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Like the title says, not really sure this is the best spot for this question but I will give it a shot. I was wondering what most junior associates wear at large firms? I ask because I love three-piece suits but feel that most occasions a waistcoat would just be a little "too much." Would a three-piece suit be acceptable in a large firm setting for a junior associate or would it come off looking I was trying to hard?

I am mainly thinking of firms on the East Coast, primarily NYC, Boston or DC if that makes a difference.

From my understanding, most associates at NYC firms don't even wear a suit on a day-to-day basis (I think Cravath and maybe some others may be an exception to this, though, but pretty sure they're in the tiny minority). So yeah, if you're wearing a three-piece suit and the rest of your colleagues are wearing a dress shirt + slacks....

The vast majority of firms are business casual, outside of a few obvious exceptions (i.e. business - Cravath, casual - Quinn).

Wearing a three-piece suit on standard days (i.e. no client interaction, no important conferences, no court dates, etc.) would pretty much make you "the three-piece suit guy" around the office.

Edit: I notice you mentioned D.C. DC offices tend to be a bit more formal in their attire (Capitol tradition, I imagine), so you may not stand out as much in that particular environment.

Machine Spirit wrote:The vast majority of firms are business casual, outside of a few obvious exceptions (i.e. business - Cravath, casual - Quinn).

Wearing a three-piece suit on standard days (i.e. no client interaction, no important conferences, no court dates, etc.) would pretty much make you "the three-piece suit guy" around the office.

Edit: I notice you mentioned D.C. DC offices tend to be a bit more formal in their attire (Capitol tradition, I imagine), so you may not stand out as much in that particular environment.

I only saw one two-piece suit during all of my callbacks in DC...other than hanging on the back of doors. Everyone was business casual. I think you'd stand out horribly in DC in a 3-piece...especially in summer. Even a 3-button suit can look out of place, let alone 3-piece.

It would look entirely out of place. People simply don't wear them anymore.

My DC firm is business casual with jeans on Friday.

one of the summer associates wore one at my v50. on several occasions. the same three piece suit mind you (the problem with wearing something memorable is you can't really repeat the outfit too often). he immediately became "that guy." don't wear three piece suits to work please. with any article of clothing, or any behavior really, if no other person is doing it in a 800 person office, there is usually a reason why.

It won't matter if you have a good personality. If you don't, people will dislike you more.

I see, well I suppose me and my three-piece suits were just not meant to be. Thank you all so much for the quick responses.

Three piece suits really don't have much of a place in the business world unless you are just a total baller or the "type" of person who can pull it off. This ain't GQ or Mad Men.

You should definitely wear a three-piece suit to work, if possible. For shoes, something like this is preferred:

MrKappus wrote:You should definitely wear a three-piece suit to work, if possible. For shoes, something like this is preferred:

Ah yes Broadstreets, very nice but they usually require a hat to finish the look.

Anonymous User wrote:one of the summer associates wore one at my v50. on several occasions. the same three piece suit mind you (the problem with wearing something memorable is you can't really repeat the outfit too often). he immediately became "that guy." don't wear three piece suits to work please. with any article of clothing, or any behavior really, if no other person is doing it in a 800 person office, there is usually a reason why.

If you watch How I Met Your Mother you would know being "that guy" may not be so bad during mass firings in law firms