Shopping as a teacher sure can be tricky! You want to be professional, but you are also working with young kids all day. You need to be comfortable, but portray a welcoming presence. And, as someone who doesn’t like to shop for clothes, I know how hard it can be! Here are my top five tips for for adding to your teacher wardrobe.
1. Layers
In New England, my classroom ranged anywhere from 55 to 95 degrees on any given day. I found the best remedy for that was to make sure that I dressed in layers.
I often kept an extra sweater in my classroom to put on when I felt chilly. I love this blue sweater from Stitch Fix. It is thin and lightweight, but provided me with that extra warmth when I needed it.
2. Comfy Shoes
As teachers, we are on our feet ALL day long. Having a comfortable pair of shoes is a must. If you have recess duty like I did, you’ll also need shoes that can be worn outside on a wet or slushy, wintery day. However, you also need to look professional.
Dansko clogs were one of my favorite types of shoes. They were amazingly comfy and I didn’t feel like I wanted to kick them off the second I got home. The clogs gave me a little bit of height so I could be outside on a soggy day and not have wet feet. They also come in a variety of designs that my students thought were pretty neat!
Tieks are the only flats that I have found that are comfortable. I have friends who could wear the cutest shoes from Target, but flats were always painful for me. Tieks were the answer! I can wear them all day without an issue.
I also love my Toms, but I only wore them on dress-down day on Fridays. I felt that they weren’t quite dressy enough for the rest of the week. However, if your school dress code is more relaxed, these are a comfortable option!
3. Easy to Move
While we should be dressing professionally, being comfortable is also important! Especially as a second grade teacher, I was always on the floor with my students. Needless to say, I didn’t wear many dresses or skirts!
4. Colorful!
When I first started teaching, I felt as though I needed to wear sophisticated colors – black, white and gray. Then someone pointed out to me that I was wearing very boring colors for someone who worked with kids. They were right! I decided then to start wearing brighter colors.
I love these colorful pieces that I was sent from Stitch Fix. I can mix and match them with a variety of pants and even add sweaters or scarves to create different looks.
5. Basic Pieces
My go-to outfit was always a nice pair of black pants. I had a few staples pairs that I would pair with a variety of brightly colored shirts.
I love this pair of pants by New York and Company. They were comfortable and I could wear them with anything. And, bonus, I didn’t have to iron them!
*Bonus Tip*
Keep extra clothes and shoes in your classroom for emergencies! I had a shirt fall apart on me just as the kids were about to walk into the classroom. My school was almost an hour drive from my house – I couldn’t go home to change! Luckily I had an extra shirt in my closet to replace the one that fell apart.
I also kept a pair of cheap, black shoes in my classroom. I could grab them if anything happened to the shoes that I was wearing. Thankfully, I never had to use them, but they were there just in case!
Stitch Fix
If you noticed, I mentioned Stitch Fix quite a bit in this post. There’s a reason for that. I’m a huge fan of this company. I’ve been receiving Fixes for about a while now and it’s been a wonderful experience.
I simply let my stylist know what I am looking for and she picks out a few pieces of clothing that she thinks I might like. She then sends them right to my house – no shopping required! I try them on and choose which pieces I like. I decide which pieces I want to keep and send the rest back. Do I like every single thing she sends? Nope! Is it worth it to avoid going to the store? Definitely! Head on over to Stitch Fix to learn more!
