One of the perks of my previous job was that as a senior manager for a railroad construction company, I was able to dress in jeans most days and not feel out of place. After passing the bar, I tried to wear a suit to work a few times and felt pretty out of place, so I gave up and went back to jeans and a shirt.
New Year, new look
I have enough suits to wear a suit every day for work. I’ve lost some inches since I bought some of the suits, so I probably need to get the ones that don’t fit quite right fixed up so that they fit me properly. That said, since I am hoping to spend a lot more of my time in court this coming year, I am going to try to wear a suit to work every day. I might take Fridays off if I don’t have court, but I don’t think I’m going to be able to pull off jeans much anymore.
I feel like clients expect a certain something
I think clients expect their lawyers to be well dressed. I know that I see people dressed in suits around town and I immediately think they are lawyers. In fact, I am often surprised when I see people wearing a suit and tie for work that aren’t lawyers. This Thursday I was in my office in jeans and a tee because I didn’t expect to do much client-facing work that day, and got a request for an appointment which led me to go home and change into something more professional.
Not only does it look good, suits seem to change my attitude
When I put on a suit, especially a good suit, I feel more formidable. More confident. The idea that a simple wardrobe change would make a difference in the way that I carry myself seems a little bit silly to me, but I am conscious of the occurrence.
Where to get decent suits cheap?
I don’t like wearing cheap suits. I have a couple of really cheap suits that I wear as a last resort, but I really prefer a decent suit to work in. Buying decent suits is a pretty serious investment, but I imagine it will be worth it in the end. My favorite suit right now is one that I purchased on Indochino.com, in what I’ve heard called “heteronormative blue”. I think that describes it pretty well. Men’s Wearhouse has a pretty decent selection of suits as well, but their business model of 2-for-1 makes buying suits from them costly because you have to buy two at a time.