Stylists Think Women Lawyers Should 'Seek Legal Redress' For Their Crimes Of Fashion

Again with this crap? Women in the legal profession are sick and tired of being told how to dress themselves.

This summer, the Marin County Bar Association in California made the mistake of publishing an article in its June newsletter, the Marin Lawyer, that was critical of how women lawyers dress. The stylists who wrote the short piece, Jill Sperber and Susana Perczek, likely never suspected that they would face complaints of sexism over their suggestions. Sperber and Perczek may have had good intentions, but unfortunately for them, women in the legal profession are sick and tired of being told how to dress themselves.

Their tips certainly seem simple enough — and some of them may actually be worth working into your wardrobe — but when women dress for court, most of them aren’t doing so with the goals of “looking taller, slimmer and younger.” They’re in court to represent clients and show off their legal know-how, not their outfits. From Marin Lawyer:

Seek Legal Redress
With minimal effort and expense, legal redress is within everyone’s reach. Start with these tips:

Color is Legal. Color other than black is appropriate and should be explored. Black does not flatter everyone. Knowing your color palette is key to looking polished, less severe, and more approachable.

Power of the Blazer. A structured jacket balances out the lower half. Rethink the matching pant suit. Try a cropped collarless jacket or fitted blazer in quality fabric and mixed colors or textures.

Add Spice. Accessories (statement necklace, belt, scarf) bring basics to life and expand wear per item. They complete a look and build one’s signature brand.

Blouse in the House. Stiff oxford button downs are unfriendly to curvy torsos. A silk or poly blouse in a flattering color or print skims over trouble areas and adds panache.

Shoe Up. The wrong shoe kills. For lawyers, shoes with a low (2” or less) heel or wedge are more chic and flattering than round toe flats or sky high stilettos.

Yvette Martinez, a county prosecutor who received a copy of the June issue of the Marin Lawyer, was reportedly the only woman to complain about the content of Sperber’s and Perczek’s foray into fashion for women lawyers. In a letter to the Marin County Bar Association, Martinez called the article “blatantly sexist,” and went on to make some very strong points about how it came to be published in the newsletter in the first place:

“Consider for a brief moment an article written by men suggesting that male attorneys ‘jazz up’ their attire to ‘watch (their) professional image improve immediately.’ Come on, Men, switch up those navy and grey suits and try a spring color palette! That would be rather funny, but it would not be published. Consider the same Dress Code for Women article written by a man. He would be ridiculed and publicly shamed. It would not happen, and again, it would not be published. But simply because this article was authored by two women, the same sexist message is somehow allowed.”

Damn straight. Mee Mee Wong, executive director of the Marin County Bar Association, says the MCBA is “not agreeing or disagreeing” with the content of Sperber’s and Perczek’s article, but will publish Martinez’s letter in the July issue of the Marin Lawyer.

In the meantime, perhaps women lawyers ought to take a cue from Yvette Martinez on their fashion inspiration: “Ruth Bader Ginsburg, Sonia Sotomayor, and Elena Kagan are my fashion icons — they happen to be our three female U.S. Supreme Court justices — they wear black robes to work every day and it suits them just fine.”

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Beyond Black: Revising the Lawyer Dress Code for Women [Marin Lawyer]
Fashion consultants’ advice for Marin women lawyers called ‘blatantly sexist’ [Marin Independent Journal]
Marin County Lawyers Get Hit By The Fashion Police [CBS San Francisco]
Female Lawyers Object to Stylists’ ‘Blatantly Sexist’ Article on Fashion Sense [KMBZ]
Fashion critique of female lawyers in bar newsletter brings sexism complaint [ABA Journal]

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