Today’s reader mail comes with a ton more of questions about interviewing…
I’m a 3L and have an interview next week with a panel of district court judges for a judicial clerkship. I have a few questions with regards to my upcoming interview:
1.) I (and the interview) are in the Midwest, so it’s cold and snowy outside. I am planning on wearing a black skirt suit and am wondering if it’s appropriate to wear black tights with my suit? Or would pantyhose (off-black) be more professional?
2.) What do I do about a coat? Is it ok to wear a wool coat over my suit? I’m not sure if there will be anywhere to hang it or leave it once I get to the courthouse. Or should I just leave it in the car and just suck it up during the walk to the courthouse from my car?
3.) What about a purse? All I’m planning on bringing with me are copies of my resume, writing sample, etc. so I don’t necessarily need a large bag, but I don’t know if it’s unprofessional to bring my purse and carry the paperwork in a leather portfolio.
Good luck on the interview! We’ll go through all of your questions…
First, on tights — this keeps coming up, and so we’re going to run some polls today. Our default answer, previously, was that off-black pantyhose should be worn with a dark skirt suit. However, readers in the past have disagreed with us, saying nude/sheer is more appropriate (check out their suggestions for the best brands in the comments here). We’ve also heard of folks who hate tights with a suit (which we also disagree with — tights, to us, are fine for any day when you’re NOT interviewing or something similar). So, without further ado:
In terms of the wool coat — it always pains us to see women wearing ski jackets or other short jackets over a suit. Maybe we’re old school, but a nice wool or cashmere overcoat — long enough to cover your thighs — will never go out of fashion. And of course you can wear it on top of your suit. For your interview, we would absolutely recommend wearing a coat — your common sense and judgment is a valid subject on the table, and if it’s cold out, common sense dictates you should wear a coat. You’re probably going to have to take the coat off to get through security, though, so we would just carry it, folded neatly, from that point forward. (Furthermore, there’s no real excuse for not having a proper wool coat right now, as tons of places have them on deep discount. Pictured above: Larry Levine Wool Coat with Camel Hair, part of the crazy sale that’s going on at Smart Bargains for today only. Was $279, now marked to $119, with an additional 40% off at checkout — comes to $71.)
Finally, as for the purse/portfolio issue — we’ve seen women do it both ways, and have never thought less of someone we interviewed because she carried a portfolio. (That’s what most of the guys do, isn’t it?) Personally we’re fans of carrying a nylon or leather tote bag, though, to hold both the portfolio or folder as well as the contents of our purse. We would suggest, however, that whatever you carry should be as professional and grown-up as possible — so leave the backpack with reflectors on it at home.
Readers, what say you?
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Today’s question is an interesting corollary to Thursday’s discussion on opaque tights…
For the fall, can you rock colored opaque tights (subdued forest green or burgundy) in with an otherwise conservative skirt suit/sheath dress? I work in a tech firm where only the business unit, which I’m not in, fully suits up. Problem is, there are so few women in the company and offices so scattered I can’t take cues from my female coworkers. Any thoughts?
This is interesting, as we were just drooling over the Ferragamo ad (pictured) while flipping through Harper’s Bazaar.
There are a few different ways to wear colored tights, obviously. There’s the look above — head to toe color – which, on the Ferragamo models, looks oh so chic and fashion-otherwordly, but in real life has a tendency to look like a bad ’80s movie. There’s the “layered” look — wearing a lot of colors, amongst them colored tights; for example, a gray skirt, yellow tights, purple blouse. There’s the “mod” look, wearing a loose-fitting, fairly drab dress (for some reason, the more potato-sacky the better) that is a few inches above the knees with a shock of color in the tights. And there’s the “matchy” look, meant to elongate the legs, such as wearing an army green wool skirt with matching army green tights.
We’ve tried all of these looks and, honestly, for us, not many of them work for the office. The mod look works well on the weekends, particularly if you’re going to be very active because you can wear flat-heeled boots, opaque tights, and be quite comfortable, stylish, and covered. The other looks tend to look too clownish or odd. But maybe that’s just us. If you decide to try any of the looks, start conservative; for example, wear a pair of navy tights with a gray skirt and a black sweater and see how you feel that day.
Readers, what do you think — have you found a way to wear colored tights for the office?
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Reader M writes to us with a question…
Could you do a piece on where to find really good opaque tights? I would love to buy some Wolford pairs, but think $64 may be a bit out of my price range right now. I want TRULY opaque — not the kind that you can kind of see through at your knee.
Personally, we’re fans of Spanx’s reversible tights — because there’s a color on each side they seem much more opaque to us. We have the gray/black pair, and have been happy with the opacity of both colors. Our one little thing is that we wish the thick seam stretching below the belly-button weren’t there, or that if it’s still there, that it were more prominent on the gray than the black. Readers, which tights do you swear by for opacity?
Pictured: SPANX ‘Two-Timin’ Tights, available at Nordstrom’s for $34.
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So last week, we asked about fishnet tights – and whether they were ever appropriate for the office. It turns out that we failed to account for something that a lot of people thought was an important factor: the width of the netting. (Our apologies!) With the caveat, then, that our poll was imperfect (hey, aren’t they all?), the results were:
- 60% of you said they were never appropriate
- 24% said only if worn as trouser socks
- 13% said they were fine so long as the skirt/outfit was demure enough
- only 1% had a laissez-faire attitude about fishnets.
Commenters noted that small-weaved fishnet tights added texture and style, and as long as the fabric was the color of your skin then it was acceptable for a casual day. One commenter (Style Goddess) felt so strongly hers were appropriate she sent in some pictures (above and at right) — we must agree, they look great on her. N.B.: Even those in favor of fishnets noted that these were not the accessory to choose the day you’ve got that court appearance, press conference, or stock holders’ meeting.
The poll is still going on — please weigh in!
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A while back, someone commented that instead of nude hose they wore nude fishnets in the summer. This piqued our curiosity — we used to do this also, back in the days after college, but not in a long while — we stopped because it felt inappropriate. So we thought we’d take a poll… (Photo credit: Fishnets, originally uploaded to Flickr by candinski.)
For our $.02, fishnet tights are generally inappropriate for the office environment. Let’s face it, they conjure up images of dancers (both professional and otherwise) and hookers — and that association is a little too much for bosses of either sex. Besides, the goal of a working wardrobe should be to avoid what we’ll call “the second look” — you don’t want any of your coworkers to look at you once casually in the hallway and then be forced to look a second time in order to answer the question, “Were my eyes deceiving me or is she really wearing that?” Even if they answer the question with a blase “ok, well, I guess that’s acceptable,” the second look in and of itself is something to be avoided. We would argue, though, that fishnet trouser socks could be appropriate as long as they’re in a neutral color. (Our reasoning here is that only perverts are staring at your ankles; otherwise, what you wear there is unlikely to elicit the dreaded second look.)
What are your thoughts, readers?
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Our daily TPS reports suggest one piece of work-appropriate attire in a range of prices. We begin the week in splurge mode, with our most expensive suggestions, and wind our way to Friday, where a less expensive item of clothing might be just what you need to make it to the weekend.
Banana Republic has a ton of tights on sale right now, with another 20% at checkout when you use code EXTRA20 (good on all sale items, not just tights). We like these geometric printed ones, pictured (available in navy and purple); but there are matte opaque ones in various solid colors, as well as sheer herringbone tights, ribbed tights, and diamond-pattern tights. Most tights were $16, now marked to $10.99 ($8.79 with the code). Women: Geometric tights – Navy
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Last week we asked whether or not patterned tights were appropriate for professional women. As always, the poll is still open, but the initial results are interesting — the voters were pretty split in terms of what could or couldn’t work.
- 36% of you said that men’s patterns (pinstriped, windowpane) in dark, neutral colors would work
- 33% of you said ANY pattern would work, but only in dark, neutral colors
- 23% said solidly colored tights in neutral colors would work, but to avoid patterns
- 5% of you said any pattern, any color, any day.
Commenters noted that they considered dark gray to be a neutral, as well as a charcoal blue; we completely agree. We’d also suggest wearing navy tights with a black dress, if you’re more of a funky soul — it feels rebellious but still looks conservative. (Our $.02 on black and navy: as long as it looks like you’re doing it on purpose, it’s a-ok. It’s bad if you look like you got dressed in the dark.)
Some great selections in both luxury and lower-priced tights, after the jump…
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Inspired by last week’s Wolford sale at Rue La La, we thought we’d ask — do you wear patterned tights in cold weather? There are a ton of options out there. Our rule of thumb has always been to stick with the kinds of patterns men wear on shirts — pinstriped, windowpane, et cetera. What are your thoughts?
Photo credit: legs eleven, originally uploaded to Flickr by tractorpirate.
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