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 After years of undergrad and law school, cramming for tests and hanging out with friends in your favourite jeans and sweatshirt, the thought of dressing up for an interview at a law firm can seem daunting. But it doesn’t have to be if you treat shopping for career clothing as a professional development activity, says 4Students’ fashion panel.
For the most part, your typical law student may only have one graduation/wedding/funeral suit. When undertaking to fill out your closet with law firm-friendly clothing, your mantra should be: “quality, fit, and classic.”
“The career co-ordinator at [the University of Windsor] was really good about giving tips on what to wear in terms of wearing dark suits and wearing something very professional, so I always had that in the back of my mind,” recalls Faithlyn Hemmings, an associate at Blaney McMurtry LLP in Toronto.
Kinji C. Bourchier, who does presentations at the University of British Columbia law school on how to interview successfully — which includes advice on what not to wear — says dressing conservative is key. “There’s nothing wrong with having personality, especially in what you wear, but you don’t want to stand out for a negative reason,” says Bourchier, an associate at Lawson Lundell LLP in Vancouver.
With interviews coming up for summer and articling positions, you can’t go wrong with the classics, says Ed Liston, merchandise manager of the designer collection at Harry Rosen.
“I would say, in general, the number-one suit that we see here, the tried-and-true, would be the plain, navy blue suit,” he says. “As far as the co-ordination, the natural is the white shirt with a burgundy or wine or red tie,” he says.
Bourchier agrees and says he always recommends a student wear a conservative two- or three-button navy blue or charcoal suit with a white or blue shirt and a tie “and the tie shouldn’t be a fish tie,” he laughs.
“You want to be known for being presentable and looking sharp, in terms of the suit fits you and it’s a nice suit and your shoes are polished. I don’t think it’s necessary to go out and spend $3,000 on a suit.”
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