Work Dress Code Row Erupts As City Lawyers Told Not To Wear Brown Shoes With A Blue Suit

* Advice was given by an unnamed partner in a City law firm
to junior staff

Despite a perceived relaxing of sartorial rules in the City over
the years, one top law firm has sent out very clear ideas on how to
dress for success.

The unnamed partner, who was speaking at the ‘Transforming
Women’s Leadership in the Law’ conference in London last week, put
their foot down and reportedly told trainees “don’t wear brown
shoes with a blue suit.”

Unsuccessful

It chimes with the old adage “don’t wear brown in town”. As one
City worker remarked brown shoes are only permissible if it is
Friday or you are an American, otherwise colleagues might assume
you are “unsuccessful”.

The comments from the conference, which were first reported by
the news website Legal
Cheek^[1], have been met with
criticism on social media.

Alon Riza wrote on Twitter: “sounds like lack in sense or
fashion; or quite possibly both. People should wear what they want.
The partner should get out of others’ wardrobes, or just get out
more. People see an expert for his/her expertise, not for their
dress sense”.

Irrelevant

Another user, MCarruthers-Watt who described herself as a lawyer
said the advice was more suitable for a character in a PG Woodhouse
novel: “Probably dates from the same time as de rigueur gloves and
hats for ladies and the advice about not wearing “brown in town”.
Fine if name B. Wooster but largely irrelevant now!!”

There were those who agreed with one anonymously commenting:
“That is literally basic good taste. It is in the same league as
“don’t wear running shoes with a suit to your interview”.

However, the partner may well have a point.

Polish

A  2016 study released by the Social Mobility Commission
reported that investment banks are less likely to hire men who wear
brown shoes to a job interview.

It found that bright young
candidates were being turned away from investment banks because of
their lack of “polish”.

Candidates who wear brown shoes, “loud” ties or ill-fitting
suits can fall foul of “opaque” codes of conduct, the Social
Mobility Commission found^[2].

Culled from inews.co.uk