bizgirl

international librarian of mystery

Thursday, October 07, 2004

What is the Sexy Librarian look?

'Sexy Librarian' is a look that involves inherently really conservative clothing, with a super sexy pair of shoes or net blouse, anything sexy and contrasting. It's sexy because of the juxtaposition of preppy conservative clothes, with one or two super sexy accents.

So says the slideshow that accompanies the eBay Sellers' Opinions about "Librarian" Clothes: Frumpy or Bumpy, a presentation given at the Annual Conference of the Medical Library Association in the USA last year.

The authors of Frumpy or Bumpy had set out to assess the public's attitudes about the clothing librarians wear, and to characterize attire that is considered "librarian-ish." To this end, they scanned eBay clothing auctions for items that came up with the word librarian in the title or description, and discovered, surprise surprise, that the many of these clothing items had book or tweed themes. Some of the adjectives for the attire and the librarians who wear them included: conservative, proper, academic, intellectual, bookish, chic, sexy, and shapely.

Shapely. Indeed.

The researchers' conclusion: "Librarian stereotypes abound in eBay clothing auctions. Two contrasting fashion statements emerged: a conservative, bookish look and a sexy, seductive look."

But can't one be both?

Here's a direct link to the presentation slideshow (plenty of good fashion laughs to be had, I assure you).

[via Sex and the Library]