Being Yourself

While there are traditional wardrobe staples, it doesn’t mean you have to look like a corporate drone. There are ways to maintain a professional look bringing out a bit of your personality.

Liston advises men to work up to it. “Don’t do the big leap right away. Start with a couple of white shirts or white with stripes, then move into blues, then a blue stripe, and then once you start to build in your accessories, be a little adventurous with pinks and lavenders.”

Hemmings says she thinks the times have changed and young lawyers can be a little more funky in their approach. “You don’t always have to wear the black suit, the navy blue suit, and you can still come as looking very professional and very put together,” she says. “For me, the big thing is shoes. Shoes can really jazz up what would otherwise be something very plain and something very boring. Colour in shoes is great and that’s where I put a lot of my personal style.”

Bourchier advises against jumping on anything that may be too trendy if you don’t have the resources to be continually buying new outfits. “There’s certain trends like a one-button suit, I would stay away from that. If it goes out of style and you’re a student, you can’t afford to drop another $1,000 on a suit,” he says.

He says to be wary of fads like the Regis Philbin (monochromatic shirt-and-tie combo) or the Lee Iacocca (two-tone, French-cuff shirt) because they look dated.

“Some classic looks never go out of style. It might not be as cutting edge but bare in mind that you’re a lawyer and not a Hollywood movie star who’s going down the red carpet everyday,” he says.

Liston says the double-breasted suit is not happening these days and that the style for a young man is a look that’s “that’s trimmer, more sleek, modern, contemporary. Less is more. It’s almost a throwback to the ‘50s, retro but done in a modern way,” he says.