This is just something I'm curious about, as I've seen so many different styles in different professions, its just something that interests me.

When I was a child most of my private instrumental teachers would wear fairly scruffy jeans with denim or leather jackets, but the fact that they didn't dress smartly never affected the way I (or my parents) perceived them as professionals. In fact the best teachers/musicians I knew were the ones that dressed in this way.

I've been teaching privately in pupils' homes for 10 years, and I always like to look presentable and smart, but never too formal as I feel it is an informal situation and pupils should feel comfortable in their own homes. In fact some pupils, especially adults admit to feeling quite intimidated by the thought of music lessons. They seem to worry about disapproval from the teacher or appearing unintelligent, so I like to keep my outfits fairly relaxed rather than turn up in a business suit and really scare them! I like to wear what I consider to be smart jeans with a tailored blouse and smart shoes.

Just out of interest, how do some of you dress when teaching from home or visiting pupils? Do you think it matters?

I teach from home and I aim for 'smart casual' - I don't like to appear scruffy to my students, but a suit would be way over the top in this situation. I avoid jeans, and try to make sure that I am always reasonably presentable. However, students who arrive early (ie before their lesson time) on a Saturday morning have occasionally found me with my head in a towel - I am always ready on time, but sometimes only just! (Pet hate : people who can't sit in their cars for 5 minutes or contain themselves when they arrive early - grrr.......)

As a student, I'm not bothered what you wear. Clown outfit, suit of armour or top hat and tails are all acceptable.

mmmm, yes I had a student arrive one hour before her due time as school finished early and she didn't have a watch?! I only opened the door as I thought it was an important delivery, very awkward and couldn't turn her away as her walk home was half hour. Anyways, luckily I wasn't in my scruffy tracksuit and had dressed ready for work much earlier than usual. I normally wear smart trousers or jeans and a top. I try and avoid logo tops and anything too low cut! Sometimes I'd love to teach in a tracksuit, but I would't feel right or would feel parents would look at me as if I wasn't proffessional.

Ha ha thats funny!

I think anything that you would wear to work in any other job - meaning not your oldest, scruffiest jeans and baggiest shirts. And it should be clean obviously

The rest is personal style really - I don't think you should feel dressed up to an extent that makes you feel uncomfortable, because that most certainly will come across. Joggies and slippers are IMO not a good idea though, because it comes across unprofessional - you wouldn't wear them in an office, and just because you are home, it shouldn't mean that you teach in your comfy-clothes.

I wear anyting from T-Shirts and Jeans to smart casual (Twin-Sets, skirts etc, but normally, I am more of a trouser-type anyway). I just make sure I look neat, my hair is fixed (difficult enough with hair like mine! ). Make-up is usually minimal (mineral foundation, khol/mascara and a bit of gloss).

I am also more of a trouser/jeans type - much more practical when sitting on the floor doing theory with young children.

However, a suit of armour would make it very hard to fit a clarinet in your mouth

In answer to the original question, to be honest I think JoMook has hit the nail on the head : I'll wear clothes! Nothing really, really scruffy, though! It has been known for me to teach in a Charlton football shirt...

I'm having trouble getting the image of myself turning up in a suit of armour out of my head now!

Me too - I teach one girl where theory is always done on the floor!

I wear whatever I've put on that morning.
I don't worry about footwear and don't change out of my slippers.

I always wear skirts and sweaters, occasionally trousers but not jeans.
Barbara

I definitely keep the slippers! I don't DO smart so it's usually clean jeans and a reasonably respectable top - I do change out of joggers...

W

Its interesting to see that most of you agree with me that its not necessary to dress formally, you just go with your personal style, as I do.

Just as a look at the differences from country to country, in France all school teachers (where I live at any rate) where jeans, t-shirts, any thing goes.
However, pupils have to stand up when they come into the room, say good morning etc. and disrespect is a MAJOR offence.
Clothes do not maketh the man over here.

I was once told by a very experienced primary school teacher that if you teach young children you should wear bright clothes and sparkly things - it gets their attention. As this suits me down to the ground, I have adopted it as my dress code (in life as well as teaching). However, I am quite happy to teach in a tracksuit when I have to race out the house straight after the lesson.

[quote name='dolce@piano' date='Oct 29 2009, 02:41 PM' post='889559']
[quote]
I was once told by a very experienced primary school teacher that if you teach young children you should wear bright clothes and sparkly things - it gets their attention. As this suits me down to the ground, I have adopted it as my dress code (in life as well as teaching)[/quote]


This is a very interesting point. I can imagine that dressing in very dull sombre colours might have a similar effect to speaking in a monotone - you lose their attention.

If it's summer I do change out of shorts into either cropped trousers or a dress/skirt.

My son's piano teacher (late twenties) always looked good for lessons - smart casual as you say, but one Saturday morning he arrived to accompany said son for a flute exam in tie-dyed tee shirt and orange and white cotton billowing trousers. It took all I had not to fall about laughing....!!! Fortunately, son was unfazed!

I agree about not being too smart....I once had a piano teacher who insisted on wearing a suit to teach me, and I always felt really intimidated by her. It was like being taught by my headmsitress - horribly formal and stuffy. The worst bit was that my mum thought that if the teacher was dressed really smartly, then I ought to be too, so my jeans were banned and I had to go to my piano lessons in "nice" skirts etc. I hated those lessons with a passion!

Ho Ho - we're back to a clown's outfit!

(Only joking BC)

I wear pretty much what I want, provided that it is clean. My only rule for myself is not to expose too much flesh and to quickly check the mirror to make sure I've not inadvertently got food in my teeth or on my face! . I often wear my slippers, as I've seen a couple of other teachers do. Some of my students even bring theirs (adults mostly)! I feel it's fair to dress in a way I'd expect my pupils to dress. It doesn't really matter, as long as it's clean, inoffensive and doesn't hamper playing in any way.

Occasionally, if I have a new starter, I might make a little more effort and be smart, but most of the time I don't like dressing this way. For me, it's an acknowledgement that people should be judged by their appearance, which I don't agree with.

On radio 4 this morning, someone mentioned about those in academic professions having more freedom in what they wear than those in many other professions. I'd slightly disagree with this though. When I worked at a primary school last year, all the other (female) teachers there dressed like they'd come off an assembly line: suits and shirts. On a few occasions I turned up wearing something different, say smart dresses and boots or a more unusual (but still smart) pair of shoes. I often felt they were looking at me as though I was a museum exhibition! But I refuse to succumb to anybody telling me what to wear. It doesn't make any difference!

Hey Twinkle, do you think that bikinis are out then? Only teasing!!

When I first started teaching I just dressed how I normally would, and I felt that I sometimes was not taken seriously, for example, fees not being paid on time, lots of missed lessons without payment, no practise, etc. This I think was due to my age and the fact that piano was kind of new in the area, I don't think people knew what to think of it. For a few months I dressed really smart and I have to say it made a difference. People started to respect me a bit more. After a while though I got sick of it so I went back to normal clothes, such as jeans, a top, pumps and sometimes trainers. When I'm having a lazy day I would wear a tracksuit but this is rare. However, I don't have any of the problems I had before the smart dressing. It's strange how clothes can affect the way people perceive you though.

It's jeans and slippers (oh yes, and something on my top half too if I remember... ) for me for my at-home Saturday shift. The travel-to Sunday pupes usually get jeans and a baggy old jumper. In school I am smarter but quite funky for an Old Bag. I always wear immaculate make-up (don't knock it - we Bags have pink stripes to manoevre the mascara wand around) and have a fine selection of skinny jeans and boots

Bx

I often wear jeans - and usually a smart top. And I always wear my slippers because I never wear my shoes in my living-room where I teach (but don't mind if my students do - although most will take them off if it's very wet outside).

Whatever I want, usually jeans (of the variety that are clean and no rips or oil stains etc.), and smart casual on the top.

When it comes to footwear comfort is mandatory and therfore almost always flat (boots of varying type in winter, trainers or similar in summer). I simply cannot stand for any length of time in heels without my feet being crippled.

Suits and 'power dressing' have their place, but not in a musicians every day life. I far prefer to blend in with the background, rather than looking as though I'm attending a job interview at the Bank of England

Charming!

Yes, my collection of both of those is growing rapidly

Jeans - or cotton weight trousers - if it's hot. Shirt or T shirt and cardigan over the top if it's chilly.
I hate clothes and don't care one iota about fashion. I wear what is clean, comfortable and affordable. For concerts I always have a panic session - and usually end up simply with a new pair of trousers and a new shirt - just something they didn't see me in last year.

My wardrobe is divided into three parts - what is respectable enough to teach in, what will do for going shopping and what is only good enough for walking the dogs and gardening. After that clothes descend into the duster and floorcloth department!

I occasionally envy those who manage to look so much smarter than me but in the end I have to admit I am simply not on that level. Remember Gaby and her walk in wardrobe in "Desperate Housewives"? She would have written me off as a hopeless case!!

I hope you don't wear the football shirt when you teach me next (I can't stand football )

Anyway, I think my teachers wear what they 'always wear' and nothing 'special' just for lessons, at least I think so. I've never seen my violin teacher outside of our 'music lessons' but have seen my double bass teacher out and about and at other events and she always dresses her normal usual way which is fine by me as she's absolutely lovely

OK, I'll choose non-football wear for your next lesson!

De rigeur if you are teaching the Berio Sequenza for trombone.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZqlUhN7TbAk...e=youtube_gdata

Bag certainly causes A Bit of a Stir at times - a couple of her 'specialities' that come to mind are a blue shaggy, sparkly cardigan and SHOCKING PINK CROCODILE BOOTS. Her students definitely think she comes under the heading of 'cool'...!

I really don't care what teachers wear so long as it's respectable and clean.

Barry might get some stick if he comes here in his Charlton shirt though

My Charlton shirt is very nice. It's in a nice red colour, that's a bit like one of your local sides. I'll blend in like a local

I have been thinking about this myself recently, and thought probably I will dress up a bit more formally (primary school teacher formal, though, not suit formal) for initial tasters and such. Once a person knows you are a decent teacher they will be able to look past what you are wearing, but I think it forms such a large part of the assumption at the start when they don't know you from Adam and all they have to go on is that you are wearing a scruffy shirt.



Yes, I do that too, though it can work the other way around if it goes too far. I have had a few lessons where the kids just wanted to stroke my skirt, talk about my skirt, and where they were all getting closer and closer and closer and closer at story time, and I had 25 kids pretty well hanging on the hem of my skirt. The next day I wore grey trousers.

What an interesting topic!

I wear jeans and a smart/casual top. Sometimes I can't be bothered wearing shoes in my own home so I stick a pair of socks on. I think that me going barefoot in lessons might turn pupils away!

I'm the in the smart casual camp - with the emphasis on smart. I'm more of a trousers person, but I never wear jeans anyway, even when not teaching. I always wear shoes, never slippers or trainers - for me that's too casual. I am a professional, teaching in a bespoke room in my house, walls lined with bookshelves full of music books and box files of sheet music, diploma certificates on the wall, a table and chairs for theory work - somehow slippers don't fit with the professional image - sorry. Likewise I always wear make up - not OTT at my age (early 50s). I need to separate my home life from my professional life, and dress is one way of doing it - in other words I need not only to BE professional, but to FEEL professional.

I was getting fed up though with having to completely change my clothes once or twice a day just to look smart for teaching. My laundry basket was ridiculously full by the end of the week. You can't really go shopping, clean loos, wash floors and do general everyday stuff in your best clothes. I've more or less solved the problem with a 'mix and match' wardrobe system. I invested in some of those tops which look like dresses and a couple of those new long cardis from M&S which look soft and flowing and really flatter a nice figure All of these can be worn over the cords I've been wearing all day, and I can either keep the same T-shirt/top on as well or swap for a 'dress' top. I will change my multi-coloured socks which I wore to go out or do chores in for popsocks and some pretty shoes to finish off my transformed outfit for teaching. Sometimes I will change into a skirt but not as often as I used to as it is more hassle finding a comfortable pair of tights and more washing

I'm not into dressing formally to teach, but I really don't think I could do it in slippers or jogging bottoms. I know it doesn't really matter much, but I'd just feel like a slob. How can you ask for precision in a sparkly piece of Baroque music in a pair of furry slippers? I wouldn't even be in my slippers if I was having friends round. I must say, though, that I'm surprised after reading the thread how much it seems I may be in the minority! The odd time, I've had somebody for an extra lesson before an exam or whatever and it's been at an odd time, and I've come in from the garden looking scruffy, but this is definitely not the norm for me when I'm teaching. (Maybe I just have an aversion to slippers...I don't care what pupils wear, incidentally, as long as they can pedal...)

I am a teaching assistant in a primary school by day and teach privately in the evening, therefore what I wear for my day job (smart casual but no jeans or low necked tops!!) is generally what I teach in. In half term and holidays I still dress smart casual but would wear jeans. I would never, ever consider wearing slippers I consider myself to be professional and don't think slippers go with a professional image!! Just my humble opinion

This is an interesting point. When I first started teaching I had similar problems, I felt like people weren't taking me seriously enough, and the fact that I had bills to pay and was trying to earn a living. However I used to dress much more formally in those days (was trying to make a good impression). Now I dress more casually. I don't get these problems anymore, people definitely respect me as a professional more nowadays. I think in my case its more to do with the fact that my own attitude has changed over the years, with my growing confidence in myself as a professional. Somehow people tend to pick up on things like that.

I wear slippers almost the entire time, indoors and out. I don't use my feet anyway cos I am in my wheelchair, so dressing them up in outdoor-wear is just a hassle and expense I can live without. They are not fluffy or bear claws or anything, though, either ballet shoe style in summer or men's black boot slippers in winter. I don't think they are that amazingly different from shoes. Actually in my case I think many people are going to take so long to get over the wheelchair surprise I may as well be in the suit of armour...

Although I never wear slippers (at any time), I also never wear shoes in the house - one of the influences of living for a long time in a country where no-one would ever do this - so I wear socks at all times. I don't feel that this is unprofessional. I always change my clothes to teach and like to appear smart/causal for my pupils and their parents.

i think being a musician, people sometimes almost expect me to have some 'weird' personal style. my teen girls' faces e.g. always light up when i wear my black riding boots or my pink croc ones (greetings to bagpuss, i wear them, too ), and i've been known for wearing strange patterned tees and all sorts of weird hairstyles.

the important thing for me is however that people don't see me as a private person lounging about at home, and personally, my comfy clothes and slippers would give that signal. one or the other doesn't make you a better teacher, but i like to separate work and private life. as i said earlier, i need this, and i would feel unprofessional if i didn't.
in the end, everyone has to do what feels best for them though. 'dressing for work' can help without coming across conservative ...

A lot of you have mentioned slippers - some like to wear them, others would feel unprofessional. If I was worried about feeling unprofessional in slippers I think my job might be tricky, because I visit all my pupils in their own homes and a lot of them prefer visitors to remove their shoes. I always respect that, so for a lot of lessons I'm teaching in bare feet or socks. If I was worried about slippers looking unprofessional, wouldn't no shoes be worse?

In response to Mezzo1974, I find it difficult to separate work and private life because music is such a huge part of my life. I get what you're saying though which is why I used to dress formally in an attempt to look professional and "dress for work", but that didn't really work for me because as I say music is my life. Having said that I would never wear my trackie bottoms or pyjamas to teach!

I wear mainly black skinny jeans, boots, long top. Thermals head to foot underneath for a couple of schools!!
My only rule to myself is not blue jeans at school or home (not sure why!) and to cover up my tattoos as much as possible - bit more difficult in the summer without baking, but people don't seem so concerned with them nowadays anyway.

music is my life as well - lounging on the sofa isn't

in all seriousness though: many of my students take their shoes off for singing, i don't mind that at all and don't find it strange. it's just not what i do when i'm working, personal choice really.

but i certainly don't do 'formal', i don't dress any different than i would do anyway when working (apart from stagework of course).
i don't wear a tracksuit to the supermarket either, i only wear these type of clothes for sports

Me too. As much as I don't dress formally, I still make an effort to look nice and put together, whether I'm teaching or just going to the supermarket. The only time I really dress down is at the gym or when I'm in my pyjamas.

It does seem that for most of us it is personal choice - what feels right for you personally when teaching, whether it is dressing up a bit or not bothering. The pupils/parents don't seem bothered at all what we wear, as long as its decent. I can't imagine losing a pupil due to looking a bit scruffy. They're more interested in our skills as a musician. Its not the same as an office job where workers are expected to be obedient to the company.