Apparel etiqutte? Forum

[California Babe]

If this is actually your reason, then I don't see any issue. With that said, I think many people wear the aforementioned apparel (i.e. University of BLANK Med/Law) to show off their success. YES, I realize that people do this all the time with cars and designer clothes, but those seem to be much more subtle. I'm not commenting on this any further. I didn't know I was messing with a TLS hornets nest.

What if I wear a shirt where it says "Blank Law" fairly small? Is there a size that makes it less subtle and therefore appropriate?

What about people who wear t-shirts after they do something like win a sports tournament? Do you rolls your eyes when you see people wearing "State champions" t-shirts from their basketball, football, volleyball, team? What if they won the state championship for marching band, and they wear their t-shirt out of pride? Are they just trying to show off their success? Do you roll your eyes?

What about people who worked for the Obama campaign and they wear Obama t-shirts? Are they just trying to show off their success?

[Renzo]

What about people who wear t-shirts after they do something like win a sports tournament? Do you rolls your eyes when you see people wearing "State champions" t-shirts from their basketball, football, volleyball, team? What if they won the state championship for marching band, and they wear their t-shirt out of pride? Are they just trying to show off their success? Do you roll your eyes?

It's OK, so long as it's a proletariat sport, like baseball or soccer. But if it's a rich folks sport, like field hockey or water polo, it's too flashy.

[JazzOne]

If this is actually your reason, then I don't see any issue. With that said, I think many people wear the aforementioned apparel (i.e. University of BLANK Med/Law) to show off their success. YES, I realize that people do this all the time with cars and designer clothes, but those seem to be much more subtle. I'm not commenting on this any further. I didn't know I was messing with a TLS hornets nest.

You basically said that you would roll your eyes at many people on this site, and then you're surprised when they call you out on your hypocrisy?

[kswiss]

Wearing law school apparel has led to meeting several local lawyers for me. I'm married with kids, (but pretty young), so I don't have tons of time to do all of the LS networking events, but as a result of wearing a LS sweater I met a partner in a mid-law firm in a neighboring city at my daughter's soccer game. I also met another partner at a smallish firm through my wife who was repping my law school with a sweater. The law community (at least where I am) is so tight knit that most lawyers are excited to see law students outside of the law school, at least in my experience.

I don't think its weird at all. Seems silly to judge people for wearing apparel of the place where they spend half or more of their waking hours.

[HowdyYall]

Tell your friend to retake the LSAT.

hahaha

[Jeff Mangum]

Oh, lordy. Can't we all just get along? People wear these things for all kinds of reasons. My "Blank Law" tees shirt makes an occasional public appearance because I got it for free and because now that I am a law student my routine laundry neglect combined with basic hygiene concerns and what remains of my human dignity means that I will eventually wear anything I own that is reasonably clean and presentable. Some people wear it with a more purposeful but still innocuous sense of school pride, etc. And there definitely are people who wear the same due to an obnoxious and over-inflated sense of personal accomplishment and entitlement. Those people say and do so many other things to make it clear that they fall into this category, that you don't really need to see them in their school outfit to figure out who those people are because they will force it upon you anyway.

[traehekat]

haha i was just talking to someone at my school today about how we both kinda hate wearing law school apparel outside of the law school, especially to like a bar or some social thing. you just kinda feel like everyone thinks you are a pompous ass, regardless of well regarded your school actually is (because as we all know, law students are better than everyone else because we make many dollars every god damn DAY).

i think i have one law school related t shirt, and i really only wear it to work out or play tennis in.

EDIT: lol @ "work out", who the hell am i kidding over here.

[whymeohgodno]

haha i was just talking to someone at my school today about how we both kinda hate wearing law school apparel outside of the law school, especially to like a bar or some social thing. you just kinda feel like everyone thinks you are a pompous ass, regardless of well regarded your school actually is (because as we all know, law students are better than everyone else because we make many dollars every god damn DAY).

i think i have one law school related t shirt, and i really only wear it to work out or play tennis in.

EDIT: lol @ "work out", who the hell am i kidding over here.

JD= Ju$$$t Dollazz

[BarbellDreams]

If this is actually your reason, then I don't see any issue. With that said, I think many people wear the aforementioned apparel (i.e. University of BLANK Med/Law) to show off their success. YES, I realize that people do this all the time with cars and designer clothes, but those seem to be much more subtle. I'm not commenting on this any further. I didn't know I was messing with a TLS hornets nest.

You basically said that you would roll your eyes at many people on this site, and then you're surprised when they call you out on your hypocrisy?

The only way Getting Ready's comments make sense is if they go to a TTT... /thread

[kalvano]

Who fucking cares? If you are so insecure that someone wearing a shirt with the name of a higher-ranked school than yours makes you snivel like a little kid who skinned their knee, then you have deeper issues to work on.

People go to different schools. Some are ranked higher, some are ranked. Pride in the school that you attend is in no way a bad thing.

[09042014]

TCR for your friend is to pretend his school is just as good as yours.

[SeymourShowz]

I do think putting a "XYZ Law" sticker on your car is pretty weak. Hey, look at me! I go to law school! I'm soooo cool!

[sophia.olive]

I do think putting a "XYZ Law" sticker on your car is pretty weak. Hey, look at me! I go to law school! I'm soooo cool!

I think it might not be a bad idea to have a sticker on your car and a sweater for one reason. People will be less likely to f*ck with you because they think you can ruin their life with some paper work.

[Baylan]

OP needs a new friend

Having school pride is nothing to snivel at. Part of what you're paying for in law school is (limited) access to the alumni network. If you get access via a sweatshirt, good for you.

Or maybe you just want to represent your school and let others know that you attend.

I wear t-shrits and sweatshirts from my undergrad alma mater on a regular basis (probably more than once a week). I don't own any stuff from my law school yet (haven't made the effort to go find/buy any) but when I do own the stuff, I'm sure I'll wear it regularly.

[DiscoveryDeadline]

So I ended up ditching all of my gear. Just tossed in the trash. Couple sweatshirts. My keychain. Coffee cup. It wasn't like it was some huge investment. But I felt like it wasn't worth the worries about whether I was being pretentious or not. I need to stop at Auto Zone and get the window decal off - and, for the record, it's just a generic university one, not a law school one.

For the record, I never bought any gear to "show off," at least not consciously. It's just kind of like, this is America, and in America people own sweatshirts of the school they attended. It was barely a conscious choice to buy them. It's kind of a ritual - you get into school somewhere, you visit the campus, you get excited and want to buy a couple things. I mostly just wear them around the house or to the gym, so it's not like I'm outfitted in xxx and xxx every day, you know?

Just figured there's no upside to wearing any of it. Plus, like someone said, maybe we're all a little too old for wearing that stuff anyway. Plus, it's law school, not undergrad.

[beach_terror]

This seems fitting: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FXvv5sTqNa4

Graduate students are the worst.

[Baylan]

So I ended up ditching all of my gear. Just tossed in the trash. Couple sweatshirts. My keychain. Coffee cup. It wasn't like it was some huge investment. But I felt like it wasn't worth the worries about whether I was being pretentious or not. I need to stop at Auto Zone and get the window decal off - and, for the record, it's just a generic university one, not a law school one.

For the record, I never bought any gear to "show off," at least not consciously. It's just kind of like, this is America, and in America people own sweatshirts of the school they attended. It was barely a conscious choice to buy them. It's kind of a ritual - you get into school somewhere, you visit the campus, you get excited and want to buy a couple things. I mostly just wear them around the house or to the gym, so it's not like I'm outfitted in xxx and xxx every day, you know?

Just figured there's no upside to wearing any of it. Plus, like someone said, maybe we're all a little too old for wearing that stuff anyway. Plus, it's law school, not undergrad.

Really?

Man, way to have a sack.

If this is sarcastic... then /facepalm me.

[DiscoveryDeadline]

So I ended up ditching all of my gear. Just tossed in the trash. Couple sweatshirts. My keychain. Coffee cup. It wasn't like it was some huge investment. But I felt like it wasn't worth the worries about whether I was being pretentious or not. I need to stop at Auto Zone and get the window decal off - and, for the record, it's just a generic university one, not a law school one.

For the record, I never bought any gear to "show off," at least not consciously. It's just kind of like, this is America, and in America people own sweatshirts of the school they attended. It was barely a conscious choice to buy them. It's kind of a ritual - you get into school somewhere, you visit the campus, you get excited and want to buy a couple things. I mostly just wear them around the house or to the gym, so it's not like I'm outfitted in xxx and xxx every day, you know?

Just figured there's no upside to wearing any of it. Plus, like someone said, maybe we're all a little too old for wearing that stuff anyway. Plus, it's law school, not undergrad.

Really?

Man, way to have a sack.

If this is sarcastic... then /facepalm me.

It's not about having a "sack." It was just like, if people think I'm a douche for wearing my law school gear, then whatever. It's not like it's all that important to me. You look at it as not having a sack. I look at it as taking the high road.

[savagecheater]

So I ended up ditching all of my gear. Just tossed in the trash. Couple sweatshirts. My keychain. Coffee cup. It wasn't like it was some huge investment. But I felt like it wasn't worth the worries about whether I was being pretentious or not. I need to stop at Auto Zone and get the window decal off - and, for the record, it's just a generic university one, not a law school one.

For the record, I never bought any gear to "show off," at least not consciously. It's just kind of like, this is America, and in America people own sweatshirts of the school they attended. It was barely a conscious choice to buy them. It's kind of a ritual - you get into school somewhere, you visit the campus, you get excited and want to buy a couple things. I mostly just wear them around the house or to the gym, so it's not like I'm outfitted in xxx and xxx every day, you know?

Just figured there's no upside to wearing any of it. Plus, like someone said, maybe we're all a little too old for wearing that stuff anyway. Plus, it's law school, not undergrad.

Really?

Man, way to have a sack.

If this is sarcastic... then /facepalm me.

It's not about having a "sack." It was just like, if people think I'm a douche for wearing my law school gear, then whatever. It's not like it's all that important to me. You look at it as not having a sack. I look at it as taking the high road.

It's one guy.

Seriously, why would you worry about it?

I have a sticker (or window-adhesive) for my LS on the back of my car - I get a lot of good feedback from people because of it.

I'm happy to be where I am and you should too. (I hope).

[keg411]

Why would you dump your stuff? It seems like a really stupid argument to begin with.

Also, in terms of strangers, ANYONE can walk into a bookstore and buy gear. I almost bought a Harvard Law sweatshirt when I was in MA this summer and I go to a sTTTate school.

[12262010]

suck less at life if my sweatshirts upset you.

[beach_terror]

[JazzOne]

It's not about having a "sack." It was just like, if people think I'm a douche for wearing my law school gear, then whatever. It's not like it's all that important to me. You look at it as not having a sack. I look at it as taking the high road.

[DiscoveryDeadline]

It's not a huge deal to me. I'm not a big logo-wearer anyway. I wouldn't even wear something from, say, Polo or American Eagle because of that. I'm not a big "Look at me!" guy. I don't even have a Facebook page, for example. I'm just kind of private when it comes to advertising myself. So the fact that I was giving the wrong impression via something that was out of character anyway just caused me to decide to just make it easier on myself and get rid of the stuff. No biggie.

[LurkerNoMore]

It's not a huge deal to me. I'm not a big logo-wearer anyway. I wouldn't even wear something from, say, Polo or American Eagle because of that. I'm not a big "Look at me!" guy. I don't even have a Facebook page, for example. I'm just kind of private when it comes to advertising myself. So the fact that I was giving the wrong impression via something that was out of character anyway just caused me to decide to just make it easier on myself and get rid of the stuff. No biggie.

Honestly, I suggest you start rethinking this approach. You will be slamming countless doors if you don't figure out how to be comfortable with marketing yourself. You aren't going to go through life without ruffling some feathers. Tossing all of your school stuff because of one friend who is insecure about their own position was a huge over-reaction. Wearing a school's tie with a suit -- pompous. Wearing a t-shirt or sweatshirt as a small part of your overall wardrobe is completely appropriate. It is also a networking opportunity, whether the school you go to is Yale or Cooley.

The legal field is dominated by connections. Whether or not you choose to rethink your school logo, you really need to get comfortable with advertising yourself.