So ?Old School? = 1985?

What constitutes a proper BigLaw wardrobe? For a largely lockstep industry, there are a surprising number of competing schools of thought. The spectrum ranges roughly from “My suit is my uniform” to “Whatever, dude, it’s all about the work product.” The attorney attire issue is also something of a make-work program for “style” journalists, such as today’s Journal’s “Inside a Bastion of Old-School Power Attire”—a look at the resurgence of ‘power clothes,’ a genre epitomized by Gordon Gekko’s yellow tie. According to the article, “As law-firm layoffs mount, fear of unemployment appears to be speeding up the resurgence of power clothes, even among the youngest recruits.” (Apparently, another thing resurging-through-fear is the ‘work’ part of work/life balance). Profiled in the article is Bickel & Brewer, the pugnacious Dallas litigation boutique, where it's always been 1985 and “shined shoes are a point of pride.” Fun fact: the “News” section of the B&B web site features at least 16 separate photos of name partner William Brewer (pictured below, right).

-posted by brian

"Please admire my watch as I fondle my bicep"