Professional Dress is Hard for Women, Harder for Fat Women

I am fat.

I am okay with this fact. It is a combination of genetics (I have PCOS) and the fact that nachos are delicious. At various points in my life I was not fat, but I was starving myself and fainting in class. So...did I mention nachos are delicious?

My weight is normally not an issue for anyone other than my mother. But the one time that I hate my size is when I'm trying to shop for professional outfits.

The legal profession is comprised of awkward nerds who, while being quite smart, also lack any understanding of social interactions and compensate by creating a rigid group of rules that they expect everyone to follow. These rules replace the common sense that non-lawyers have, but allow the legal class to quickly decide if someone is good (aka rule follower) or bad (non-rule follower). One glance at Above the Law will show you exactly what I mean.

One area where this is especially tricky is in professional attire. Once you enter law school you will hear horror stories of people being passed over for an internship because of the color of the shirt they wear, or because of a tie not being straight. It happens. It is real. Especially at big firms. It's sort of the same reason why bands will have weird concert riders, like no green M&M's. It's a way to quickly discern if someone will be the right person for the job. Wearing a blue shirt to an interview instead of a white one is a clear sign that you haven't done enough research or don't have the personality that seeks to conform to arbitrary standards, which is something that they want from new associates.

But men have it pretty easy. Suit, white shirt, belt, tie. For women the professional dress edicts conflict with the equally arbitrary rules of current fashion. Hemlines might rise with the season, making it almost impossible to find something long. And judges notice. In an ABA discussion on the topic of clothing for women, the suggestion was made to follow blogs like Corporette where important issues like the appropriateness of braids in the office are discussed. That's right, lest you think that it's just about your clothes, how you style your hair is also essential to how you'll be judges by others. Maybe legal writing should be replaced with legal makeup and hairstyling.

The problem is even worse for us fat females. A quick look at Corporette just makes me depressed since the outfits they show as being essential for legal work are ones that just don't work on plus sized women. Even something as standard as a button up shirt is a nightmare when you have a DD+ breast size. Finding a shirt that doesn't gap at the bust is almost impossible. Shirts that do work tend to just look like tents instead of coming in at the waist, making the look sloppy and unprofessional. Pencil skirts, the kind preferred for professional female dress, can be too tight at the thigh or give the sausage casing effect. An a-line or full skirt looks better on many larger women, but then they are docked for not looking professional enough.

I'm not sure what the answer is either. I'd love to hear where people shop for their professional clothes, especially plus-sized women. I like One Stop Plus and Jessica London. Anyone have any other favorites?