I'm a 36 year old librarian who loves to run, read, do yoga and hang out with my friends and family. I ran the 2008 & 2009 Boston Marathon for Team Eye & Ear to support the Massachusetts Eye and Ear Infirmary. Go Team Eye & Ear!







Friday, October 9, 2009

Costume Advice: How to Dress Like a Librarian

(This was originally posted last October; however, I'm starting to get a lot of hits for librarian costumes, and thought I'd post this entry again.)

I've been getting a lot of hits recently by people searching for "how to dress like a librarian." Will there be a lot of librarians trick-or-treating this year? My guess is that most people dressing as librarians will go for the "hot librarian" vs. "dowdy librarian" look. It's been my experience, that real-life librarians fall somewhere in the middle of these 2 stereotypes. That is, we don't look like we'll give you a spanking you'll enjoy and we also don't look like a character from the Revenge of the Nerds movies. As a librarian, I'm not going to offer any thoughts on how to dress like the "your book is overdue and I'm going to have to take you behind the stacks and make a man out of you" librarian. No one needs help on how to dress like a ho. I do, however, have some advice for those of you who plan to dress like your mother's librarian, since there are a handful of those keeping the stereotype alive and well.

Wear a lanyard, and attach as much crap to it as possible: t pass, work badge, several keys...

Don't wear glasses that you think are cute or vintage. Wear glasses similar to those that Angela used to rock on "Who's the Boss?"

Wear book-themed jewelry

And finally, wear sensible shoes.


16 comments:

Anonymous said...

Contrary to this post, some people actually do need help dressing like a ho.

Got 2 Trot Librarian said...

So you've seen some attempts at failed hotness, then?

Nick P. said...

Agreed. Many women have the goods, but refuse to show it. Shame on them.

Got 2 Trot Librarian said...

Mmmm hmmmmm

shelleycoughlin said...

Sadly, I don't have any of the requisite costume parts to look like a librarian. Does that mean they'll take my MLS away?

Come to think of it, I should probably invest in some Angela Bower glasses. I'm sure they'll come back into style at some point, right?

Sunshine said...

I posted some ideas to this on my blog: http://www.examiner.com/x-1361-Seattle-Books-Examiner~y2008m10d17-Last-minute-literary-themed-Halloween-costumes

Good luck with the marathon- I'm going to miss it next year. Maybe I'll do Seattle instead.

Unknown said...

Some years ago, I wrote a message on LIBREF-L on how to dress for different library jobs, i.e. children's librarian, medical librarian, etc.
See: http://listserv.kent.edu/cgi-bin/wa.exe?A2=ind0206B&L=LIBREF-L&P=R3032&I=-3

Lee Hadden

Anonymous said...

I am wearing those shoes RIGHT NOW.

Unknown said...

I am only a librarian in training with only a few courses left until I have my MLIS. I must have those shoes! Will you email me the company name?

Ms. Courtney said...

actually those glasses (in pink and blue on the web, different colors at the stores) are for sale at American Apparel now, making them exactly the hot hipster bs that is in style.

RedheadFangirl said...

And despite having Lasik surgery years ago, I still had to buy fake eyeglasses as an accessory! I went for the Midtown style over the AngelaWTB though...

BTW, you might want to check out
http://www.shoreturtle.com/blog/
my husband's running blog!

Anonymous said...

I think the librarian look is "in" this season (in the UK at least). I've seen various articles in the Sunday supplements about how to pull off the look. The key is plenty of tweed apparently...

Anonymous said...

nice post

Suldog said...

Any tips on how to dress like a MALE librarian?

Got 2 Trot Librarian said...

@suldog coffee breath, wrinkled khakis and a cardigan

Mark B. said...

The librarian look needs to be retro - who wants to see a "real" librarian on Halloween?

The hair needs to go up in a bun - this is a must. The shoes should be black leather, and have a clunky low heel - think grandma shoes. No eye shadow, but matte red lipstick. Those Angela glassas are too big - that's more just '80s bad fashion. Thick, dark frames, or maybe cat's eye frames with narrow lenses - with the neck cord, of course.

And of course, most librarians would need help dressing like a ho. It's not like they have a lot of experience.