How should I dress for an academic conference?



Manton said:

I always go in guns blazing but then there's nothing at stake for me except vanity.

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I like this attitude.

I prefer to wear something with a little bit of edge and pop; a striped or check shirt, colorful tie, perhaps a suit with an subtle pattern, and I do a pocket square. And of course, make sure it all fits well (which is light years ahead of most in my field). The primary goal is, of course, to discuss your work, but I don't think it would be harmful to stand out a little bit, to get people's attention, to initiate their thoughts of "What is this guy's deal?" If you can get them to notice you, whether by your work, clothes, mannerisms, or speaking style, you've got an edge on having them remember you AFTER the conference. There's obviously a difference between interesting and ostentatious. Maybe my field in the hard sciences is different than humanities, but most colleagues don't give a **** about clothing, one way or the other; those that do, however, appreciate a well-dressed man.... I've received compliments for being "put together very well" or "looking dapper."



speedy4500 said:

I like this attitude.
I prefer to wear something with a little bit of edge and pop; a striped or check shirt, colorful tie, perhaps a suit with an subtle pattern, and I do a pocket square. And of course, make sure it all fits well (which is light years ahead of most in my field). The primary goal is, of course, to discuss your work, but I don't think it would be harmful to stand out a little bit, to get people's attention, to initiate their thoughts of "What is this guy's deal?" If you can get them to notice you, whether by your work, clothes, mannerisms, or speaking style, you've got an edge on having them remember you AFTER the conference. There's obviously a difference between interesting and ostentatious. Maybe my field in the hard sciences is different than humanities, but most colleagues don't give a **** about clothing, one way or the other; those that do, however, appreciate a well-dressed man.... I've received compliments for being "put together very well" or "looking dapper."

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I think the issue, though, is if you're a grad student, you don't want people thinking that you care more about your appearance than your research. Similar to when doing a job interview, especially for an entry-level position, you don't want to look too good.



mikeH said:

Finally getting back around to this. Klobber, I have to ask, what field are you in? I'm pretty sure this would get noticed and commented on at any conference I've ever been to. That includes the one where someone thought she was usefully discrediting Augustine's opinion by emphasizing how much better her sex life was than his. There was a whole lot of and that day. Strangely, I have no idea what she was wearing. OP - when I said make sure people are talking about your paper, this is not what I was talking about! (But I guess you knew that.)

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I would definitely notice what she wore!



unbelragazzo said:

I think the issue, though, is if you're a grad student, you don't want people thinking that you care more about your appearance than your research. Similar to when doing a job interview, especially for an entry-level position, you don't want to look too good.

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If your research is good I don't care what you wear. If I "have to" chose among mediocre candidates, which happens , than I start considering how you'll fit in my lab etc. Again suiting does not come into picture. I am not hiring customer reps. We're talking science here.



mikeH said:

Finally getting back around to this. Klobber, I have to ask, what field are you in? I'm pretty sure this would get noticed and commented on at any conference I've ever been to. That includes the one where someone thought she was usefully discrediting Augustine's opinion by emphasizing how much better her sex life was than his. There was a whole lot of and that day. Strangely, I have no idea what she was wearing. OP - when I said make sure people are talking about your paper, this is not what I was talking about! (But I guess you knew that.)

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In a subset of electrical and electronics engineering in the signal processing, information theory, and wireless communications areas. That pretty much covers my fields, digital communications research and anything related to it. I am not an academic at the moment, but used to be associate professor. I may get back into academics once I make enough money (academia pay sucks).

The people at the conferences I go to are from all walks of life, sartorially and otherwise. Some wear three piece suits, others jeans leather jackets. Very few even notice clothes. I once pissed on myself by splashback from toilet and fellow academics did not notice the wetness on my tan pants.

Teger, I am a humanities academic. Business casual is the way to go for a young scholar. Wearing a suit is unnecessary overkill. You're giving a paper, not interviewing for a job.

Academia is one of the few fields of work where you can wear whatever the hell you want, with a few exceptions like the professional fields which often emulate the professions for which they train students. One should also, of course, take account of regional and national cultures - conference norms in Japan are not the same as those in the UK.

You may, if you are a grad student, not want to stand out as an eccentric, but beyond that, wear what you like and FFS ignore the people telling you to wear security guard-style blue blazer and grey slacks or other dull standards.



Klobber said:

... (academia pay sucks).
...

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Amen bro



unbelragazzo said:

I think the issue, though, is if you're a grad student, you don't want people thinking that you care more about your appearance than your research. Similar to when doing a job interview, especially for an entry-level position, you don't want to look too good.

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On the other hand, when I see someone who is well-dressed, colorful, coordinated and whatnot, I see someone with attention-to-detail, confidence, creativity, self-respect, and other positive aspects. Based on my experience in science, we need more people who are willing to take risks and push the envelope, not just a bunch of slaves to the system who trudge along and turn the crank.

I'm still confused from where the idea arose that you can't both look good (or live well in general) and be a serious scholar or hard-worker. If you eat good food, does that mean you pay more attention to food than research? If you drive a decent car, does that mean you care more about your car than research? If you're work is good enough to get published in a well-known journal, who cares what you wear, eat, or drive?

Then again, I've always been someone who goes against the grain.....



speedy4500 said:

On the other hand, when I see someone who is well-dressed, colorful, coordinated and whatnot, I see someone with attention-to-detail, confidence, creativity, self-respect, and other positive aspects. Based on my experience in science, we need more people who are willing to take risks and push the envelope, not just a bunch of slaves to the system who trudge along and turn the crank.
I'm still confused from where the idea arose that you can't both look good (or live well in general) and be a serious scholar or hard-worker. If you eat good food, does that mean you pay more attention to food than research? If you drive a decent car, does that mean you care more about your car than research? If you're work is good enough to get published in a well-known journal, who cares what you wear, eat, or drive?
Then again, I've always been someone who goes against the grain.....

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In order to be elegant, style should always look effortless. That's especially true in cases like these. You just can't look like you're trying too hard. Also, we're talking here about people who haven't yet been published in well-known journals and are still trying to make their way. As grad students or others interviewing for entry-level jobs, you don't want to give the impression that you think you're hotter **** than you are. As the earlier poster mentioned, it might give worries about how well you will fit into the lab/department.

Stay classic with navy or charcoal suits. Most academic conferences are pretty conservative still.

Of course some scientific gatherings have special dress codes. One we all would like to go:

The first thing to keep in mind is that how you dress will have zero career ramifications. Choose what you wear only for the usual aesthetic and social reasons.


Aesthetically and socially, suits are for business. If the conference is held in some corporate locale or in some government offices, or there is some heavy industry presence of some sort, then suits are good. If the conference is organized around job interviews, and you are buying or selling, suits are fine. Otherwise not. If you are not sure whether it is that sort of conference, wearing low contrast sport coat and pants can be a conservative choice.



Summer, academically oriented conferences usually run to the smart casual. Ties might seem uncomfortable and weird. A jacket will never be out of place at a cold weather conference. If you wear jacket and tie, and the tie seems uncomfortable, you can take it off at the first break, no problem.


If you want to express yourself by wearing a pocket square, thats fine too. Nobody will think your uptight, unless you are uptight.

Stop and take a second to look at the shoes people people are wearing. They will be terrible.



AldenPyle said:

Ties might seem uncomfortable and weird.

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Uncomfortable? Possibly. Weird? Surely NEVER! And PLEASE don't take off the tie without taking off the jacket as well.

Nobody will think you're uptight, unless you are uptight.

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Why worry about this? I'd rather be accused of being "uptight" than praised for being "laid-back".

The rest of the advice in the above posting is excellent.

I've attended a few academic conference where they mostly wear sportscoat or suits without the tie