ABOVE THE LAW: A Message from Career Services: Ladies, Please Learn How to Dress Yourselves.

UPDATE: A reader emails: “I have been a long time reader and am currently in the process of separating from the US military. I noticed this post and the link it has to the Above the Law article and compared it to my recent attendance at a transition to civilian life program. The instructor gave roughly similar ideas out but the requirement for both is a bit odd, in that appearance in the work place is so far removed from students’ or service members’ normal dress that we ‘require’ instruction. Although they could have used a more formal style in communicating the information.” Indeed.

ANOTHER UPDATE: Reader Don Howard writes: “I was recently called for jury duty in a criminal trial. When the opposing sides came in to take their places at the tables, I was sure it was a prostitution case, since a young woman at the defense table was dressed like a .. well, a slut. Nope. Lawyer. The defendants were conservatively dressed.”

I blame Ally McBeal. My female law students started dressing very differently once that show appeared. Things have regressed to the mean somewhat since then, but not for everyone.