Aside from fashion lawyers, the legal profession is not known for being particularly fierce. Thus, I was surprised to read in WSJ's Law Blog that there is a fashion revolution (and the obligatory backlash) percolating in the legal world.
Apparently, the internet bubble of the 1990s inspired a drastic relaxation of the traditional rules of legal dress and the trend has continued since the bubble burst. As part of the aforementioned backlash, some firms have hired fashionistas to come in and play Heidi Klum to every Britney Spears of the legal world. Earlier this month a London firm even told its female employees to say auf wiedersehen to fishnet stockings at work.
As a fashion Neanderthal, I was looking forward to worrying even less about personal style at work than I do normally. This discussion has me dizzy and worried. Luckily, almost everybody I’ve talked to was told to wear a plain old suit-and-tie (or whatever you call traditional women’s business wear) this summer, so at least I won’t be the only hot mess. There was one exception, a friend whose firm told her, apparently with a straight face, that their only rule was no bare midriffs. Bare midriff at work? That would be so tranny!
NOTE: This item contains googled Project Runway catch-phrases inserted at random and probably used incorrectly. My apologies to Project Runway fans.
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