What to Wear: Parent Teacher Conference

What to Wear: Parent Teacher Conference

Sarah wrote in from Canada with a What to Wear request:

I am a teacher in a Catholic elementary school, and next week we are having our first parent-teacher conferences. I’ve met most of the parents already, but I like to make the effort to look professional for the occasion. In the past I’ve worn a suit but I’ve lost some weight so this may not work!

I generally wear skirts, dresses, tights, cardies, and am a conservative, feminine dresser, favouring classic pieces with something interesting. I’m about 5’5″, size 6ish, brown hair, fair skin, eyeglasses, and I like to wear no makeup save the odd classic red lipstick!

One more thing: we are doing all the conferences in one (long) evening following the school day (ie: no time to change after class, and then sitting across from parents aside from standing to welcome them to the classroom). So, comfort is key!

Layers can help to make a fast switch after the school day ends. All you need is three extra items to convert your outfit for the night. Bring a small bag with your extra accessories, perfume and supplies for freshening up.

Class

Dress – In my imagination all elementary school teachers wear courduroy shirt dresses to class. This is a machine washable basic you can wear all kinds of ways.
Belt – A yellow dash of color.
Shoes – A pair of basic black flats for the day.

Conference
Necklace – Early Christmas present? I love this yellow and gray necklace to add elegance to the outfit.
Cardigan – Top the dress with this simple cardigan and the yellow belt.
Shoes – Yellow pumps with an ankle strap and low heel tie the whole look together.

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There are 4 comments for this article
  1. Anonymous at 12:12 pm

    Thank you so much, Emily! I had no luck with the dress last night but I'm looking again tonight – fingers crossed!
    (I also have a nice banana loaf waiting for the parents, since they're likely to come straight from work! 🙂 )
    – sarah

  2. Kristi at 1:03 pm

    I have to say how touched I am by the question. As a parent I never really thought about the teachers caring about looking nice for the parents. I guess we're so wrapped up worrying about the conference that we forget that this is your job and you're trying to look your best too.

    So from a private school parent, Thanks and Wow!

  3. Andrea at 5:50 pm

    I love that dress! Too bad they're sold out, and eBay doesn't have my size. 🙁 Have you seen anything similar out there?