It’s not that complicated. It’s like a uniform. And no, it may not be a 100% fit with your colleagues (or at least the colleagues at School X who may inexplicably favor shorts and birkenstocks), but you can’t quite make a mistake either.

Great advice on the trim fit. Thanks for the insider perspective on men’s clothing, Matt!

Please do make sure that you buy shirts that fit you. Even if you are going to buy some off the sale rack, or in a thrift store, first go to an upscale department store and have your measurements taken. Be sure to write down, chest, neck and sleeve length. There is some variability in the accuracy of these measurements between manufacturers, but they are close enough. Be sure to try the shirt before you buy.

Second, if you plan on wearing a dress shirt without a suit coat or a sports coat, consider spending a little more to buy the ‘trim fit’ shirts. They look better with chinos, slacks and jeans. Even better, they are not just made for skinny guys. If you buy the right chest size, they even fit those of us who are a little thicker around the middle than we should be.

And I really like the advice given up thread and in the post. Make sure you feel comfortable in the clothes you wear to the interview. Wear your suit or interview outfit multiple times to teach in and to present in, even if you are a little over dressed for the occasion. This dress rehearsal will let you iron out the bugs in your clothes and help you make sure you are wearing the right size of everything.

Interview: Blue blazer, solid button-down color shirt with collar, immaculate khakis, new dress shoes, dark socks. Yes, I have to actually decide about the socks.

Teachies: Well-loved, worn down tweed sport coat that is immediately draped over a chair, like I’m frickin’ Fred Rogers, khakis, some combination of socks and foot covering that is not sandal related. Occasional baseball cap to be doffed, if doffed is the word I’m looking for, when I reach the classroom. Occasional ceramic necklace with space alien medallion or WWII 103d Infantry patch on it, depending on the topic (I teach lit classes about WWII and conspiracy theory). Would consider the space alien medallion for an interview (I would, of course, have a story about it and demonstrate that it is actually sort of consistent with my research and teaching agendas). A computer bag with only a notepad in it completes the effect.

In interviews, candidates have relatively little information about what’s going on in the heads of the people making decisions. I have a feeling that folks get superstitious about the tiny, insignificant things they happen to have control over. Not worth it.

RJB

My mother always said this, and I think it’s true. Plus, sitting on those damn couches, you can’t help but focus on shoes.

I don’t think trans- or cis-men ncessarily need to wear ties. A nice sweater under a jacket is perfectly nice, although passing from one temp zone to another can be tricky.

The Radical — who is gendered somewhere in the middle of whatever genders folks are aware of, regardless of how few that might be, — always wears black, black, black, and black. It strikes a good note between “ick I don’t wear grrrl clothes”and “I am being formal.”

I’d say that paying attention to the clothing of the interviewers who may call you back for an on-campus interview is a really smart thing to do. Did the men wear jackets and ties? Did the women wear suits, or less constructed/funkier looks? Did it look like they made an effort, or were they complete slobs? Take your cues from them–unless they were complete slobs of course. In that case, I’d aim higher.

I personally like individuality in clothing, but I don’t hire people for their fashion sense. After all, a dark suit with changes of blouses/sweaters/shirts make a great deal of sense for a travel wardrobe of limited size and complexity, especially when one is interviewing in most places in North America in winter.