How do you expect your lawyer to look?

[wejammin]

I need help! I'm having a crisis of confidence.

I'm a solicitor and for the whole of my career (a decade) I've worked in the legal aid sector. I've always worn a suit for court (only a cheap one mind) most of the time I'm in Jersey dresses and cardigans, or tailored trousers and tops. Lots of scarves, bright coloured tights. Never heels (I can't walk a step in them). I wear very little make up and I have wild curls that look lovely about once a week.

My clients in general are very very casual, have no money and I imagine don't care how I look. I do a good job for them and that's the main thing.

Next week I start a new job, same type of work but for privately paying clients, many of whom are extremely wealthy. I know what matters most is that I do a good job but I can't help feeling that appearances will be more relevant to the client.

I'm on a very limited budget and I'm also 10 weeks pregnant. I've bought 2 black maternity shift dresses and I have 2 pairs of black maternity trousers.

What I would like to know is what things would you notice about a professional doing a job for you? Do you care about how they look? Is hair/jewellery/shoes important?

Please help!

Fellow lawyer here - banking. I am astonished that some people think that make up is important, it's not.

It's important to look and sound the part but the latter is much more important. You must look neat and tidy but that is fairly easy with a good quality skirt or trousers and a good blouse. Shoes plain and black, heels not important but I do wear them sometimes if there are going to be a lot of tall men in a meeting.

Brands depending your height/shape.

Hobbs would be good, but not for me as I'm tall and their clothes are usually shortwaisted. Most of my work clothes are brands like Maxmara from ebay or sales. If I'm buying online, I always check measurements. Silk shirts are good because the drape means sizing is less critical.

There's a book you can get for pennies from Amazon, called "It's Vintage Darling which is a useful guide to getting a smart wardrobe on a shoestring.

Whilst you're pregnant, I'd stick to the clothes you've described - they sound fine. If you go back after your mat leave, you can start to build up a work wardrobe at that point. You don't need a lot of workwear -just a handful of outfits.

Thanks! I'm 5ft and size 8/10 top and 10/12 bottom (big arse) so Hobbs might do. Will definitely be going back after this baby, will have 3 to feed!

In the meantime will invest in a couple of jackets, handbag, plain jewellery. Clean my shoes.

Did you know that when Obama was president, one of the things he did in order to cut the number of decisions he had to make was get very similar suits to wear, so he always looked the same and didn't have to think about what to wear?

I would encourage you to do the same. Don't try to wear something g different every day, have a few outfits, wear a fresh top / shirt every day and don't stress about it.

Enjoy your new role, all the best

Phase Eight might be good for you. I am short too, and their stretchy dresses can be shortened easily.

Accessorize do cheap bags which hold a lot. Something like this is cheap but looks a lot more professional than a rucksack, if you need to be able to carry documents and things to and from work. It isn't as massive in real life as it appears in the photo.

Diane Lockheart, hopefully.

I wouldn’t expect to see make up or pained nails.

I would expect hair to look washed and maintained. But natural curly hair cut into decent style is fine.

I would expect clothes to be smart in presentation eg formal looking dresses or separates, jacket rather than cardigan.

I wouldn’t care about heels if you shoes were clean and in decent condition.

I wouldn’t care about jewellery but wouldn’t really expect to see four ratings in each ear tbh.

Basically be yourself just a tidy, smart looking version of yourself.

Buy yourself a briefcase for your papers. It adds confidence.

I'm a university lecturer with multiple piercings and when I'm trying to be a bit smart I wear tiny silver stups (just the plain balls) in all except the "normal" lobe piercing, then smart dangly ones in them.
I often wear suit trousers with a silky top and cardigan as a "smartish" look.
For wild hair - can you get one of those big black clips, then twist it up at the back - like pic?

oops stud not stup!

Diane Lockheart, hopefully.

Time to invest in amazing jewellery OP.

I just googled Diane Lockheart. Fierce!

@Cliveybaby those clip things never hold my hair. The curls determinedly escape one by one until I'm left with a clip in the back of my head surrounded by a mane.

it wouldn’t bother me at all. Depending on the culture at the firm your fellow colleagues may judge you are bit more if you are more dressed down than average. I’m not a lawyer but I’ve worked in a firm that does a mix of legal aid and private (big family dept) and they tended to dress pretty smart (including full make-up/heels) even when not in court.

The firm I work at now is in the City and most clients corporate. They definitely don’t make much effort for client meetings (some no makeup at all/flats only/hair sometimes wet!), and seem to just chuck a blazer over whatever they are wearing and hey presto! The transformations when they go to court all suited/booted and made up is amazing!!

I'm a lawyer. Unless I'm in Court my standard office garb is a black or navy dress with a contrasting jacket. I have a couple of dark suits - for Court or big meetings but I wear them fairly rarely.

I do wear make up but not much. I try to keep my hair tidy (an ongoing battle). My nails are fairly short and clean; very rarely painted.

Crumpled clothes and scuffed shoes would be no no's for me.

On the basis of this thread no client ever has faith in me ever.

I'm a solicitor and think a lot depends on the law firm you work for. IME big corporate firms expected suits etc and the smaller high street firms were a bit more laid back.

I second what other have said about neat, tidy fairly sober clothing, however have just checked my shoes and see they are a bit muddy The shame!

Note to self - clean shoes after work!

I think clean and smart. Trouser suit/dress etc clean shoes. Clean hands, clean hair, manicure.

This doesn't mean heels or long nails. Just clean and smart. Just as I would any professional, GP, Teacher, dentist etc.

My solicitor was quite plain, but perfectly clean and smart.

A couple of nice pieces of jewellery such as studs, simple necklace can add a bit of sophistication.

I'd get rid of the earrings and rucksack. A nice tasteful handbag and pair of studs would give a better finish.

I think clean well cut hair, left down, nearly always looks better than up (there's a risk of formal updo's looking harsh and overdone if you're not very very good at them). If you have afro hair, 'tidy' doesn't mean the same thing: just natural, with no heavy obvious products, would be absolutely fine.

I think flats are great. I've been in court when half a dozen solicitors have been teetering about in THE highest glossy heels and I found it distracting, not impressive. Good quality spotless leather flats (obviously not pumps) would be much more appropriate, I think.

A cardigan in the office would be fine, but it's too informal for court. Otherwise, clothes should be nice natural fabrics, tidy and dark.

I wouldn't think anything negative if you wore no make-up, and I'd be unimpressed if you wore lots, but a tiny bit (no eyeshadow) would probably help you look tidier.

As your client, I certainly wouldn't want or expect you to look obviously designer, flashy or over-done.

@Suzietwo

I’m not an ‘appearances’ person, so I would just expect a smart tidy, professional appearance. I wouldn’t notice or care about make-up at all unless it was OTT. I probably would notice a nice watch, but that’s just indicative of my own interest in them.

I'm also a solicitor and have also recently changed jobs from somewhere pretty laid back to a firm where I felt clients may expect me to be smarter. I also hadn't properly overhauled my work wardrobe since returning from maternity leave a couple of years ago.

I am also about the same height as you and I find i really hard to get smart work trousers. I have gone for the following:

• One black skirt suit made of a fabric that I can wear the skirt by itself or use the jacket with other outfits.
• a few other knee length pencil and a-line skirts in more interesting fabrics like tweeds.
• a selection of drapey blouses, mostly in plain colours.
• russel and bromley style loafers as I can't stand wearing heels.
• a couple of shift dresses

Most of the time I wear cardigans rather than the jacket but I keep it in the office for client meetings or court.

I don't wear makeup anyway and tend not to wear jewelry but now I'm thinking of getting some nice accessories for the next stage of my new wardrobe.

I did a bit of a spree in John Lewis from brands like Jigsaw and Hobbs and some of the smaller brands they have there.

Good luck. I could probably have actually carried on being a bit more casual but getting a new wardrobe helped me mentally focus on the new job.

I would just expect someone to look vaguely professional, clean and tidy. I'd be much more focused on how they communicated with me than whether they had x number of earrings or wore a certain type of shoe.

I just think of neat hair as washed. And no split ends. Everything you've mentioned seems fine to me!

I know a lot of lawyers. Nails must be short and neat. Ideally no varnish or clear/nude or neutral varnish. Hair must be neat. Make is not essential but must be natural if worn. Clothing wise either suits, dresses with matching jackets, smart dresses, smart trousers and shirt.jerset dresses are a no I am afraid. Shoesust be clean and well maintained and simple. Congratulations on the new job!