Fashion and style

“Fashion and style is something a lawyer should take seriously. Appearance strongly influences people’s perception of your financial success, authority, trustworthiness, intelligence, and stability for higher promotion. Thus, as a lawyer, your fashion sense is a very necessary tool to cultivate your personal brand because getting your in-house presentation is what seals the deal in […]

“Fashion and style is something a lawyer should take seriously. Appearance strongly influences people’s perception of your financial success, authority, trustworthiness, intelligence, and stability for higher promotion. Thus, as a lawyer, your fashion sense is a very necessary tool to cultivate your personal brand because getting your in-house presentation is what seals the deal in getting new business for your firm.”
 – Fashion and style of the Young Wig

Some have asked questions like what is the appropriate dress sense of a lawyer. Should a legal practitioner restrict his or her dress sense to the traditional black and white all the time? If not, then what is the acceptable and non-acceptable dress sense of a legal practitioner?
It is important to state, location of a lawyer most times influences our dress sense. It need not be necessarily right or wrong. For instance, to a lady in the North, a mini skirt might be considered inappropriate, while to a lady in the South, she could dress with a corporate skirt slightly above knee level, and still look decent.
Miss Kelechi Marcie Kafor, the creative hand behind Fashion and Style for the Young Wig magazine, would say “Find balance between feasibility and glamour; Every day, you should always select an outfit that aligns with the type of day ahead; whatever you are selecting for the day should be a strategic decision. Professionalism should be built into your style so that no one would ever question your professionalism based on what you are wearing.”
The goal is to look neat, smart, decent, corporate, professional, and at the same time, creating a brand for oneself. It is true location is a determinant, but we can also set a standard – choice of colour mixture differs, choice of shoes and pants sizes differ – the aim is to look presentable without offending the taste of another.
It is not a competition, the fact that Mark’s suit is a Givenchy sold for N50,000, does not mean that Steve must wear the same cadre of suit to look classy and cool. In picking the appropriate dress sense, a lawyer must cut his or her suit according to the material in hand.
Do not be loud, flashy, blink blink and all. The legal profession is a conservative environment made up of gentlemen: we must appear noble at all times. The scenario or event may not be the same all through the week, a legal practitioner might have or not have court appearance on a particular day, it might even be a social gathering like weddings, dinners, parties, and the likes, the point of focus ought to be smart, clean, and presentable.
Wear what makes you feel comfortable, and confident. “Your brand and style should promise quality, but should also set you apart, it could be as simple as consistently adding an accessory like eye wears, hand fans, parasols and umbrellas, suspenders, scarves, colourful socks, pocket squares, hats, gloves, stockings, muffs, jewellery, etc…”
Before concluding, it should be borne in mind that we are not always in formal dressing outfits 24 hours a day, seven days a week.  When in less formal gatherings like a family and friend’s home chilling over the weekend, hanging out in lounges with friends watching football matches, even then, our casual wears should not be offensive, it could be a chinos, joggers, T-shirts, sandals, veils, shorts, slip-on; appear clean, crisp and smart.
One would be surprised the attention the society places on the dressing of a legal practitioner, where disappointed one hears statements like “… and he is a lawyer” “… and she calls herself a lawyer”, these are a result of the expectations of the society on the fashion and style of a legal practitioner.
In essence, when as a legal practitioner one picks an attire to go out and relate with members of the society, dress in a way that promotes you as a gentleman; that accords respect to the legal profession, and draws admiration from the people.
God speed!

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