“If you go to a history conference, you may find the worst dressers out there.”
Dr. Bates says this through a laugh, smiling as he adjusts his soft, brown sports coat over his shoulders. He checks his watch that is partially hidden under a blue striped button-up that makes the sports coat he’s wearing seem extra professional yet incredibly comfortable.
Dr. Keith Bates, a history professor here at Union, is discussing fashion with me in the Brewer Dining Hall. Because, after all, the first thing you think about when pondering history is various outfits and styles worn by those who specialize in it. It’s only fair then, that I sit across from the professor with the pocket square.
“I don’t know…pocket squares just give things pop. They draw the eye. I don’t like to wear a tie, but I do enjoy dressing up a little,” Dr. Bates says thoughtfully.
Dr. Bates is known in the history department. It’s not just his funny lectures or his intimate recollections of American history (although who doesn’t enjoy those things), it’s what he’s wearing. It’s very common to find Dr. Bates in a clean blue or gray sports coat with a white striped button up shirt tucked underneath. Today’s sport coat was brown, which occurs once a week or so for my personal viewing pleasure. Rocking the “no tie” look is his speciality, along with various pocket squares that he deems worthy of his left breast pocket.
Dr. Bates is smiling now as he puts his chin to his chest, as if realizing his pocket square for the first time. It’s become all to clear to me that the history department has officially been “slept on” when it comes to fashion sense.
“I don’t like the dorky ones,” Dr. Bates says, regarding his current pocket square. “I just like a little bit of color, you know?” Its smooth silk gushes out over his brown sports coat with a light blue fade that appears modest and intellectual. His rectangle glasses make me wonder if he has to tie half his brain behind his back in arguments to make things fair.
Dr. Bates can pull of several looks, apparently, and I can’t help but smile imagining Dr. Bates watching a football game without his blazer on. I feel like he sleeps in them.
According to current student Matthew Van Neste, “On a regular weekday, Dr. Bates is known to be flashy and fly as heck. But on casual Friday, he can still rock a blazer and jeans”.
***
He pats his left breast as if to bolster the pocket square’s self esteem. Bates also admits that he prefers to head to Nashville to get his tailored suits and jackets, specifically the Brooks Brothers Outlet store, providing a cheaper but authentic form of clothing. But when it comes down to it, there’s one essential factor.
“Comfort is everything. You’ll find me in this for now, but catch me in the fall at home and I’ll be in a sweatshirt and shorts all the time. It’s important to wear what you’re comfortable with,” Bates says, pointing his finger at me.
All the history professors have an immense amount of knowledge in a subject with incredible amounts of depth and ambiguity. When you throw in an evangelical spirit and love for students, you can’t help but marvel at how they express themselves. Their style is reflective of their personality, and for Dr. Bates, it’s being comfortable and personal with his students.
Bates pauses as I continue eating, occasionally sipping my Coke. We venture off on a topic about Voltaire in the 18th century (naturally), but only a few minutes later the conversation moves to other professors.
***
If my 11 ‘o clock class with Dr. Bates had run late I would have ran into the infamous history professor, Dr. Terry Lindley, who has a bit of a style of his own.
If you participate in a class taught by Dr. Lindley and look up from your studious note-taking, you’d be inclined to appreciate his freshly starched short sleeve white plaid shirt, delicately tucked into his pleated navy blue pants. His black braided belt matches his comfy, black loafers. And just for good measure, he’s rocking aviator framed glasses that looks like they were pulled right out of a 1970’s movie.
“They’re industrial grade,” says Lindley, smiling as he takes of his glasses to inspect them for himself. We’re sitting in his office, surrounded by hundreds of books about American history that I’m sure he could talk forever about. The walls are full of pictures of fighter jets and his filing cabinet has a white piece of paper on it with the number of heavy metal and rock albums he’s collected over the years (0ver 600 to be exact). Lindley has his glasses off, and is rotating them around in his hands like an ancient artifact. He points at the curve of the nose piece. It connects into one single “U” shaped curve, which he tells me is hard to find these days. I feel like I’m talking to a man who has the last pair of these glasses left on Earth.
“I like them big, and I’ve had some even bigger than this. I’m not going to get smaller ones now matter how much my wife yells at me,” he says with a chuckle.
***
Much like Dr. Bates, Dr. Lindley is portraying professionalism, but to a different tone. He’s not wearing a tie either, but for practical reasons. In fact, Dr. Lindley tells me he only owns one tie, and the story behind it takes no less than five seconds to tell.
“My kids gave it to me. It’s a Star Wars tie,” he says confidently.
I sense a theme among these history professors. They may dress professional, but it’s all about being comfortable. Lindley makes it clear to me that fancy clothes are too expensive, and I’m better of spending more money on something more comfortable.
“I don’t like modern style…costs too much money,” Lindley says shaking his head, “My tennis shoes are more expensive than my dress shoes.”
He makes sure to emphasis that they’re New Balance, a brand he is particularly fond of.
This makes me laugh, as I visualize myself on a jog with Dr. Lindley discussing rock music and the American economy during the Cold War. I start to wonder if my own tennis shoes aren’t up to par. Regardless, Lindley looks professional and comfortable, the staple theme of the history department.
Dr. Lindley points to a picture behind him, clearly from years past, as Dr. Lindley is much younger. We’re both admiring his glasses, which look like they fit the era he’s in much nicer. It’s the kind of picture that looks like it should be in an old Rolling Stone magazine.
I’m amazed at the history and personality behind all these fashion statements. Whether it’s blazers and jeans, or big round glasses, everything these professors wear says something. For the history department, it’s a professionalism that students aspire to mimic.
I’m staring at the picture still, a few moments of silence filling the air with images of a younger time. He’s rocking a mullet, and upon pointing this out, Lindley just smiles at me.
“Mid-life crisis,” he says.
Sick Article Woody!
🙂