Dressing Like a Lady Lawyer

It's surprisingly hard to know what to wear if you're a female law student.

Personally, I want to look feminine and tough. I wanna look like a babe while I'm kicking your butt in the courtroom, haha.

One thing I don't have right now that I could really use is a classic black skirt suit. I went shopping with some friends last week at an outlet mall, but I couldn't find anything that fit right. Even at the same store, a size 12 would be way too big in one skirt, but the size 10 would barely fit over my hips. Clearly I need to shop in the juniors department, because my body is in desperate need of a size 11, haha.

Anyway, my big clothing goal this year is to find myself a suit. I already have several jackets, and a lovely pair of black skinny-fit pants from Express.

I've found myself pinning a lot of suits lately. I love finding pictures of women in suits where they look feminine and beautiful, but I also wouldn't mess with them. My favorite workwear outfits are ones that are a little sassy, too. What? M likes sassy outfits? ;)

Here are some of my favorites!

Especially if you want to be a trial lawyer like I do, what you wear is really important because the jury will judge you. If you look disheveled, the jury might think you aren't prepared or authoritative. If your suit's too nice, they might think you're a snob. If your suit's not good enough, they might think you're not good at your job, or you just don't care.

At the same time, I really, really hate websites that tell women attorneys what to wear. They all seem inherently sexist. I read one the other day that recommended women wear close-toed shoes, but then recommended women get pedicures in order to "be professional." Huh? 

For one, if I'm wearing close-toed shoes, I think spending $30 to get a pedicure is kind of a waste of time... but getting a pedicure makes me professional? I'm not buying it (literally and figuratively).

One of the issues I find is that women seem to have to overcompensate in order to be taken seriously in court. We aren't supposed to show too much skin, because that means we're trashy and therefore (?) not smart. Worst of all, we might distract the men in the room (ha). We're not supposed to wear bright colors, because that might make us seem too "girly," while men are encouraged to wear a pop of color. Wear high heels, but heaven forbid they're too high! Essentially, look as boring as possible.

And that's not even getting into the issue of our actual work.

Dressing as a female attorney seems like it's walking a tightrope... in appropriately-sized heels.

I don't have any advice on what female attorneys should wear, because I haven't figured out what to wear either. Personally, I will be wearing color. I will be showing off my figure (but just enough, of course). I will be wearing as high of heels as I want, and I will do it with confidence.

Do you have any advice for dressing like a lawyer? How do you decide what's professional or not? Would you encourage women to stay away from colors?