Why Write A Blog About How Lawyers Dress?

This past week Lynne Marek of The National Law Journal wrote an article titled Federal Judges Grouse About Lawyers' Courtroom Attire. That inspired me to start writing this blog.

With judges lamenting how lawyers appearing before them dress , perhaps it's time for members of the bar help improve the sartorial knowledge of their brethren and sistren without imposing a second law school education's worth of debt. This blog is my attempt to do that. I hope it's not in vain.

Some caveats:

• The advice here is focused on menswear. I don't know much about ladies attire, so I can't offer much advice about it. But I will suggest other places to go if you're looking for it.
• Advice here focuses on classic men's style. The inspiration is from Savile Row and Brooks Brothers, not Hugo Boss, Giorgio Armani, and the like. As you read on in the future, you'll see why. There are plenty of places to go for advice on that look; I'll suggest some.
• Most advice here is on the dressing at the more formal end of the spectrum. It's about traditional American lawyer attire. What you wear to a job interview, appear in court, or an important client meeting. It's definitely not robes and horsehair wigs. And it's only a little about "business causal".
• Remarks here are principally focused on junior lawyers - law students, junior associates, junior lawyers working for the government, in-house, and not-for-profits. More seasoned lawyers reading here and saying "duh" to yourself, remember this blog is a primer on how to dress well as a lawyer without dressing like a clone.

You can go to Professor Kingsfield to think like a lawyer. Come here to learn to dress like one.