This might be of help to those who are, ahem, not blessed in the height department. I'm barely 5"2, and used to be frequently stuck for formal wear for any academic situations. Businesswear used to swim on me, and it was not cheap. That is, until I found that Marks and Spencers (UK shop) did a lovely range of childrenswear that also extended to formal clothes (think blouses, jackets etc). I bought a boy's secondary-school black blazer for £8, and paired it with a pair of black trousers. Bingo, instant conference suit! The most important things for me were that I didn't show too much skin, YMMV. I also needed pockets that I could load with specific items - spare pen, business cards, room for a laser pointer if necessary.
The childrenswear idea has helped me expand my wardrobe, and it looks fitted, as well as being cheap enough to buy 'fashionable' pieces that can be worn under the 'suit'.

Items I'd never part with are:
cardigan - essential for summer and winter, can be thrown on over a blouse/shirt if you feel 'naked' without a jacket
Patterned shirt - basic pinstripe, but I love it, pure white reminds me of being at school
black trousers with pockets - I can't function without pockets!
plain black socks - I will never forget the cautionary tale of one girl in her A-levels who had unthinkingly put on a christmas gift of novelty socks. The kind that sing 'rudolph the red nosed reindeer' when jiggled. The poor girl was rigid with fear throughout the exam that she'd be thrown out for cheating and taking a 'device' into the exam hall...we had a very strict invigilator...

Hi, Helen

The drinking thing? Not good. And I know it must sound trite, but things will get better. Counselling didn't really help me, but I used the Samaritans on a regular basis at one point in time, and they were a wonderful springboard. Try and find someone to whom you can confide because in these cases, talking really can help.

Best of luck with things and god bless,

PGG

I once wanted to be a builder....I got stuck when they asked me in nursery school and we had to draw a picture of it.
Went through a long spate of wanting to be a graphic designer. Did Graphic design at school, took Art A-level instead. Did classics a lot and got a couple of qualifications :D and then ended up falling the final hurdle towards doctorate in that area because I hadn't enough classical languages ...which shows you that I should have dropped art and done Latin instead :P
Played at being a bioarcheologist for a while, and got spooked when left in the dark lab with the skeletons all by myself one winter...
Trained as a librarian and then got back into art and design via computers... building things in Second Life :P

Hi CG,

I agree, I know it's a draft (albeit a pretty much finalised one)...I think the key to feeling better about things is to have a really really strong support team. Sadly I've had problems and clashes with my supervisor team, so I think that's where some of the nihilism stems from (!).
As to the family, it's been an ongoing problem: I have to say that I've only met one family who knew what the prospective PhD student was going through. It helps if they themselves have degrees. I'd like there to be a study one day looking at the kinds of stresses that PhD students (from all walks of life) suffer according to the relative educational levels of their family. I'm the only one in the entire family who's reached University.

Greetings. Postgraduate, humanities, in an obscure branch of studies related to librarianship.I've published as well. Rank and number available on request :P

So: SN,AFU - Four days to go and last edits before handing in the fabled draft to my supervisors, containing three years' work and somewhere, ethereally, my heart, my soul, and the dreams of three years.
So why do I feel like deleting the whole thing, having a tantrum that even Supernanny wouldn't be able to cope with, and chucking the whole thing?
I've had the midpoint depression, I've had the 'post data collection' depression, and I'm just wondering if this is a sign I'm never going to be Dr Goth. Please tell me this doesn't last. Family are not as supportive as I'd hoped they'd be - apparently all I need is to stay alone in a room for long enough and it will all get magically finished.This explains why I had only xmas day 'off' (tofurkey and time for Farmville).
Something tells me this is not going to be a Happy New Year.:-(