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How to Dress for Court

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By: Lisbeth McCarty

I had appeared in court for several years as an attorney before I was ever actually one of the parties in a lawsuit. I always "dressed for success," wearing the de riguer dark skirted suit with a beige blouse or some variation thereof, with my hair slicked back in a bun. All I had to do was look around to see that this was what was expeted of a woman attorney, as far as attire goes.

I never gave the slightest thought to the clothes being worn by the people I represented. This was mainly for a good reason -- I was concentrating on the legal issues of the case at hand. Sometimes, though, I would be so involved in the law that I forgot about the actual people I was representing.

After a few years of practice, however, my marriage disintegrated and I was one of the parties in a divorce. This event, of course, was extremely stressful, but being on the non-lawyer side of the bar also caused me to think about "going-to-court" clothes.

A suit seemed too drastic -- too lawyerly. Jeans or a throw-on dress was definitely too casual. I finally settled on what I can define only as a "church" outfit, a simple skirt and blouse which would be jsut as appropriate for Sunday school as it was for court.

I noticed that my lawyer never mentioned clothing to me in any way. I realized that if the lawyer had, I'd have that stress out of the way. Instead, I had to figure it out all on my own.

I began to think about some of my clients, who were not well-educated and probably did not have a wide selection of clothing from which to choose. I learned that my client's stress may be eased if we discuss proper court attire for a plaintiff/defendant.

Since that time, I have let my clients know that they should dress nicely for court, further describing the clothing as "church" wear. These clients have thanked me for informing them about how to appear in court.

If my clients do not have and cannot afford such attire, I even loan them some of my clothes or take them shopping. This has had a tremendous effect on my clients, and some of them had told me that this helps them tremendously, as they now no longer worry about "looking stupid" in court.

In conclusion, if you are about to attend a court hearing, even though you are not there as part of a fashion show or to be criticized in any way for your apparel, clothes really do make the man. Or the woman.

B.A. in Journalism, Professional Writing, 1980, University of Oklahoma; J.D. in Law, 1984, University of Oklahoma, top 10 percent of class; More than 20 years experience in writing, editing Appellate Public Defender, 1985 to present (duties include brief-writing and editing the work of others).

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