypical concept is not far from this- it only needs hair in a bun, a breast watch and a battle axe, and you have the basic horror figure librarian from a Stephen King story.

Relaxing the staff clothing style on Fridays is a good fashion measure, and I approve. The only caveat that I recommend is that a prominent announcement is posted in the library telling patrons of the relaxed Friday tradition. If you are going to wear blue jeans, silver highlights such as silver conch belts or turquoise belt buckle accents the change. I would certainly never recommend men or women wearing a sweat shirt or t-shirt or tank top with the jeans, as that is more appropriate for a carwash than a library. Something with some sort of collar will dress up the blue jeans and will not interfere with the comfortable clothes.

At this time at the beginning of the third millennium, women can chose an alternative clothing style that most closely aligns with their own personality type, which may be distinctly different from their professional appearance. Get wild.

The coat is a symbol of authority. Whether it is a laboratory coat, a business coat or other type, the person who wears a coat has some appearance of the cloak of authority. Also, it doesn't do any good to take your coat off and hang it up as soon as you get to work and spend the rest of the day in your shirtsleeves. An old tradition in libraries was to have a "work coat" which was exchanged for the coat the librarian wore to work. This was unlined, neutral shade coat that had good pockets, and protected the dress clothing from library work, dust and thread snatchers. Association pins, a nametag, your favorite cloth patches from Star Fleet Academy or other items can be left on the work coat permanently, and at the end of the day, the coat is removed and the dress coat again donned. The white internist's coat medical students wear is a pale descendent of this comfortable custom.

Likewise, the vest is an out of fashion item today, and one that also speaks to authority. If a woman has the figure for it, a fitted vest is conservative and bespeaks respectability. For those women who don't want to accent their figure, the looser vest is also a good way to draw attention away from their figure, yet still give a banker's image of credibility to their profession. Male librarians who wear a vest, especially one with a pocket watch and chain, can either look endearing or just plain eccentric.

Ties are an area of contention among some male librarians. It used to be the uniform symbol of professionals, but today we have an anti-tie movement. Some people are comfortable wearing a tie, other men hate it. Some librarians who wear a tie turn off some patrons who think the tie clad are “too busy” to help them. One response is to loosen the tie and top button, thus keeping up appearances but making your self more approachable. For those who work in public, often time the lower sleeves can be rolled up as well.

Many ties today also come in a variety of colors and designs and imagery. The most conservative is a single color tie. Next is a patterned tie. Other ties have special designs on them, such as shamrocks and a music chip that plays “When Irish Eyes are Smiling” for St. Patrick’s Day, or a patriotic theme for a national holiday. Just be sure not to wear something offensive, as this can turn both patrons and co-workers off quickly. When I’m feeling contrary, I often wear either my Tasmanian Devil tie, or my Slytherin school tie from Hogwarts.

Nicholson Baker seemed to have an obsession with men librarians who wear bowties, who appear sinister to him. In "Double Fold," his recent book about the destruction of newspaper files in libraries, he seems to have his villains neatly turned out in bow ties: A man named Verner Clapp is a "polymathic bowtie wearer," and the historian and former Librarian of Congress Daniel Boorstin is described as a "chronic bowtie wearer." The novelist David Foster Wallace also refers to linguistic pedants and their "snobbishness and bow-tied anality." So make your own decision about bow ties.

Corporate librarians need to stress efficiency and profitability. Seen as the holder of information needed for business success, they need to move around the corporate offices and to be seen and to be remembered. Clothes need to accent the individual, and not to demand attention away from the librarian’s personality. In corporate environments, loud colors or defiant accessories don't work well. Muted colors and rich fabrics, well cut, do. Invest in some good clothes, well tailored. Style is not as important as a "good look" for you as an individual and team member.

However, this same corporate clothing style would probably not be as appropriate for a systems librarian, since the demands of the computer field require a more modern clothing concept for credibility, and the systems librarians are more likely to dress in a corporate, rather than academic model. The traditional clothing model is the IBM saleswoman dress code- white blouse and black skirt and business coat suit. More relaxed variations and different colors are desired, though, and are appropriate. If your library has access to the electronic Wall Street Journal, they often have interesting articles on corporate clothing fashions for women. Systems librarians also may need to have an extra set of clothes stored at the library. While they want to appear clean and distant, often their job demands that they get down on their hands and knees to wire wet carrels and inter-connect computers, and this can be dusty and inelegant work.

The systems librarian is responsible for keeping the equipment running upon which many other people's job depend. When the electronic card catalog is down, the library comes to a halt, and everyone turns around and stares at the systems people. The System Librarians have to radiate confidence, authority and dependability. It is an irritating fact of life that male systems librarians can wear blue jeans and cool ponytails (as an informal mark of their trade), and female Systems Librarians cannot.

Female university library directors, supervisors, etc., especially if they work with men, need clothing that represents power and position and alpha-female attainment. This is a terrible trade-off, since power clothing also eliminates confidentiality, personal intimacy and approachability. However, if your work is closely aligned with presidents, trustees and department heads, you had better dress like that pack of alpha males, rather than as the former cataloger or children's librarian you may have been. Dark suits, pinstripes and light blouses are pretty much the rule. Highlights of jewelry and contrasting colors in accessories help lighten the severity (after all- are you a corporate raider or librarian?).

Small college library directors can have the academic professorial appearance, all beige corduroy and rumpled wool and Oxford shirts. This appearance is clever with a "go to Hell" academic accomplishment, reminiscent of your favorite college English teacher or a befuddled Hugh Grant.

Circulation librarians can cheat a little bit. Mostly they are not seen by the public from the waist down because they are stationed behind the Circ Desk. Their attire needs to be approachable without being powerful- their sartorial attitude is more practical and problem-solving rather than authoritarian. Of all the library staff, the Circ staff should dress more like their patrons rather than as something separate or distant.

Children's librarians are a class apart. The over-riding responsibility for them is approachability for children. The tweedy look given above, or the corporate model, is not appropriate here. What is needed is clothing that invites children to sit in your lap and clothing that can be comfortably worn while sitting on the cold floor during story hours. For women, this is either a "big sister" look, a "Romper Room" look or a school teacher appearance.

Surprisingly, the blue jeans look doesn't go well in this area, unless it has the "control" appearances of ironed seams and sharp creases or some sort of fashionable tailoring. The reason for this conundrum is that parents will too often consider a blue-jeans-clad children's librarian as a free baby-sitter, and they are thus inclined to impose upon her time and personal space.

Specialty collection librarians may want to reflect their library specialty. Rare book librarians may want to represent a muted rich or plush appearance, all tooled leather and fine linen and understated jewelry with Mont Blanc fountain pens. I could never afford to be a rare books librarian.

Medical and legal librarians deal with doctors and lawyers and the people who pay for the doctors’ and lawyers’ services. You can’t afford to dress like they do, but you can dress like a hospital administrator or pharmacist, which will do. But you need to be seen as part of the professional fraternity, not someone outside of it.

Map librarians may be more like the bookstore owner model- relaxed business attire. Just don’t let your gnomon dangle (a map librarian’s joke).

Science and engineering librarians need lots of pockets to carry their miscellaneous collection of PDA's, mechanical pencils and fold-up measuring rods. The female equivalent to a man's pocket-protector is a leather or plastic belt or fanny pack case to carry all the junk needed around with them, which is not yet all that popular an item with female librarians. Consequently, many of these items are left in over-filled junk drawers of the reference desk, where they are never available when they are needed by science librarians.

The art librarian. Well, the art librarian. They deal with artists and academic intellectuals. What more can I say?

Well, that's about what I have to say about my experiences with librarian fashions for men and women. The old statement “dress for the job you want” still holds true. In many ways, how you dress will influence how other people will see you, your position, and your profession. Figure out what you are comfortable with, and with what you want to be, and wear the clothes that will match your desires.
Good luck.