11 Jul, 2006
What to wear in law school
Top Law Student Blog has a posting on what to wear in law school. I agree with most of what was posted, but it's such a common question so I thought I would add some of my thoughts below...
IN CLASS:
In class wearing what you would wear in an undergrad class is
completely
acceptable at most schools. (If there is someone out there whose law
school is different let
me know).
Casual wear, like shorts and flip-flops, all the way up to business casual are fine at my school.
I have seen some professors who do not like baseball caps though.You probably only want to wear suit coats/ties if you are going to/coming from work, interviews, class presentations, oral arguments, etc.
OUT OF CLASS:
As a note on the socials at my school, Kent is probably one of the few schools
that takes a student activity fee from each student’s tuition money and spends
it on twice-a-semester socials at (sometimes fancy) bars/clubs in Chicago, thereby
giving pretty cheap drink specials for all the students who attend.
While I feel like this is unfair to some of the students who have no interest
in that kind of thing and feel a little guilty that I do not mind that my school takes more money
than it needs to give me an legal education, the socials are pretty fun. Unlike those mentioned at Top Law Student
So where can the fashionista attending Chicago-Kent and craving school-sponsored formal attire
get their fill? On one magical evening a year,
LSP is very
formal, as you
might have guessed. Suits (and I suppose some guys even rent a tux) and
prom
dresses required.
FINAL WORDS:
I realize you have a lot of
worries about law school. Do not
let what you wear be one of them. It just does not matter.
If your school does not mention any sort of dress code in some official capacity, wear what you feel comfortable in. If you are a little apprehensive, err on the side of caution and go business casual. But guaranteed by the week before finals you will have sported either the old jeans/finals beard*/t-shirt look or the sweat pants/t-shirt/ponytail/no makeup look at least once.
*Finals Beard -- a theory: there is a direct correlation between the amount of beard
growth on the average male in law school and the proximity of final exams. Test this theory for yourself.