Suit Question Forum

[kn6542]

Black suits are bad, but I've seen far worse on men at OCI and job fairs. Dirty, unpolished shoes (usually duckbill slip-ons, yuck), sneakers with suits, dirty ties, novelty ties, suits that are too big/too small, jackets that still have the basting thread on the vent or the tag still on the sleeve, improperly altered suits, dark blue, red, khaki, and even black shirts, long hair, beards, etc.

Bottom line is that most interviewers are going to cut a little slack if you don't look absolutely perfect. They know law students these days have know clue about how to dress professionally and such. Just do your best to look neat, clean, pressed, and presentable.

Yes, and if your interviewer is male, I have a hard time seeing how black v. charcoal matters, since most males are functionally color blind anyway.

[Bosque]

Black suits are bad, but I've seen far worse on men at OCI and job fairs. Dirty, unpolished shoes (usually duckbill slip-ons, yuck), sneakers with suits, dirty ties, novelty ties, suits that are too big/too small, jackets that still have the basting thread on the vent or the tag still on the sleeve, improperly altered suits, dark blue, red, khaki, and even black shirts, long hair, beards, etc.

Bottom line is that most interviewers are going to cut a little slack if you don't look absolutely perfect. They know law students these days have know clue about how to dress professionally and such. Just do your best to look neat, clean, pressed, and presentable.

Oh HELL no. The beard hating needs to stop RIGHT now.

Unless you meant ridiculously long beards, not clean cropped awesome beards. Then I forgive you.

[James Bond]

Black suits are bad, but I've seen far worse on men at OCI and job fairs. Dirty, unpolished shoes (usually duckbill slip-ons, yuck), sneakers with suits, dirty ties, novelty ties, suits that are too big/too small, jackets that still have the basting thread on the vent or the tag still on the sleeve, improperly altered suits, dark blue, red, khaki, and even black shirts, long hair, beards, etc.

Bottom line is that most interviewers are going to cut a little slack if you don't look absolutely perfect. They know law students these days have know clue about how to dress professionally and such. Just do your best to look neat, clean, pressed, and presentable.

Oh HELL no. The beard hating needs to stop RIGHT now.

Unless you meant ridiculously long beards, not clean cropped awesome beards. Then I forgive you.

Unless you're an older or heavier man you look unprofessional in a beard...

[A'nold]

Black suits are bad, but I've seen far worse on men at OCI and job fairs. Dirty, unpolished shoes (usually duckbill slip-ons, yuck), sneakers with suits, dirty ties, novelty ties, suits that are too big/too small, jackets that still have the basting thread on the vent or the tag still on the sleeve, improperly altered suits, dark blue, red, khaki, and even black shirts, long hair, beards, etc.

Bottom line is that most interviewers are going to cut a little slack if you don't look absolutely perfect. They know law students these days have know clue about how to dress professionally and such. Just do your best to look neat, clean, pressed, and presentable.

Oh HELL no. The beard hating needs to stop RIGHT now.

Unless you meant ridiculously long beards, not clean cropped awesome beards. Then I forgive you.

I shaved my awesome beard for the interview process a few weeks ago. I am ashamed.

[Bosque]

Black suits are bad, but I've seen far worse on men at OCI and job fairs. Dirty, unpolished shoes (usually duckbill slip-ons, yuck), sneakers with suits, dirty ties, novelty ties, suits that are too big/too small, jackets that still have the basting thread on the vent or the tag still on the sleeve, improperly altered suits, dark blue, red, khaki, and even black shirts, long hair, beards, etc.

Bottom line is that most interviewers are going to cut a little slack if you don't look absolutely perfect. They know law students these days have know clue about how to dress professionally and such. Just do your best to look neat, clean, pressed, and presentable.

Oh HELL no. The beard hating needs to stop RIGHT now.

Unless you meant ridiculously long beards, not clean cropped awesome beards. Then I forgive you.

I shaved my awesome beard for the interview process a few weeks ago. I am ashamed.

My awesome beard is what GOT me my job. It has powers.

[jayn3]

What do females usually wear to interviews? I HATE suits. Can we pull off a fancy shift dress (you know what that is right?), or pencil skirt and top? Or is that stuff too fashiony and makes it seem like we care more about the outfit than being professional?

what about those of us who hate skirts? can we wear a pantsuit without looking exceedingly boring? i feel way more professional in pants than in skirts.

The rule of thumb for women and business is always wear a skirt suit for interviews because you never know how "formal/traditional" the employer is (at least in fields like law/business; if you know the interview is somewhere more casual, you can adjust accordingly).

Oh and women can wear black suits; it's different for us .

this makes me sad inside. i don't get why it's all but mandatory for a woman to wear heels/show off some leg, whereas if a guy showed up to an interview wearing shorts he'd never get the job.

[Renzo]

This makes me sad inside. i don't get why it's all but mandatory for a woman to wear heels/show off some leg, whereas if a guy showed up to an interview wearing shorts he'd never get the job.

Are you seriously talking about how great it is to be a woman, and be expected to where a skirt and heels instead of sensible shoes and pants?

[06072010]

This makes me sad inside. i don't get why it's all but mandatory for a woman to wear heels/show off some leg, whereas if a guy showed up to an interview wearing shorts he'd never get the job.

Are you seriously talking about how great it is to be a woman, and be expected to where a skirt and heels instead of sensible shoes and pants?

yeah, I'd like to hear an answer to this, too.

[jayn3]

This makes me sad inside. i don't get why it's all but mandatory for a woman to wear heels/show off some leg, whereas if a guy showed up to an interview wearing shorts he'd never get the job.

Are you seriously talking about how great it is to be a woman, and be expected to where a skirt and heels instead of sensible shoes and pants?

personally i don't think wearing skirts that restrict your movement and shoes that hurt your feet is great.....especially not when doing so often results in unwanted attention from a range of people including creepers on the street and potential bosses.

[NayBoer]

I'll trim my beard down to a nice Gyllenhaal-circa-2008 level, but it's not coming off. I look a little more mature with it, and it accentuates my jaw. I interviewed for three jobs with it in 2007 over the course of a couple days and I got 2 offers (and was way under-qualified for the third). Granted, this was California, with much lighter standards of dress.

It occurs to me that I no longer even own a white dress shirt. I have probably 15+ dress shirts in reds, blues, purples, even black, green, brown and orange. No white.

[Bosque]

I'll trim my beard down to a nice Gyllenhaal-circa-2008 level, but it's not coming off. I look a little more mature with it, and it accentuates my jaw. I interviewed for three jobs with it in 2007 over the course of a couple days and I got 2 offers (and was way under-qualified for the third). Granted, this was California, with much lighter standards of dress.

Good. Beards are great. They make people believe what you say.

[d34d9823]

this makes me sad inside. i don't get why it's all but mandatory for a woman to wear heels/show off some leg, whereas if a guy showed up to an interview wearing shorts he'd never get the job.

Because ankle length skirts look ridiculous?

Would there really be a problem wearing a pantsuit and flats? I get the impression that women wear heels to counteract the height difference and/or because they're in love with them.

[James Bond]

this makes me sad inside. i don't get why it's all but mandatory for a woman to wear heels/show off some leg, whereas if a guy showed up to an interview wearing shorts he'd never get the job.

Because ankle length skirts look ridiculous?

Would there really be a problem wearing a pantsuit and flats? I get the impression that women wear heels to counteract the height difference and/or because they're in love with them.

Flats, in general, look ridiculous with formal wear

[Renzo]

this makes me sad inside. i don't get why it's all but mandatory for a woman to wear heels/show off some leg, whereas if a guy showed up to an interview wearing shorts he'd never get the job.

Because ankle length skirts look ridiculous?

Would there really be a problem wearing a pantsuit and flats? I get the impression that women wear heels to counteract the height difference and/or because they're in love with them.

Flats, in general, look ridiculous with formal wear

Sexist and unfair, but definitely true. And yes, there is a problem with pantsuits. The same problem guys have with black suits--most people won't care, but some stodgy old fuck just might, and it might cost you a job.

[James Bond]

That and pantsuits remind everyone of Hilary Clinton. Do you REALLY want people to think "hildawg" when they see you? REALLY?

[Dany]

Would there really be a problem wearing a pantsuit and flats? I get the impression that women wear heels to counteract the height difference and/or because they're in love with them.

Flats are generally viewed as too casual or unprofessional. You can find low, comfortable heels that will suffice. And as far as a pantsuit goes, the "norm" is a professional skirt suit, and in the conservative legal profession, you just can't take a chance on offending someone's sensibilities about what should be worn... especially if that person is the one giving out job offers.

Edit: ditto to what Renzo said.

[d34d9823]

Would there really be a problem wearing a pantsuit and flats? I get the impression that women wear heels to counteract the height difference and/or because they're in love with them.

Flats are generally viewed as too casual or unprofessional. You can find low, comfortable heels that will suffice. And as far as a pantsuit goes, the "norm" is a professional skirt suit, and in the conservative legal profession, you just can't take a chance on offending someone's sensibilities about what should be worn... especially if that person is the one giving out job offers.

Edit: ditto to what Renzo said.

Well, cool, I learned my new fact about women's clothes for the day.

[keg411]

This makes me sad inside. i don't get why it's all but mandatory for a woman to wear heels/show off some leg, whereas if a guy showed up to an interview wearing shorts he'd never get the job.

Are you seriously talking about how great it is to be a woman, and be expected to where a skirt and heels instead of sensible shoes and pants?

personally i don't think wearing skirts that restrict your movement and shoes that hurt your feet is great.....especially not when doing so often results in unwanted attention from a range of people including creepers on the street and potential bosses.

There are plenty of comfortable skirt suits and you can get a very low, comfortable heel. It's not about being "sexy" at all. It's about being professional. The skirt should NOT be short and you should wear pantyhose (I like nude, but some people say you should wear off-black hose if you're wearing a black skirt). Get a nice strand of pearls (they don't have to be real as long as they look nice).

Once you have a job, then you can vary it up based on the firm/office culture (there are far more corporations and firms that do "business casual" nowadays), but for interviewing it's a different story. You don't want to offend some stodgy old hiring partner.

[steve_nash]

I wore a skirt suit to my interviews, with a basic (i.e., non-flashy) top and some pearls. While I find pant suits a lot more comfortable, there are still some old-school interviewers out there (especially in the South), and best not to give them a stupid reason not to hire you.