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ClothesMaketheLawyer 8 - 11 May 2008 - Main.KateVershov
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I am having trouble understanding what is at the crux of the discussion, in class and in the comments on Mina's paper, about clothes and class. I see that we categorize each other according to socioeconomic status, based on our clothes. Yet, Eben observes that it is a rare law student who dresses properly for an interview (I, for instance, know next to nothing about suits, let alone the nuances of buttons and collars). So we can assume that many incorrectly attired law students are offered jobs anyway, and learn to dress properly for their respective jobs once they already have them. It follows then, that I wear will depend on what I do, and not vice versa. If I change jobs, my clothes will change. So if clothes are not a bar to raising one's socioeconomic status, but rather an indication of that status once attained, where and when does the relationship between clothes and class become important? | | | Although- while I'm not particularly worried about wearing the "right" or "wrong" outfit to an interview, because I'm not convinced that it matters (for the reasons I gave above)- is it really fair to admonish people for wanting to be dressed appropriately? Whether or not we like it, dress codes exist in pretty much every job, and rejecting them seems like a fairly meaningless form of rebellion that could potentially result in the frustration of our professional goals.
-- ClaireOSullivan - 11 May 2008 | |
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My comment was not addressed to you, Claire. And no, rejecting a dress code that is so exacting as to dictate the brands you buy and the number of buttons that your shirt has, is not a meaningless form of rebellion. Notice that what we're talking about isn't the difference between showing up to an interview in jeans v. a suit. We're no longer talking about dressing "appropriately." We're talking about dressing to let everyone know your class. We're talking about minutia. Regulating (even implicitly) the minute details of one's appearance strikes me as a very serious violation of autonomy and self-expression. I think of the things that I wrap my body in as a very personal and fundamental sort of choice. But hey, if you really want to go work for someone who will think less of you because you wore an ivory shirt instead of a white shirt, go right ahead. If someone doesn't hire me because they're not impressed with the cut of my suit, then I don't really want to work for them anyway. Furthermore, there are things in life more important than "professional goals." Keeping your dignity is one of them.
-- KateVershov - 11 May 2008 | | |
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