Law Schools

Law School Marks Down Grades For Single-Breasted Jackets Or If 'Bra Shows'

There's just something creepy about the way the law school talks about women's fashion.

By  
on

On the one hand, BPP Law School in London is just trying to help their students become “practice ready” with an in-depth guidebook for the vocational Bar Professional Training Course. The law is, on occasion, a stodgy profession and helping students navigate the antiquated and often arbitrary norms of barrister practice is a noble aim.

On the other hand, the school’s wildly outdated, often downright sexist fashion and conduct advice betrays a program — and, as much or more, a Training Course — that needs to take a long look at itself and its practices.

Our friends from across the pond, Legal Cheek, bring us this story. Check out their story for all the ludicrous micromanagement, complete with pictures. Here are some highlights:

Ideally, men’s jackets should be DOUBLE BREASTED or 3-PIECE. If you wear a single-breasted jacket, you do need to do it up. You are not supposed to show your shirt over the stomach.

Unless you’re going yachting with Thurston Howell, no, you should not be wearing a double-breasted jacket. They may as well have suggested men wear a codpiece because that would look as ridiculous in 2018. Law moves slower than other professions, but I remain convinced most of the law’s fascination with long outdated fashion stems from aging partners unwilling to shop for a new wardrobe and willing to make everyone around them look goofy rather than step into a store.

The handbook also dings men 2 points for “Non-black shoes.” I’m not even sure that was even a rule of accepted professional attire in the 1960s.

There are useful tidbits, of course. Students are penalized if their cell phone goes off while conducting the mock trial exercise or if they address the judge with their hands in their pockets. That’s basic and timeless etiquette. But someone from the latter half of the 20th century really needs to dig into this advice before another generation of barristers recommits the fashion sins of the past.

Sponsored

But as goofy as the advice for men may be, the disturbing stuff comes from the downright creepy approach to policing women’s fashion:

Too much shirt undone (women) -1 or -2

-3 if bra shows

 Shirt should be predominantly UP. Cleavage should not be on show.

Now some people will inevitably point out that this is good advice. So it is. The problem is there’s no reason to spell all this out. “Shirt should be buttoned predominantly up” or even “shirt should be worn conservatively” would accomplish everything without injecting this unnecessary sexualization into the discussion. The men’s trousers section doesn’t say, “Make sure you’ve zipped your fly” even though we all understand that this would be a major faux pas as well. Or maybe it wouldn’t… England’s got some weird rules.

At another juncture, the guide warns against “Kinky boots” (women). Easy there Cyndi Lauper. Can’t we just say women should wear “professional shoes”? Is there really a need for this trip down leather fetish lane? That’s the whole problem here, there’s a mildly lurid specificity provided for women’s attire that no one would ever expect for a male candidate. Who wrote this guidebook, and has anyone checked to see if any prostitutes have been mysteriously murdered in his proximity?

Dressing professionally requires learning a few arcane tricks of the trade, but by and large it just requires some common sense. It doesn’t require dressing like a caricature of a pre-war shadow minister and it definitely doesn’t require a lengthy account of how women should properly wear a thong. Let’s take this from scratch — show students two people wearing professional attire and say “go buy this!”

Sponsored

I think BPP Law will be surprised how successful that would be.

Incredible BPTC handbook advises students to wear ‘double breasted’ jackets in their advocacy exam — and says they’ll be marked down for wearing ‘kinky boots’ [Legal Cheek]

Earlier: This Partner Wants You To Dress Up So You Can Be A Tool Just Like Him

HeadshotJoe Patrice is an editor at Above the Law and co-host of Thinking Like A Lawyer. Feel free to email any tips, questions, or comments. Follow him on Twitter if you’re interested in law, politics, and a healthy dose of college sports news.

Topics

, , ,