“Did you even notice that you said math department and style in the same email? Are you crazy?”
This is the email I received from Chris Hail, a professor of mathematics, when I pitched the idea of interviewing him to discuss his fashion sense. I told him to just think of it as a new angle from which students can get to know him.
“Angles,” he said. “Like the math department!”
“Exactly!” I exclaimed.
I had him at “angles.”
I think most students at Union would say that, when we think of the math department, our mind doesn’t immediately go to their fashion. Maybe our minds first go to their teaching style, their intelligence or their humor. But everyone in this world, whether they realize it or not, has a purpose behind why they put on the clothes that they wear, including our algebra and statistics professors.
Dr. Hail began by telling me a story. Once, he attended one of Union’s chapels and the speaker made the comment that sweater vests were “pretty girl repellants.” To his dismay, Dr. Hail looked down at his outfit and just so happened to be wearing a sweater vest on this particular day. So, he asked his students in the following class period if they thought sweater vests were really that out of style.
“No, they’re not that out of style,” one of his students said. “But that extra-large sticker down the side might have an effect.”
The best word that Hail can think of to describe his style is “comfortable.” (And possibly “rugged,” but he wasn’t quite sold on that one. Mostly comfortable). As I talk to Dr. Hail outside of Brewer Dining Hall, he is wearing a blue polo with thick stripes running across it horizontally, rocking a pair of casual khakis and a pair of Merrell tennis shoes. Shoe-wise, he only wears Merrells. My friend, Maddie, tells him that her dad only wears Merrells, too.
“I am everybody’s dad,” Hail said, laughing.
Of all of the styles, though, Hail most appreciates the now-acceptable untucked shirt. “Now, I don’t have to worry about hiding my gut,” he said joyously. “Shirt hanging out is the way to go.”
There are some styles, however, that Hail wishes never existed, one of which is the necktie, practically a constant noose around the necks of professionals worldwide. In fact, Hail feels quite passionately about the revenge he will take on the person who created them for all of the torment he (or she) has put him through.
“My dream for heaven is to live next door to the guy who invented ties,” he said. “And I hope I have a dog that barks all night. For all eternity, he will not sleep.”
I think we can all take a leaf out of Hail’s book: Comfort is key. If you aren’t comfortable in what you’re wearing, Hail would more than likely ask you, “Then why are you wearing it?” There is a happy medium that can be found for all of us where comfort and professionalism can collide. And that just might be with a pair of Merrells.
Bryan Dawson, also a professor in the mathematics department, is wearing a neutral polo (similar to Hail’s, but without the stripes), and khakis, his oval-shaped glasses framing his face perfectly in width.
After finding out that Hail stole the word “comfortable,” Dawson pauses, laughs a little, and describes his style as “passable.”
“This is what I always do,” Dawson said. “I have a polo shirt and dress pants. Same at church. At home, I like jeans and a t-shirt, a flannel shirt maybe when it’s cold.”
Having almost moved on to another comment and forgotten to mention it, Dawson realized one of the most important elements to his wardrobe. “When I am outside, I will wear a wide-brim hat. It used to be a straw hat, but now it’s this.”
Sitting at his desk, Dawson reached over to pick up a beige floppy hat that was sitting on top of his filing cabinet, made of a mesh or cotton material, drooping slightly from the wear. It was much like one that I’ve seen my dad wear while working in the yard or even while camping.
Dawson explained to me that he likes his clothing to be as functional as possible. He used to purchase more high-end shirts and dress pants, but he quickly realized that, as a professor who uses a whiteboard in his classes, there is a real and eminent danger every day of dropping an Expo marker on his expensive clothing, which he told me from experience is a mark that almost always stains. So, he is always sure to purchase items that he enjoys but that can still be replaced.
I had told Hail in my previous interview that I would also be speaking to Dawson about his style. He told me to ask Dawson if his favorite outfit is pajamas, since Hail has found him sleeping in his office on many occasions. I gave Dawson the opportunity for a rebuttal to Hail’s comment.
“Well, it’s true that I do like the occasional nap,” Dawson said, laughing. “I wouldn’t go that far, but I certainly do like my naps.”
So, take it from the math department. Your fashion could be acute, obtuse or right. If it’s rational to you, that’s a good sine that you’ve got no problem (math problem, that is).
