Worried Lawyers Embrace Gordon Gekko’s Wardrobe

B. McLeod
Feb 5, 2009 8:24 AM CST

Even his relative (who does the GEICO commercials) is now considering wearing some clothes.

Flag this comment

ylh68
Feb 5, 2009 4:56 PM CST

I have to wonder whether the power clothes coming back out of the closet are in fact the ACTUAL clothes from the 80’s.  If reports about the severe retail contraction are to be believed, it woudl seem nobody’s buying anything, especially $300 shirts and $1,700 suits, and those who are likely aren’t the folks overly concerned with being on The Firm’s chopping block.

Flag this comment

Bud Fox
Feb 6, 2009 3:20 AM CST

I heard through a source that Watchell is handling the Teldar Paper offering…like they need the business.  Too bad for Mr. Brewer.

Flag this comment

HT
Feb 6, 2009 7:50 AM CST

That is right because clients want to pay $1000 an hour for a well dressed attorney.  what a bunch of bs

Flag this comment

ss
Feb 6, 2009 8:01 AM CST

Recalls the saying about books and covers.  It’s good to see that the surface is where the focus is.

Flag this comment

Bud Fox
Feb 6, 2009 8:14 AM CST

I think some posters are taking a hyperbolic stance in order to prove their own point. 

When I landed my first “whale,” he helped me redecorate my new apartment.  I was the same Bud Fox, but I wasn’t living in Brooklyn anymore.  If I were, I don’t think I would have been able to land my interior designer girlfriend (real life 10), even though I was STILL the same Bud Fox.

Flag this comment

larry
Feb 6, 2009 8:26 AM CST

Anyone who doesn’t wear $1,000 suits looks like a cheap pimp.

Flag this comment

Ralph Lauren
Feb 6, 2009 8:38 AM CST

Yes.

The first call I receive from a potential client invariably deals with which brand of suit I wear.

And

In the next they ask to see my shoe labels. 

No.

I haven’t been turned down yet b/c they were Johnston and Murphy instead of the “cap-toed Ferragomos”!

Flag this comment

PJ
Feb 6, 2009 8:48 AM CST

Back in the day there was a popular book- “Dress for Success.” The author’s major point was that there was a mode of dress specific to each industry. For better or worse, people expect their attorneys to be well-dressed; but not necessarily elegant.

Flag this comment

Labor Lady
Feb 6, 2009 8:57 AM CST

It’s the same concept found in marketing.  Packaging is key! If it doesn’t look well put together on the outside, how likely are we to want to purchase?

Flag this comment

puh-lease
Feb 6, 2009 9:14 AM CST

I guess that attitude is why Bickel & Brewer is a global powerhouse law firm and not a third tier, Dallas-based litigation boutique with only 40 lawyers.  Oh, wait . . .

Flag this comment

GG
Feb 6, 2009 9:26 AM CST

Gordon: And buy a good suit.  You can’t come in here looking like that.
Bud: Huh?
Gordon: Go To Morty Sauls . . . Tell them I sent you.

Flag this comment

Hadley V. Baxendale
Feb 6, 2009 9:35 AM CST

Great thing about practicing in Virginia—your 1980’s suits are fine for 2009—even the same ones if you bought quality and they haven’t shrunk as mine seem to do in the closet.  This is where “if you come into my courtroom you wear clothes made out of cloth.”  I know women have it tougher b/c even their professional wear has fashion features, but for men, if you can distinquish fashion from style, and stick to the latter, you never have to worry (and if you avoid “casual dress”).

Flag this comment

Bird Smack
Feb 6, 2009 9:46 AM CST

I personally prefer Allen Edmonds.  They look good.  They last forever, which by itself justifies the slightly inflated cost over, say, Johnston & Murphy.  But here’s my question:  how will a client of mine ever know that I’m wearing Allen Edmonds, or Johnston & Murphy, or Ferragamo.  I can tell you without equivocation that I have never - NEVER - kicked back at my desk with my client sitting opposite, and put my feet up, such that they could read the sole.  Have you?

Flag this comment

Not GQ
Feb 6, 2009 9:55 AM CST

What the hell are “cap-toed Ferragamos?”

Flag this comment

Sarge6
Feb 6, 2009 9:58 AM CST

Any guy who spends $1000 for a suit is a chump.

A long time ago I was a 3rd year at a firm with BigLaw pretensions.  I was working on a large matter for one of the name partners, and after a while he complimented me on my suits and asked what they were.  When I told him Hickey Freeman ($1100-1600 sticker price) he allowed that that was what he wore but then made the obligatory “If you can afford to buy Hickey Freeman I’m paying you too much” crack.  I probably took more liberty with it than I should have, but I told him there was no way I’d pay full price and got them at the factory store outside the city where they were only like $4-500. 

It was clear he had no idea about it; to his credit he refrained from actively sputtering but the look that crossed his face was priceless.  I guessed he was thinking several things.  First “My people go to factory stores?” (remember, BigLaw pretensions).  Second, “This kid wears my suits on a $1000 discount?”  Third, “I’m not going to ask him where it is, but I’m going to look into it ASAP.” 

Got a nice bonus that year, and there’s no way it could have been all for my mad document review skillz.

Flag this comment

Sarge6
Feb 6, 2009 10:05 AM CST

32:  You don’t get out much, do you Doug?

Flag this comment

Fashion Faux Paux
Feb 6, 2009 10:09 AM CST

Greed and excess was big in the 80’s too. Remember “greed is good” and now look at where it got the Big Law firms today. How many in our profession have been laid off? Bickel & Brewer is a perfect example of an out of touch, behind the times Big Law firm. An attorney can dress nicely and professionally without going designer. Even “casual” at most of these firms have designer standards. As in-house counsel, if I ever met a firm partner in expensive designer clothes, I’d scrutinize their rates immediately. Only arrogant Big Law firms would tell a new associate to buy a high priced designer label like Ferragamo when other less expensive brands that are indistinguishable. I suppose there was a time most of those new associates could afford it too at $200k starting salaries for nothing but academic experience. Most clients can’t tell the difference or even care but they do pay attention and care about the billing rates. Obviously some firms are still stuck in a time warp..no recession or layoffs at those firms.

Flag this comment

nameless immigrant
Feb 6, 2009 10:22 AM CST

Fashion Faux Paux , Bickel & Brewer is not a biglaw firm.  I cannot speak of other biglaw firms since I’ve worked only at one,  but I can assure you that personal attire is the last thing that crosses people’s minds at the place I work.  I think you should give more credit to people that have worked extremely hard to get where they are (including ivy’s and even more so, non-ivy’s).  On a different note, the fact that this trivial topic precipitated more than 36 posts tells me that, indeed, business is slow.  I hope this changes because all of us will shop at Ross (no offense to this establishment, I’ve used their services more than once in my no money for peanuts days).  Good luck to you all…

Flag this comment

Doug
Feb 6, 2009 10:28 AM CST

38:  You referenced your skillZ with respect to your work.

Flag this comment

Raleigh
Feb 6, 2009 10:46 AM CST

we stopped wearing suits half a decade ago; but you wear what your client wears or what THEY expect you to wear; many of our clinets have no idea that we do not dress every day; as for cost of suits, forget the cost, but make sure they are properly tailored; I was sitting in a public hearing with a client, he in golf shirt, sweater, khakis, me in suit; client commented on clothes of every counsel at podium before the Board; i.e. “check out the big firm in the cheap suit”; “that boy needs a tailor”, “she went into her closet this morning, and decided that would impress these people?” and my favorite when the female attorney was wearing a leather suit with matching briefcase “she forgot her riding crop”.

Flag this comment

BruceH
Feb 6, 2009 11:04 AM CST

I think some of you have missed the point.  The shoes are a perfect example.  The issue wasn’t that the guy was wearing cheap shoes, it was that he was wearing “stylish” shoes.  He might vary well have been wearing expensive shoes.

Yes, it’s true that you shouldn’t judge a book by it’s cover, but appearances do count.  It’s not how much you spend on your clothes but how you look.  Much better to be wearing a $1000 suit you got on sale for $450 at the discount store than to buy a $450 at full price.

Ask yourself, at what point does it matter?  I was at a docket call yesterday and an attorney came in wearing a graphic t-shirt,  jeans and a windbreaker?  If doesn’t matter, why can’t I wear pajama pants and t-shirt?

It’s not that hard to dress nicely, you just need to learn how to buy a shirt that fits you.

Flag this comment

ExBigLaw-solo
Feb 6, 2009 12:33 PM CST

When I worked at a Big Law firm in Palo Alto, I picked up several Hickey-Freeman suits at the 2nd-hand stores, usually for about $25.  This was during the dot-com bubble, and lots of guys were cashing out- donating dozens of very nice suits in near-new condition.  Now, I usually wear an aloha shirt and flip-flops.  My suits have been vacuum bagged and stashed under the bed.

Flag this comment

Katy Goshtasbi
Feb 6, 2009 2:22 PM CST

In response to #17 and #41:

The concepts in the book, “Dress for Success” is coming back and strong.  Just note how many fashion/image articles we have seen on this site alone in two weeks- 3 that I remember.

#41, your client is unfortunately the average client and right on target.  Just because clients don’t dress a certain way, that doesn’t mean the attorneys shouldn’t.  It’s not about equality or matching them.

It is all about reflecting an image based on your style and what your personality supports.  It makes you a more powerful lawyer on the inside and on the outside.  I’ve got tons of research to support this notion.  In this economy, all this translates into higher productivity, higher sales and keeping our jobs!

I’m a lawyer who does image and style consulting for lawyers and law firms. 

Kmaharu@yahoo.com

Katy Goshtasbi
Puris Image & Style

Flag this comment

JerseyGirl Esq.
Feb 6, 2009 2:50 PM CST

“A more powerful lawyer on the inside”?  Give me a break.  A nice suit doesn’t make someone more productive or a better lawyer.  Only intelligence and a strong work ethic do that.  There is a place for fancy suits and cap toe Ferragamos, sure, but sitting at my desk (or a conference room full of documents) when there are no clients, jurors or judges around is simply not it.

Flag this comment