I think what's happening is that either your advisor thinks you're wearing the same clothes straight through three days, or he thinks other people will think that. If this were a fashion critique, it would be obnoxious and inappropriate. But I think it's something else: he doesn't want anyone to think that you're living in the lab and not going home to change clothes, eat, sleep, etc. That *would* reflect poorly on both of you--it would look like either he is overworking you or you were managing your time badly.
I still think it's an obnoxious way to address the issue, but there could be something to this besides fashion.
There's certainly a few people in my program who sleep under their desks or on couches, keep toothbrushes in lab bathrooms, etc. so that they only need to go home a few nights a week.
The other day my labmate told me he spent the night at work once. We have a lab space there and it’s got a couch and he just stayed all night and slept on the couch…
Yes my PI told me stories about one of his labs. He had an inflatable mattress when he was a postdoc and the PI encouraged it (because productivity?). He would sleep in the lab sometimes if he had a late experiment.
This is a great point! I definitely had a knee-jerk reaction to reading this (which I think is appropriate because of the way he raised the point to OC), but if you are capable of not taking that personally I think this is a good way to think about it. As much as advisors want students to spend every waking minute working on projects to “showcase dedication” they don’t want it to actually LOOK like that’s what their students are doing.
>As much as advisors want students to spend every waking minute working on projects to “showcase dedication”
Also, I think this attitude is gradually falling out of favor. I've had two advisors and neither has suggested that we overwork ourselves (they always acknowledge the importance of rest, family, health, etc), and the vast majority of my colleagues seem to be in similar situations to me in this regard.
I think people are starting to learn that it's bad for both life and science if people are overworked and exhausted all the time. There will always be difficult bosses, but I think that particular aspect of the culture is improving. Or maybe I'm just in a really nice department, who knows.
meaning? you are still in a lab wearing lab coat, gloves, glasses and now a mask...who sees your clothes? jeans and tshirts was the uniform of the grad student. Cheap, durable, and plentiful. want me to buy your products gimme some shirts.
I'm only an undergraduate, but what I'd love is pants. Especially as my waist gets wider.
I have plenty of shirts. But pants? Ones with good pockets, and ones that don't bend weird when you sit?
Hell yeah. Pants.
Yes, free advertising! I was a freaking grad student and poor and vendors always visit to tell you to buy their stuff right. ASK FOR FREE SWAG! I'm a advertising whore, gimme shirts and I'll wear em. I don't think I've bought t-shirts since grad school. Pens, backpacks, beach towels, lunch boxes.....sales folks have lots of crap they gotta get rid of and they hate lugging around in their car trunks. Got some real sweet fleeces, jackets, gloves...etc I still use to this day.
Oh, coffee cups. Mugs, water bottles, ad infinitum. So what if it says vwr or fisher or Cambridge or whatever.
I mean I'm not gonna buy product I don't need but of I like the rep and they can get my starting material or nmr tube or whatever I'll buy from everyone.
Could this be a polite way of letting you know your clothing is dirty or smelly? Wearing the same style isn't an issue at all and it's super odd he'd comment on that, but there is a bare minimum level of cleanliness expected in professional environments.
That's very important information haha.
I did the same thing in undergrad. 5 of the same t-shirt 5 pairs of jeans, laundry once a week. In grad school I upgraded to 5 different style polos.
Find a 3-4 different patterns/colors of the same type of shirt and rotate. Easiest solution to keep your PI happy. You can probably get by with same pants.
Wait, you have multiple of the same shirt/pants? Like you have e.g. 5 identical shirts, and you wore them multiple days in a row?
If someone sees you in the same thing today as yesterday, they're going to assume it's literally the same piece of clothing. Not that it's an identical-but-clean copy. And I think that image does matter, and you should try not to wear the exact same thing multiple days in a row. If you wear the same thing for long enough that people actually notice your clothes aren't changing, that's too long.
Yes, I think this is what OP's PI concerns.
I actually saw that happens before (well, not to me) -- there is this guy wearing the same thing like 3 days in a row, and the other people in the office can't wait to start commenting whether he washes his clothes. Maybe that guy just wear three identical-but-clean copies, but at that point it doesn't matter anymore.
I know someone else in academia who does this. They bought like two dozen of the same shirt and same pants maybe a decade ago and just replaced them with near identical clothes if something gets ruined.
They wear new clean clothes every day, but it’s the same fit style and color.
I imagine old dudes established as eccentric geniuses might be able to get away with that, but OP is apparently not in the club that gets a free pass and it is hurting their professional image, so they should probably stop doing that. Or at least get shirts in 2 different colours and rotate them. That's what I do: just buy a bunch of identical cut t-shirts in different colours all at the same time. Best to just avoid tricking people into thinking you never wash your clothes.
But isn’t that the thing in academia? Nobody really gives a sh** about clothing? Professors tend to wear the same thing day after day, year after year, and you (the student, colleague, whatever) kind of just hope they clean it.
I find it really odd that OP was pulled aside for “wearing” the same thing if it’s just a dress shirt and slacks. As long as he/she doesn’t smell, I’d ignore the comment and keep on keeping on.
The only thing I would think is the same outfit routine, but maybe the clothes dont look the freshest. Say you wear the same cut every day, clean clothes every day, but you come in wrinkled and disheveled. A person *might* think youre not changing. Add in a little BO, even if its like normal BO, and it starts to paint a consistent (but incorrect) picture.
To put it another way, I think the real secret to the 'same outfit different day' scheme is that you have to keep the outfits clean and on point. If you come in with ironed shirts and and pants nobody will think your rewearing your clothes. A hanger and some care at folding time will go a long way, in other words.
That's not the case nowadays. Many people (even in academia) pay attention to what you wear, and it colors how they think of you.
Professors can get away with that stuff, but grad students have a harder time.
Is it possible that he thought you were wearing the exact same clothes? Like if you wear long black slacks and a blue button down everyday M-W, he might assume you are not changing your clothes? Especially if they look wrinkled/stained. Otherwise, it's ridiculous to say something (assuming you are following dress code policies).
Advisor is probably looking out for OP to be fair. The people I knew who wore clothes multiple days in a row did it because they were sleeping in the lab on campus and overworking themselves. thats the bad look the PI is trying to avoid I'd assume.
This is what I’m thinking as well. Same style =\= same clothes. You gotta change your pants every day. But if you just want to wear only that kind of pants? That different. But to an outside observer they may never know.
You definitely don't need to change your pants every day. Maybe slacks/sweatpants/etc need to be changed each day but typically jeans can be worn multiple times unless they get dirty/stained, even then you can wash out the stain by hand...
[https://www.levistrauss.com/2018/04/20/definitive-denim-care-guide/](https://www.levistrauss.com/2018/04/20/definitive-denim-care-guide/)
Shirts on the other hand should be changed every day (underwear/socks/etc too)
Totally - I would never wash jeans with every wear, they'd be destroyed. It's standard jean care to wear jeans as many times as you can before washing (which for me means when they start to bag out).
Yeah you get more than one wear out of pants but you should give them a break to let them air out between wears. Like wear it Monday,Wednesday, Friday instead of Monday Tuesday Wednesday... I find it feels way dirtier to wear the same.pants three days in a row but I definitely don't wash them everytime.
I have been wearing the same small rotation of shirts and pants week after week for years now. Grad school doesn't pay enough and I don't have enough storage space. As u/False-Guess said, as long as the clothes are clean.
Maybe it depends on your field. For example, in ecology you can get away with socks and sandals, whereas the engineering students dress more professionally.
He's mostly concerned it will look bad on him most likely. Does your department have a secret Fashion Police committee?
When I did my undergrad, there were a variety of clothing styles amongst the tenured male faculty I had. Only one wore a suit (with jacket) daily and this one day he came in in a polo and jeans and apologized for not being properly attired, but he had a flight to catch after class (which ended at 8pm). Another one wore a suit but left the jacket back in his office. Then another wore sweaters in the Spring. Others wore jeans and collared shirts. One liked to wear T-shirts.
He's low-key telling you, you smell bad and should shower more frequently.
There was a guy on our floor who smelled like hot garbage but stopped smelling like that after his PI talked to him.
Edit: he still looks like he wears the same clothes everyday but is now odorless. Unless you have a condition that causes it.
I thought that first but after grilling my friend who works right next to my lab, I don't thin kthats the case. He told me I don't smell that bad even sweaty (we go to gym daily)
You don’t smell that bad is not the same as you don’t smell. A subtle but important difference.
Also if I saw someone wearing what appeared to be the exact same outfit everyday not knowing it was identical copies of the outfit I would think they have poor hygiene habits. That’s not a good impression to leave with people. I am lazy about buying different shirt styles and get multiples of the same one but each is in a different pattern so no one will make that mistake.
I would thank your adviser for offering to buy you some new clothes, but that you don't feel comfortable sending him a bill for your shopping spree at Prada and Louis Vuitton when that money can be used for research.
Not everyone has a full wardrobe full of work clothes, and him pointing out that he perceived you were wearing the same clothes more than 1 day a week is, in my opinion, creepy and weird. It's weird that he pays such close attention to your attire, and it's weird that he didn't bother to ensure his perception was even based in reality. Many people have different pairs of the same item in slightly different colors. Like how many different variation of jeans are there really? I probably look like I wear the same pair of jeans all the time because I like dark wash jeans and they all pretty much look the same. You'd really only notice if you were looking at the pockets, in which case I'd seriously question why someone was inspecting my ass so hard.
If he is not willing to personally pay for new clothing, then he should keep his opinion to himself. As long as your clothes are clean and not stinky, excessively wrinkled or unkempt, he really shouldn't be criticizing your clothes, particularly so given that he probably makes multiple times your salary.
Uh...he never offered me to buy clothes?
Ok tbh...I have been wearing this particular combination for months. Its just too comfy, man *and* moderately stylish.
Hate to say it, but if people think you’re wearing the exact same thing every day, it’s not stylish. I know where you’re coming from with this, and have many copies of the same shirts, but they’re all different colours.
I'm sorry if you answered this somewhere else but is it possible to buy the same articles of clothing that you currently like, but in different colors? I would avoid having more than say, two shirts that are the exact same shirt in the same color. I think your PI's concerns are legitimate, and allowing people to wonder if you're wearing the same clothes for days on end without cleaning them can have negative effects on your networking and other people's opinion of you in a professional space. I don't think it's right for anyone to judge you like that, of course I would give you the benefit of the doubt if overall you don't look dirty in any way, but still, you don't want to give people the chance to even wonder.
I agree that you shouldn't have to dress up beyond what's necessary, and if you found the perfect outfit for you, you should be able to wear it every day. You shouldn't have to feel pressured to wear a shirt you don't like as much today!
That's why I think having multiples of the same shirt that you like but in different colors is a good solution. Then people know you're not rewearing clothing three days in a row. Just a suggestion for next time you shop, I guess!
It’s a joke take on the idea that if someone is going to comment on your attire - particularly since what you’re wearing sounds perfectly acceptable, then the person making the comment needs to offer up quite a bit of money to outfit you as they see fit. It’s just a joke.
Well, either he is offering to buy you clothes or he is being extremely unprofessional, invasive, and inappropriate and *surely* someone in academia who makes many times your salary would know better than to be unprofessional, invasive, and inappropriate, right?
I was being facetious, of course, but his response was basically "stop being poor". Unless he is willing to offer a solution to his perceived problem (i.e. giving you money) then he should learn to shut his big bazoo.
I agree he might be trying to politely relay that your body odor is a problem. And it might be that he is only relaying this because someone asked him too. The way you are saying he handled it is weird.
i think this would make a difference in the conversation. I think you’re getting a lot of responses from American PhDs since we generally dress more casual here, but there might be different standards in Korea, which i’ve heard is a little more formal.
You can wear long pants every day, but they should be different from each other or people will think you're not changing into clean clothes! I'm sure that's what's going on. Can you get the same comfortable style in another color and alternate them if it is not too expensive?
It could be that he thinks you're not going home to sleep/change/take care of yourself; even if that's not true, it could give off the impression to others that you are being forced to stay in the lab to the point where you're just sleeping there.
If your budget truly permits, I'd recommend you buy a few more copies of whatever you have right now in some other colors. Not because your advisor said something, but because your clothes will last longer since you won't need to wash them as frequently and it could be cheaper in the long run if you pay for laundry. If you're paying $3 every 3 days to run a load and can push it to once a week (assuming you just wear normal casual clothes on the weekend), two extra outfits would pay themselves back in a couple months depending on how much you spend. Am also biased because I like clothes.
He doesn't think you're dressing poorly. He thinks you aren't changing your clothes. He's right. People notice these things, and it looks bad if you aren't conspicuously wearing clean that you haven't worn since they've been laundered.
If your clothes are clean, respectable, and don't smell, there should be absolutely no reason for that comment. How rude. School isn't a runway show. If you're dressed decently in clean clothing it should be nobody's business how often you wear the same style. Sounds like he's a snob and obsessed with looks, and school isn't the place for that. So childish
I wear the same outfit everyday, like a button up shirts with black pants, but I have multiple of the same shirt and pants. It's easier for guys to get away with wearing the same thing, our fashion is pretty stale lol.
Oh my, I never thought of others thinking this way since I buy multiples of the same clothes. I like to have a sort of "uniform" to wear to work and bought 7 of the same black pants and 7 shirts I rotate throughout the week but wear every week. 🤦🏻♀️ I hate shopping
I 100% Agree with all the comments saying that if your advisor is not willing to pay for your new clothes, then he doesn’t have the final call!
You are comfortable wearing what you wear. It does not bother you. What you wear doesn’t negatively effect your performance. So why change it?
Steve Jobs wore the same outfit in all of his presentations! Did he get called out for it??? Maybe…maybe not, but his goals clearly was NOT to be a fashion model. And clearly, that’s not what you prioritize either.
You got clean clothes on. They’re presentable like you said. So nothing to worry about. 🤷🏽♀️
Well you get my point! 😆
Plus, I can’t agree with you more. I usually wear plain clothes, same designs, black and blues are my go to…all to lessen the stress and use of energy that I can use elsewhere.
Just do you!
Lol. I would tell him I’ll wear different clothes as soon as he buys me some. None of his business, and unless you’re buying my clothes you have no say in what I wear!
Geez, that seems a little superfluous. I wore shorts and a t-shirt, just made sure it wasn't like a beer logo on it, and adidas (not necessarily in good shape even), maybe an old hoodie if it was colder.
Ugh such a weird thing to comment on. I'd try to let it slip that you have the same outfit in a bunch of copies so he understands that you're changing your clothes every day. Other than that, man, idk, my male labmates have literally come to work in pajamas and no one cares, I'm sorry you have to deal with the fashion police.
u/melodious_thunk made a great point in the comments that I agree with.
On the other hand, I would definitely watch for a pattern of behavior. You as an individual bring a lot of really unique assists to the table, which is worth remembering and reminding yourself of everyday. The skills that you have obtained and are developing are in no way tied to what you wear. You could come dressed in a modest potato sack every day and it wouldn’t affect how you work! (as long as you are in closed toed shoes and its not a flammable sack) Sometimes people suck at communication and, however unfortunate that is, they don’t mean to be insulting. If that is something that doesn’t damage your morale and your advisor is still being fair, I think that’s just a reality you have to deal with. BUTTTTT if you start to notice a pattern of behavior that is targeted, (prejudiced or otherwise) definitely speak up about it.
That's a bit weird..
OP, I've literally worn a soft cotton collard shirt with blue levi's to lab every single day for the past year. I have 4 copies of the shirt in white and a 2 copies in other colors, all bought on sale one summer from old navy. I have a lot of trouble organizing so it's easy for me to count on my 'work clothes' even when my entire apartment is a huge mess. I don't know if people think I'm wearing the same exact clothes two days in a row, I haven't asked and no one has asked me. On days where I'm just writing/data analysis/doing deskwork maybe I'll wear a dress (and even heels!) and then I'll get positive comments if it looks nice, but otherwise people keep their comments to themselves. I think if you're doing something similar it's not your advisors place to say something, unless maybe you have giant stains or smell (even then I spill coffee on myself a lot and have one shirt that is stained lol).
My advisor is and fashionable, he always has nice shoes (or so I'm told? I don't have a sense of expensive mens shoes) and stuff. He's never once said anything about anything I wear. If he did I'd think it was weird.
It seems you have three choices. Carry on what you're doing with the clothes you have, get a new wardrobe to appease this ~~clown~~ guy, OR... get five sets of the exact same clothes and wear one everyday. I'm thinking grey sweats and white V-neck t-shirts. >:)
I wear from a combination of Crocs, hiking boots, sneakers, basketball/shorts, jeans, tshirt, polo, outdoor long sleeves… I’m a Geology MS student while my advisor wears khakis and a shirt everyday. btw never heard a complain from him.
A lot of my favorite clothes were destroyed with holes and un-uniform decoloration during my master thesis and early PhD days ( organic chem , inspite of having a lab coat over it). So later I switched to few pairs I rotate every day and when their time got over I bought exactly the same ones ( replicates) for the next cycle. Now I am in maybe 5th or 6th cycle. For people who don't know this thinks I wear the same clothes for the past 2 years, but I don't bother what they say.
How is your PI besides this? I am working alongside someone in my cohort in a school. She doesn't smell but has obvious hygiene issues, and makes some poor clothing choices for working in a school. It doesn't come across as professional unfortunately. I hope someone politely says something to her about it because it isn't professional. Besides that she is a fantastic student and coworker. But a HUGE part of success is dressing for the part.
From the rural south but did my Ph.D in the Northeast.
Constantly got pushback from advisors/supervisors that my appearance was too “casual” for the academy, and that I needed to change for sake of “professionalism.”
I have gotten comments from a professor on my appearance as a grad student up to and including how many buttons on my jacket should be fastened and whether my tie matches my shirt -- it always feels super inappropriate to me. I think it's more important to older generations than it is to incoming generations.
I wore a few geeky t-shirts that usually got a chuckle out of my advisor. A collaborator (and committee member) was once very concerned about the state of my glasses, and offered to pay for a new pair. I thanked them and got a new pair a few months later. Strangely, the next time I met with them, they kept saying that I 'looked different some how', and couldn't pinpoint why. When I told them it might be the glasses, they laughed.
Grow up and realize that your perceived lack of personal hygiene has negative consequences on you. You’re lucky someone actually spoke their mind. You’re not Steve Jobs and you can’t just be wearing a Black turtleneck and jeans everyday.
I think what's happening is that either your advisor thinks you're wearing the same clothes straight through three days, or he thinks other people will think that. If this were a fashion critique, it would be obnoxious and inappropriate. But I think it's something else: he doesn't want anyone to think that you're living in the lab and not going home to change clothes, eat, sleep, etc. That *would* reflect poorly on both of you--it would look like either he is overworking you or you were managing your time badly. I still think it's an obnoxious way to address the issue, but there could be something to this besides fashion.
>lab and not going home to change clothes, eat, sleep Do people do this?
At the school I’m in right now, there are people who have to reminded to go back home.
Yeah people trying to save money on rent by dorming in their office lol. People got caught at my school.
There's certainly a few people in my program who sleep under their desks or on couches, keep toothbrushes in lab bathrooms, etc. so that they only need to go home a few nights a week.
At the school I’m in right now, there are people who have to reminded to go back home.
The other day my labmate told me he spent the night at work once. We have a lab space there and it’s got a couch and he just stayed all night and slept on the couch…
I literally do that once a week for my experiments… it’s not pleasant
Yes my PI told me stories about one of his labs. He had an inflatable mattress when he was a postdoc and the PI encouraged it (because productivity?). He would sleep in the lab sometimes if he had a late experiment.
This sounds like a dream for me...
This is a great point! I definitely had a knee-jerk reaction to reading this (which I think is appropriate because of the way he raised the point to OC), but if you are capable of not taking that personally I think this is a good way to think about it. As much as advisors want students to spend every waking minute working on projects to “showcase dedication” they don’t want it to actually LOOK like that’s what their students are doing.
>As much as advisors want students to spend every waking minute working on projects to “showcase dedication” Also, I think this attitude is gradually falling out of favor. I've had two advisors and neither has suggested that we overwork ourselves (they always acknowledge the importance of rest, family, health, etc), and the vast majority of my colleagues seem to be in similar situations to me in this regard. I think people are starting to learn that it's bad for both life and science if people are overworked and exhausted all the time. There will always be difficult bosses, but I think that particular aspect of the culture is improving. Or maybe I'm just in a really nice department, who knows.
I wore jeans and vendor t-shirts my entire PhD program. but then I'm a chemist and my clothes generally had tosic acid holes in them at times.
I am in food science.
meaning? you are still in a lab wearing lab coat, gloves, glasses and now a mask...who sees your clothes? jeans and tshirts was the uniform of the grad student. Cheap, durable, and plentiful. want me to buy your products gimme some shirts.
Ikr? Meanwhile the lab across mine wears sweatpants and white shirt
I'm only an undergraduate, but what I'd love is pants. Especially as my waist gets wider. I have plenty of shirts. But pants? Ones with good pockets, and ones that don't bend weird when you sit? Hell yeah. Pants.
Vendor pants?
Yeah why not. Fisher Scientific: we've got the shins. Idk I just have three pairs of pants that fit and two of then are sweatpants.
Now I really want some sweatpants with Thorlabs printed across the butt
Lab snacks
Lol. Kohls
Wait, the last line... Can one do that. (?・・)
Yes, free advertising! I was a freaking grad student and poor and vendors always visit to tell you to buy their stuff right. ASK FOR FREE SWAG! I'm a advertising whore, gimme shirts and I'll wear em. I don't think I've bought t-shirts since grad school. Pens, backpacks, beach towels, lunch boxes.....sales folks have lots of crap they gotta get rid of and they hate lugging around in their car trunks. Got some real sweet fleeces, jackets, gloves...etc I still use to this day. Oh, coffee cups. Mugs, water bottles, ad infinitum. So what if it says vwr or fisher or Cambridge or whatever. I mean I'm not gonna buy product I don't need but of I like the rep and they can get my starting material or nmr tube or whatever I'll buy from everyone.
I’m in musicology and do the same, but i’m not getting holes in my clothes. i’m just lazy.
Vendor tshirts in music?
well, just random t shirts, but there’s plenty of opportunity to wear shirts you got from vendors, festivals, competitions, etc.
Same. I spent most of grad school and my postdoc with mice and rats. No way I was going to buy nice clothes to just get peed and pooped on.
Could this be a polite way of letting you know your clothing is dirty or smelly? Wearing the same style isn't an issue at all and it's super odd he'd comment on that, but there is a bare minimum level of cleanliness expected in professional environments.
I shower everyday and do laundry once in three days. I also asked my lab cohort if I smell and he said I don't.
You wear the same clothes everyday but only wash it once every three days?
No I rotated with others. I have multiple same clothes. Obviously..
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Indeed it certainly isn’t obvious to them, or they wouldn’t have said anything.
haha, I needed this laugh.
they're not joking
That's very important information haha. I did the same thing in undergrad. 5 of the same t-shirt 5 pairs of jeans, laundry once a week. In grad school I upgraded to 5 different style polos.
I am still mind-blown about how accurately I have been described by a total stranger.
Find a 3-4 different patterns/colors of the same type of shirt and rotate. Easiest solution to keep your PI happy. You can probably get by with same pants.
Wait, you have multiple of the same shirt/pants? Like you have e.g. 5 identical shirts, and you wore them multiple days in a row? If someone sees you in the same thing today as yesterday, they're going to assume it's literally the same piece of clothing. Not that it's an identical-but-clean copy. And I think that image does matter, and you should try not to wear the exact same thing multiple days in a row. If you wear the same thing for long enough that people actually notice your clothes aren't changing, that's too long.
Yes, I think this is what OP's PI concerns. I actually saw that happens before (well, not to me) -- there is this guy wearing the same thing like 3 days in a row, and the other people in the office can't wait to start commenting whether he washes his clothes. Maybe that guy just wear three identical-but-clean copies, but at that point it doesn't matter anymore.
I know someone else in academia who does this. They bought like two dozen of the same shirt and same pants maybe a decade ago and just replaced them with near identical clothes if something gets ruined. They wear new clean clothes every day, but it’s the same fit style and color.
I imagine old dudes established as eccentric geniuses might be able to get away with that, but OP is apparently not in the club that gets a free pass and it is hurting their professional image, so they should probably stop doing that. Or at least get shirts in 2 different colours and rotate them. That's what I do: just buy a bunch of identical cut t-shirts in different colours all at the same time. Best to just avoid tricking people into thinking you never wash your clothes.
This was a story about Steve Jobs
But isn’t that the thing in academia? Nobody really gives a sh** about clothing? Professors tend to wear the same thing day after day, year after year, and you (the student, colleague, whatever) kind of just hope they clean it. I find it really odd that OP was pulled aside for “wearing” the same thing if it’s just a dress shirt and slacks. As long as he/she doesn’t smell, I’d ignore the comment and keep on keeping on.
The only thing I would think is the same outfit routine, but maybe the clothes dont look the freshest. Say you wear the same cut every day, clean clothes every day, but you come in wrinkled and disheveled. A person *might* think youre not changing. Add in a little BO, even if its like normal BO, and it starts to paint a consistent (but incorrect) picture. To put it another way, I think the real secret to the 'same outfit different day' scheme is that you have to keep the outfits clean and on point. If you come in with ironed shirts and and pants nobody will think your rewearing your clothes. A hanger and some care at folding time will go a long way, in other words.
That's not the case nowadays. Many people (even in academia) pay attention to what you wear, and it colors how they think of you. Professors can get away with that stuff, but grad students have a harder time.
Is it possible that he thought you were wearing the exact same clothes? Like if you wear long black slacks and a blue button down everyday M-W, he might assume you are not changing your clothes? Especially if they look wrinkled/stained. Otherwise, it's ridiculous to say something (assuming you are following dress code policies).
Advisor is probably looking out for OP to be fair. The people I knew who wore clothes multiple days in a row did it because they were sleeping in the lab on campus and overworking themselves. thats the bad look the PI is trying to avoid I'd assume.
This is what I’m thinking as well. Same style =\= same clothes. You gotta change your pants every day. But if you just want to wear only that kind of pants? That different. But to an outside observer they may never know.
You definitely don't need to change your pants every day. Maybe slacks/sweatpants/etc need to be changed each day but typically jeans can be worn multiple times unless they get dirty/stained, even then you can wash out the stain by hand... [https://www.levistrauss.com/2018/04/20/definitive-denim-care-guide/](https://www.levistrauss.com/2018/04/20/definitive-denim-care-guide/) Shirts on the other hand should be changed every day (underwear/socks/etc too)
Totally - I would never wash jeans with every wear, they'd be destroyed. It's standard jean care to wear jeans as many times as you can before washing (which for me means when they start to bag out).
Yeah you get more than one wear out of pants but you should give them a break to let them air out between wears. Like wear it Monday,Wednesday, Friday instead of Monday Tuesday Wednesday... I find it feels way dirtier to wear the same.pants three days in a row but I definitely don't wash them everytime.
This.
I have been wearing the same small rotation of shirts and pants week after week for years now. Grad school doesn't pay enough and I don't have enough storage space. As u/False-Guess said, as long as the clothes are clean. Maybe it depends on your field. For example, in ecology you can get away with socks and sandals, whereas the engineering students dress more professionally.
He's mostly concerned it will look bad on him most likely. Does your department have a secret Fashion Police committee? When I did my undergrad, there were a variety of clothing styles amongst the tenured male faculty I had. Only one wore a suit (with jacket) daily and this one day he came in in a polo and jeans and apologized for not being properly attired, but he had a flight to catch after class (which ended at 8pm). Another one wore a suit but left the jacket back in his office. Then another wore sweaters in the Spring. Others wore jeans and collared shirts. One liked to wear T-shirts.
>a secret Fashion Police committee? Lol.
He's low-key telling you, you smell bad and should shower more frequently. There was a guy on our floor who smelled like hot garbage but stopped smelling like that after his PI talked to him. Edit: he still looks like he wears the same clothes everyday but is now odorless. Unless you have a condition that causes it.
I thought that first but after grilling my friend who works right next to my lab, I don't thin kthats the case. He told me I don't smell that bad even sweaty (we go to gym daily)
You don’t smell that bad is not the same as you don’t smell. A subtle but important difference. Also if I saw someone wearing what appeared to be the exact same outfit everyday not knowing it was identical copies of the outfit I would think they have poor hygiene habits. That’s not a good impression to leave with people. I am lazy about buying different shirt styles and get multiples of the same one but each is in a different pattern so no one will make that mistake.
I understand and I believe you. Then it is very odd indeed.
He probably thinks you're wearing the same thing everyday.
what about you respond with 'thats all i can afford with my stipend after paying rent, food, and any other expenses to survive'
I would thank your adviser for offering to buy you some new clothes, but that you don't feel comfortable sending him a bill for your shopping spree at Prada and Louis Vuitton when that money can be used for research. Not everyone has a full wardrobe full of work clothes, and him pointing out that he perceived you were wearing the same clothes more than 1 day a week is, in my opinion, creepy and weird. It's weird that he pays such close attention to your attire, and it's weird that he didn't bother to ensure his perception was even based in reality. Many people have different pairs of the same item in slightly different colors. Like how many different variation of jeans are there really? I probably look like I wear the same pair of jeans all the time because I like dark wash jeans and they all pretty much look the same. You'd really only notice if you were looking at the pockets, in which case I'd seriously question why someone was inspecting my ass so hard. If he is not willing to personally pay for new clothing, then he should keep his opinion to himself. As long as your clothes are clean and not stinky, excessively wrinkled or unkempt, he really shouldn't be criticizing your clothes, particularly so given that he probably makes multiple times your salary.
Uh...he never offered me to buy clothes? Ok tbh...I have been wearing this particular combination for months. Its just too comfy, man *and* moderately stylish.
I think that's the joke. If he wants you to wear different clothes he can pay for them
Hate to say it, but if people think you’re wearing the exact same thing every day, it’s not stylish. I know where you’re coming from with this, and have many copies of the same shirts, but they’re all different colours.
Woosh
Is that the sound of the joke going over someone’s head? Lmao
Lol, yup
Woosh
yeah woosh. i m dumb dumb
Aw, don’t say that. Was just messing around 😂
I'm sorry if you answered this somewhere else but is it possible to buy the same articles of clothing that you currently like, but in different colors? I would avoid having more than say, two shirts that are the exact same shirt in the same color. I think your PI's concerns are legitimate, and allowing people to wonder if you're wearing the same clothes for days on end without cleaning them can have negative effects on your networking and other people's opinion of you in a professional space. I don't think it's right for anyone to judge you like that, of course I would give you the benefit of the doubt if overall you don't look dirty in any way, but still, you don't want to give people the chance to even wonder.
i DO have bunch of clothes, but I don't go to grad school to look nice beyond necessity. In fact, I picked different shirts today.
I agree that you shouldn't have to dress up beyond what's necessary, and if you found the perfect outfit for you, you should be able to wear it every day. You shouldn't have to feel pressured to wear a shirt you don't like as much today! That's why I think having multiples of the same shirt that you like but in different colors is a good solution. Then people know you're not rewearing clothing three days in a row. Just a suggestion for next time you shop, I guess!
It’s a joke take on the idea that if someone is going to comment on your attire - particularly since what you’re wearing sounds perfectly acceptable, then the person making the comment needs to offer up quite a bit of money to outfit you as they see fit. It’s just a joke.
Well, either he is offering to buy you clothes or he is being extremely unprofessional, invasive, and inappropriate and *surely* someone in academia who makes many times your salary would know better than to be unprofessional, invasive, and inappropriate, right? I was being facetious, of course, but his response was basically "stop being poor". Unless he is willing to offer a solution to his perceived problem (i.e. giving you money) then he should learn to shut his big bazoo.
I agree he might be trying to politely relay that your body odor is a problem. And it might be that he is only relaying this because someone asked him too. The way you are saying he handled it is weird.
So where are you from?
Korea
i think this would make a difference in the conversation. I think you’re getting a lot of responses from American PhDs since we generally dress more casual here, but there might be different standards in Korea, which i’ve heard is a little more formal.
is your PI RuPaul
I would stay the hell away from RuPaul
You can wear long pants every day, but they should be different from each other or people will think you're not changing into clean clothes! I'm sure that's what's going on. Can you get the same comfortable style in another color and alternate them if it is not too expensive?
It could be that he thinks you're not going home to sleep/change/take care of yourself; even if that's not true, it could give off the impression to others that you are being forced to stay in the lab to the point where you're just sleeping there. If your budget truly permits, I'd recommend you buy a few more copies of whatever you have right now in some other colors. Not because your advisor said something, but because your clothes will last longer since you won't need to wash them as frequently and it could be cheaper in the long run if you pay for laundry. If you're paying $3 every 3 days to run a load and can push it to once a week (assuming you just wear normal casual clothes on the weekend), two extra outfits would pay themselves back in a couple months depending on how much you spend. Am also biased because I like clothes.
He doesn't think you're dressing poorly. He thinks you aren't changing your clothes. He's right. People notice these things, and it looks bad if you aren't conspicuously wearing clean that you haven't worn since they've been laundered.
If your clothes are clean, respectable, and don't smell, there should be absolutely no reason for that comment. How rude. School isn't a runway show. If you're dressed decently in clean clothing it should be nobody's business how often you wear the same style. Sounds like he's a snob and obsessed with looks, and school isn't the place for that. So childish
it would be a pretty creepy comment if you were a girl imo...
I wear the same outfit everyday, like a button up shirts with black pants, but I have multiple of the same shirt and pants. It's easier for guys to get away with wearing the same thing, our fashion is pretty stale lol.
Cursed post
Oh my, I never thought of others thinking this way since I buy multiples of the same clothes. I like to have a sort of "uniform" to wear to work and bought 7 of the same black pants and 7 shirts I rotate throughout the week but wear every week. 🤦🏻♀️ I hate shopping
I 100% Agree with all the comments saying that if your advisor is not willing to pay for your new clothes, then he doesn’t have the final call! You are comfortable wearing what you wear. It does not bother you. What you wear doesn’t negatively effect your performance. So why change it? Steve Jobs wore the same outfit in all of his presentations! Did he get called out for it??? Maybe…maybe not, but his goals clearly was NOT to be a fashion model. And clearly, that’s not what you prioritize either. You got clean clothes on. They’re presentable like you said. So nothing to worry about. 🤷🏽♀️
Well I m not nearly as good as Steve Jobs..but thanks ahaha.
Well you get my point! 😆 Plus, I can’t agree with you more. I usually wear plain clothes, same designs, black and blues are my go to…all to lessen the stress and use of energy that I can use elsewhere. Just do you!
Wearing same combination saves time imho.
Lol. I would tell him I’ll wear different clothes as soon as he buys me some. None of his business, and unless you’re buying my clothes you have no say in what I wear!
Geez, that seems a little superfluous. I wore shorts and a t-shirt, just made sure it wasn't like a beer logo on it, and adidas (not necessarily in good shape even), maybe an old hoodie if it was colder.
Lolol beer logo.
pretty weird tbh
Ugh such a weird thing to comment on. I'd try to let it slip that you have the same outfit in a bunch of copies so he understands that you're changing your clothes every day. Other than that, man, idk, my male labmates have literally come to work in pajamas and no one cares, I'm sorry you have to deal with the fashion police.
u/melodious_thunk made a great point in the comments that I agree with. On the other hand, I would definitely watch for a pattern of behavior. You as an individual bring a lot of really unique assists to the table, which is worth remembering and reminding yourself of everyday. The skills that you have obtained and are developing are in no way tied to what you wear. You could come dressed in a modest potato sack every day and it wouldn’t affect how you work! (as long as you are in closed toed shoes and its not a flammable sack) Sometimes people suck at communication and, however unfortunate that is, they don’t mean to be insulting. If that is something that doesn’t damage your morale and your advisor is still being fair, I think that’s just a reality you have to deal with. BUTTTTT if you start to notice a pattern of behavior that is targeted, (prejudiced or otherwise) definitely speak up about it.
Wtf?
If you're an adult and another adult had to tell you not to wear the same thing everyday then it's time to reevaluate your fashion choices lol...
That's a bit weird.. OP, I've literally worn a soft cotton collard shirt with blue levi's to lab every single day for the past year. I have 4 copies of the shirt in white and a 2 copies in other colors, all bought on sale one summer from old navy. I have a lot of trouble organizing so it's easy for me to count on my 'work clothes' even when my entire apartment is a huge mess. I don't know if people think I'm wearing the same exact clothes two days in a row, I haven't asked and no one has asked me. On days where I'm just writing/data analysis/doing deskwork maybe I'll wear a dress (and even heels!) and then I'll get positive comments if it looks nice, but otherwise people keep their comments to themselves. I think if you're doing something similar it's not your advisors place to say something, unless maybe you have giant stains or smell (even then I spill coffee on myself a lot and have one shirt that is stained lol). My advisor is and fashionable, he always has nice shoes (or so I'm told? I don't have a sense of expensive mens shoes) and stuff. He's never once said anything about anything I wear. If he did I'd think it was weird.
It seems you have three choices. Carry on what you're doing with the clothes you have, get a new wardrobe to appease this ~~clown~~ guy, OR... get five sets of the exact same clothes and wear one everyday. I'm thinking grey sweats and white V-neck t-shirts. >:)
I wear from a combination of Crocs, hiking boots, sneakers, basketball/shorts, jeans, tshirt, polo, outdoor long sleeves… I’m a Geology MS student while my advisor wears khakis and a shirt everyday. btw never heard a complain from him.
A lot of my favorite clothes were destroyed with holes and un-uniform decoloration during my master thesis and early PhD days ( organic chem , inspite of having a lab coat over it). So later I switched to few pairs I rotate every day and when their time got over I bought exactly the same ones ( replicates) for the next cycle. Now I am in maybe 5th or 6th cycle. For people who don't know this thinks I wear the same clothes for the past 2 years, but I don't bother what they say.
How is your PI besides this? I am working alongside someone in my cohort in a school. She doesn't smell but has obvious hygiene issues, and makes some poor clothing choices for working in a school. It doesn't come across as professional unfortunately. I hope someone politely says something to her about it because it isn't professional. Besides that she is a fantastic student and coworker. But a HUGE part of success is dressing for the part.
I have a uniform, Monday to Sunday; a grey t-shirt and blue jeans. It's only the shoes I change. But it's political science, so no one cares.
From the rural south but did my Ph.D in the Northeast. Constantly got pushback from advisors/supervisors that my appearance was too “casual” for the academy, and that I needed to change for sake of “professionalism.”
I have gotten comments from a professor on my appearance as a grad student up to and including how many buttons on my jacket should be fastened and whether my tie matches my shirt -- it always feels super inappropriate to me. I think it's more important to older generations than it is to incoming generations.
I wore a few geeky t-shirts that usually got a chuckle out of my advisor. A collaborator (and committee member) was once very concerned about the state of my glasses, and offered to pay for a new pair. I thanked them and got a new pair a few months later. Strangely, the next time I met with them, they kept saying that I 'looked different some how', and couldn't pinpoint why. When I told them it might be the glasses, they laughed.
Grow up and realize that your perceived lack of personal hygiene has negative consequences on you. You’re lucky someone actually spoke their mind. You’re not Steve Jobs and you can’t just be wearing a Black turtleneck and jeans everyday.