Dressed for Success

Christina Binkley of The Wall Street Journal recently reported that “power attire” appears to be the proper dress for the current economic climate. Many law firms that had transitioned to business casual are now returning to more formal business dress. Because of this, some clothiers and tailors may actually benefit from the current economic downturn.

I will be curious to see whether this will lead to more formal attire in the legal academy as well. Some academics may begin dressing to mirror practitioners, and recruiting committees may begin seeing more candidates who are accustomed to wearing suits to work. Additionally, a number of legal academics have always held the view that a suit is the only proper teaching attire. For example, my friend, Erik Jensen of the Case Western Reserve University School of Law, recently published Law School Attire: A Call for a Uniform Uniform Code, with an abstract that simply reads: “Law professors dress scruffily, and we need to do something about that.”

Speaking as someone who always wears a suit, I would welcome the change. While I was in private practice, I discovered that my brain does not function properly unless I am being slightly strangled by a tie and my neck is being chafed by a starched shirt. I don’t really have any concerns about what my colleagues wear to work, but it would be nice to be a fashion trendsetter for once in my life.

Comments

[Rick Bales]

We brand ourselves by what we wear. When I first started teaching, I eschewed a suit because I wanted to brand myself as a young prof who could relate to students and to whom students could relate. Twelve years later, I have taken on various leadership roles in the Law School and University, and because I want to brand myself for those roles I frequently wear a suit. There are a wide variety of roles to be played by law faculty and administrators, so there is no reason for a one-size-fits-all rule of attire.

[Alfred]

Jensen's article keeps coming up for discussion....
http://www.thefacultylounge.org/2008/03/should-male-fac.html