Five days of Peter Shulman style

By Liam Dwyer, ‘22

You can find him perched on a shaded bench in Catlin’s Vollum courtyard drinking out of his Contigo mug, wind at his back, gazing wistfully into the distance. Upper School History Teacher Peter Shulman is consistently himself. CatlinSpeak’s exclusive interview with him gives a look into what makes him such an icon of casual style.

“100% about comfort and function. Temperature regulation is important to me; that’s mainly it,” said Shulman when asked to define his style. He describes an arc of development that helped him find himself—with some estrangement.

“Generally, [comfort] has been a really big thing. I always hated going shopping for clothes—I’d be really grumpy.” He noted that his perception shifted in 6th grade: “I discovered that other people are wearing things to be cool, and I wanted to be cool.”

By the time he reached high school, Shulman still had moments where he felt like the odd one out. “In 9th grade, I got to the end of this big covered hallway outside, and I realized I was the only person wearing bell-bottoms in the whole school. I guess I wasn’t on it,” he quipped.

Looking back, his awkward experience wasn’t a huge faux-pas. “I grew up in this terrible fashion era,” Shulman recalled. “Reagan was coming in, so everyone cut their hair and parted it a certain way.”

Even at the time, Shulman knew the norm wasn’t for him. “Everyone wore seriously tapered jeans, which I hated because they were hard to get on. It wasn’t a peak in American fashion.” However, he ultimately submitted to the status quo. “I wasn’t secure enough in my own thing to not dress that way.”

After conforming to the mainstream for long enough, Shulman went through a punk phase. He shared his love for bands like the Sex Pistols, the Clash, and The Ramones, adding, “I’m not a big synth person. I’m more rock and roll.”

Along with his new music taste came a new style. “I got a motorcycle jacket that I was really invested in. I really thought: who would I be without it?.” Cruel fate struck. “It was lifted from me at gunpoint,” said Shulman. “I was mad- it was really well broken in by that point, because I’d had it for three years.”

However, reflection brought a striking realization: “I was just like, wait a minute, that’s totally meaningless. I’m alive; that’s what matters. From that point on, I went back to comfort.”

For a Spirit Week last year, Upper School Science and Health Teacher Bianca Nakayama dressed as Shulman on Dress as Your Favorite Teacher Day. In an interview, she explained a few of the key pieces of the Shulman lifestyle.

“I put on a bootleg of the Grateful Dead's 1970 Fillmore East show while watching Timbers highlights in the background and casually reading some Hannah Arendt. I was then able to visualize the essential Shulman aesthetic: baggy corduroy pants, a short-sleeved button-down dress shirt, a CG soccer windbreaker and hat, and I cannot emphasize this enough, Adidas Samba shoes.”

Shulman broke down why the Sambas, classic indoor soccer shoes produced for over 70 years, have become a staple in his wardrobe. “When it’s soccer season, I’m going to put them on later, so why not put them on now? I try to keep things simple; why would I bring two different pairs of shoes?”

Nakayama also expressed that dressing like Peter put her in a certain frame of mind: “I found myself uncontrollably humming String Cheese Incident lyrics, quoting Frederick Douglass, and planting vegetable gardens along my path.”

While we chatted, Shulman didn’t plant any leafy greens, but he did share a few quirks that contribute to his lifestyle. “I cannot buy a pair of pants off the shelf that does not need to be hemmed,” said Shulman, explaining that he belongs to a demographic with an uncommon inseam to waist size ratio. “My wife hems almost every pair of pants.”

Another recognizable piece of “the Shulman aesthetic” mentioned by Nakayama was Shulman’s Catlin Gabel windbreaker. He clarified that it’s frankly form following function: “A ton of the stuff I wear is because it’s free. I’ve had a lot of stuff come my way from athletics.”

It’s clear that in setting himself free from the anxiety of creating an outfit, Shulman has created a comfort-based style unique to his preferences. “Hopefully, I help my colleagues feel like it’s okay to dress for comfort,” concluded Shulman. Maybe we can all take a note out of his book.