Playing dress-up July 11, 2013
Posted by mareserinitatis in career, engineering.Tags: cheetah, clothes, engineers, jeans, women in engineering
3 comments
A while back, I wrote a post on EngineerBlogs about how I could never find the right mix of clothes to make me look like an engineer. A lot of people had great advice, and a few months ago, I finally settled on what I call my ‘work uniform’. I looked at most of my male engineering colleagues, and I wore what I viewed to be the equivalent female for an outfit: a button down shirt, jeans, and flats. So far, I like it. We’ll see how I feel once I start teaching this fall.
Okay, I have to admit that one of the shirts has a cheetah pattern. I am amused when I wear this. I’m not sure why, but I think it’s hilarious.
On the other hand, there are days when I still need to step it up. I know a lot of women like to dress up, but it really makes me uncomfortable. Rather than feeling like I’m making a great impression, I feel more like I’m a five-year-old who is rummaging around in mom’s closet for the pumps and lipstick so I can play dress up. I suspect I’d be able to walk in heels better if they were twice the size of my feet but, sadly, I’m no longer able to find anything with same proportions to my adult feet that my five-year-old feet were used to. I probably look just fine, but somehow I feel goofy and just want my jeans back.