Ph.D. Fashion
…
Ph.D. candidates tend to wear dark circles underneath their eyes as their only accessory. Their skin has the famed “library tan” that makes them the envy of every Goth chick that has to put on lots of make-up to achieve the same look.
Ph.D. wardrobe is dominated by practicality and the knowledge that nobody except the 80-year old, bespectacled archiver who hands us the folders in the mornings and locks them back up in the evenings will ever see it. Soft-soled shoes for the library floors, warm sweaters for the draft in the research cubicles, baggy pants with enough pockets to carry everything that would go into the handbag you aren’t allowed to take into the reading hall.
So when Marietta showed up at the group meeting the other day with her reading t-shirt, it was proof that Ph.D. candidates sometimes do at least keep their good humor when it comes to wardrobe choices.
Although if you think about it… what’s sexier that a woman in glasses who looks up at you from a pile of books in front of her, slightly disheveled from hours of reading, her gaze focusing on you over the rim of her spectacles?
not much, I would say. thank you for a post even I can understand and digest
and somehow it still feels familiar though I never Ph.D.ed.
“what’s sexier that a woman in glasses who looks up at you from a pile of books in front of her, slightly disheveled from hours of reading, her gaze focusing on you over the rim of her spectacles?”
Oooh! The thought that she can actually see you… and even distinguish you from the books and the library lamps?
I don’t envy you gals. It’s been a while since I got done with school (just an MS-Chemistry, mind you) and I’m glad that people don’t call me raccoonie anymore! 
I don’t know if it’s sexier, but it’s an interesting way of ending a library session, especially with a cup of coffee in between to chat about your PhD notes and books and whatever…
It would be a shame if only the librarians can have a look at us! Don’t forget the endless hours you spend in front of a mirror before going to teach a seminar. You should always look better and wealthier (even if it’s a lie) than your students. Sounds sarcastic but hey, that’s the way it is. Maybe we are more inclined to dress up more at other “social” events then. I remember Marietta last weekend before the defence, asking: am I too dressed up? Heck, no, only because she was wearing a skirt and some feminine shoes! I’m for a petition: Better clothes for Ph.D. Candidates!!! (And do not necessarily copy your mentor’s style, especially if it’s the “floating princess with sado-maso-shoes style”! eeek!)