You may not look at your professor’s clothing every day, but even teachers develop their own personal style. Sascha Scott, an assistant professor of art history, described her style as simple and practical. In contrast, Carla Lloyd, an assistant professor in advertising, said her style is eclectically traditional. Jeffrey Mayer, a fashion design professor, is always conscience of his outfits, loves his pair of Gucci shoes and never comes to class without his Louis Vuitton messenger bag.

‘I like designers, and I want to show them off even if now is not a time, with the economy the way it is, to do that,’ Mayer said. ‘Clothes should be fun.’

For Mayer, this season is all about jackets. He loves high buttoned jackets with shoulder pads and military jackets, a ’60’s vibe based on ‘Mad Men,’ and looking clean.

On top of the jackets he wears piles of silver bracelets and anything Louis Vuitton, he said. And he loves Gucci accessories. Mayer bases his style off of Carrie Grant and Johnny Depp’s looks. He considers his style to be somewhere in the middle of the two.

Unlike Mayer, whose favorite stores include Bergdorf Goodman and Barneys, Lloyd doesn’t put as much emphasis on designers. She even shops at vintage clothing stores. She said she sees the opportunity to shop at vintage stores as a good way to recycle.

‘I like to take my clothes to the thrift shop and shop there as well,’ Lloyd said. ‘I like to intertwine pieces that are affordable. Since I am an advertising professor I know what the markup is, so I like to be thrifty.’

Instead of basing her fashion off designers, Lloyd uses color and overall trends. She is wearing oranges, browns and greens this autumn and recently bought a large orange pocketbook to fit the large-sized purse trend and her color scheme for the season.

‘It took me a while to get used to using a big purse,’ she said. ‘I thought people would think, ‘oh you’re staying for a while.”

Unlike her peers, Scott tends not to follow the trends and tries to keep her wardrobe simple. What Scott goes crazy with is her accessories. This season she is into funky shoes, watches and necklaces.

‘The only thing I routinely buy are new shoes,’ Scott said. ‘Most new academics can’t really afford to buy designers, so I buy things that are sensible but a little bit unusual, and don’t look at the labels.’

Both Lloyd and Scott don’t consider their styles to be like any celebrities’ styles. Lloyd’s fashion inspiration comes from her mother.

‘My mother knows how to dress for the occasion … She has very good taste,’ Lloyd said. ‘I also like to watch how my students present themselves. It’s always new and changing, not that I copy them, but to see how they interpret themselves, their time and how they express themselves. I’ve seen so many different movements of youth culture come through my classes.’

Scott shops at more classic stores than Lloyd and Mayer. Some of her favorites are Anthropologie, Banana Republic and Ann Taylor. Scott is careful about what she buys because she doesn’t want to look like an old women but she also doesn’t want to be too trendy.

‘The stores I shop in always have something cool for a young professional,’ she said.

The three SU professors all have their own looks, but together they make up a group of uniquely fashionable professors on campus.

‘It’s just got to be comfortable,’ Scott said, ‘that’s what I tend to buy.’

rltoback@syr.edu

Published on October 21, 2009 at 12:00 pm