The Reasonably Prudent Law Student

The following is a guest post by Alyssa, posted by me because I still have no idea how to work the author accounts on WordPress. I can’t believe they let me leave my house.

Approximately 100 times per year, I think that I—a non-law school student—would make a fantastic lawyer. HOLD UP, law students and practicing lawyers reading this. Don’t punch your computer. Yes, it’s true that I have yet to slave away in a torts or a contracts class, but did Erin Brockovich have to do any of that to get Julia Roberts to put on a corset and portray her? I mean, be a lawyer? OK, now you can punch your computer.

Sure, pop cultural representations of lawyers are incredibly skewed, and lead to people like me thinking they can win class actions suits if they just have the FIERY PASSION OF JUSTICE burning inside them, but one representation that should get a pass—if only for a certain character’s sartorial choices—is The Good Wife. While Julianna Margulies’ character flaunts a decidedly more buttoned-up style, the firm’s go-to legal eagle Kalinda, played by Archie Panjabi, is slightly more daring in her ensembles.

Sidenote: they honestly haven’t given Kalinda a job title. Since she does all the sleuthing/researching, I’m going with legal eagle or badass paralegal. Back to her clothing choices:  many of them are a bit too edgy for a non-dramatized work environment, but I like the photo below too much to not make it work:

Here’s what I came up with:

Office Chic Woven Shirt ………. $15.80
Women’s 3/4 Tee in Fiesta Blue ………. $15
AB Studio Pleated Skirt ………. $29.99
Pyramid Trim Leatherette Tote ………. $21.80
Karletta Tall Boots ………. $34.99
Opaque Tights in Black ………. $7

Kalinda’s skirts are always a tad short, but she salvages her modesty by pairing them with tights and knee-high boots. Still, I’d be a little nervous to show up to work with that much thigh hangin’ out, so I’ve chosen a knee-length skirt. It’s got the same movement that hers does, so we’re maintaining a similar silhouette.

I love the pop of color that the blazer offers, and I’ve decided to invert the color scheme so that the color comes from the shirt underneath rather than the top layer. This graphite-colored top offers more interest than a simple black tunic, and the length lends itself well to pairings with both pants and pencil skirts.

Top it off with a pair of heeled boots to balance the proportions of the longer top and skirt, add a studded bag (because nothing says badass employee like STUDS on your bag), and you’re ready to pretend like you’re a lawyer with the best of them! Or, you know, ready to work at your real, not pretend, job.

Alyssa Vincent is a recent college graduate/part-time copy editor who enjoys applying to graduate schools for Library Science, pretending she could argue in a court of law because she’s watched three episodes of Law & Order: SVU, and writing about pretty/ugly clothes on her blog, Skeleton Key. Go read it, and she’ll send you cupcakes.