Why we look so bad
Regina Barreca on why academic couture embarrasses us all.My favorite part:
This handsome, intelligent, otherwise distinguished young man--youth who took the world around him much more seriously when he was in his twenties than he does now--purchased what was, during that historical period, considered an appropriate garment: a herringbone three-piece suit. Bought when he finished his B.A., the suit had fit perfectly. Like many other people, however, this friend put on weight over the years--especially when writing his doctoral dissertation--but he never bothered to buy new clothes.
As he describes it, by the time he was on the job market, the three-piece suit fit him just like a herringbone leotard.
What else could he do but wear it for his job search? It was his only suit. The trouble started when he realized, after sitting down for an extended interview, that one of the tight pant legs had cut off his circulation entirely. One leg, from the knee down, was asleep--wholly numb. When the interviewer finally thanked him for his time and said he would be in touch, my friend had no alternative. He had to get up and leave. He thought, just maybe, he could make it to the door. Instead, he fell to the hotel floor on one knee, as if proposing marriage. It was not an auspicious occasion.
He did not a get an on-campus interview.
He did get a new suit.
.: Posted by Duane Bidwell on Wednesday, September 22, 2004