My Fashion Philosophy: Follow the Leader (Not that it's necessarily a good thing to do so...)

Do you think the outfit the girl in this picture is wearing ^^^ is attractive? Like, upon first glance, would you exclaim “this outfit is hot!” or would you be more inclined to say “WTF was she thinking?” I mean, I’m not a fashionista, but I get it. Like, notice how the yellow and black in the tights corresponds with the yellow in the dress. I surely noticed that… after someone else pointed it out to me. LOL! And notice that cute little Fendi clutch down there in the bottom-left hand corner of the page?

I didn’t either. (Until someone else pointed it out.)

As I said before, I am no fashionista. Merriam-Webster defines “fashionista” (yes, it is a real word - in the dictionary!) as “a designer, promoter, or follower of the latest fashions”. Designer, I am not; promoter… nah. “Follower”? Well, yes. That would be a good way to describe me. If someone points me in the right direction, I can see why a certain outfit is fashionable. But I have to have that guidance. When I was a kid, my mom always taught me to never “put a figure with a figure” (meaning stripes don’t go with polka dots), and that if I wanted to wear a vibrant color or a print, I needed to pair it with a neutral color. As I got a little older and my friends started expressing themselves through their clothing, I never caught that creativity bug because I was still bound by the rules drilled into my head in my youth.

We all know, as evidenced in previous posts, that I am risk averse. That aversion also manifests itself in the clothing that I wear. Black is a staple for me. When (if) I decide to wear an actual color, it is always paired with denim, black, chocolate brown, navy, or charcoal gray. I feel as though I need balance… I am afraid of looking like I am trying too hard, so I play it safe and don’t try at all.

I am often scolded by older women in my life, saying that I need to loosen up with my clothing and have fun with color and style. But I am afraid. Afraid to look like a poser, like a wannabe. So, I just stay in my lane. Nothing too crazy over here.

That picture above is Ms. Genevieve Jones. She is a New York-based socialite (with a somewhat shady past) who manages to effortlessly move and shake her way through the trust fund crowd. She is now known as a fashionista. When she first came on the scene, I’m willing to bet that she couldn’t afford a stylist, so I’m gonna assume that her fashion-ability comes naturally. But almost immediately, she was a “person to watch” on all the best-dressed lists. That’s quite a feat since fab dressers come a dime a dozen in The Big Apple.

Sites like Fashionista and Project Beltway prove that regular, everyday people can have an incredible sense of style. I don't know anything about the creators of Fashionista, but I know Project Beltway was started by a young woman here in DC who got tired of hearing that people in DC have no style. So, she took to the streets of the Nation's Capital with her digital camera and started taking pictures of people she encountered who were wearing outfits to die for.

My MALE best friend was just born stylish. He is not gay, just a straight man who cares about the way that he looks. He can reflexively put together an outfit. Like, he can take a look at one piece of clothing and tell you what to pair it with to make a killer outfit. Which is why, on a dreary day in October, he was captured by the creator of Project Beltway and featured on that site for his fashion sense. He's also been featured in The Washington Post for the same reason. I kid you not...

But, there are some of us that will just never be the wo/man that other wo/men watch in awe and wonder – where did she get that dress? Or, hmmm… I would’ve never thought to put that ties with that suit. (And before you ask, yes, women do look at other women. In most cases, women STUDY other women to see what they have going on and whether or not they could do it better.)

In an effort to try to gain some fashion sense by osmosis, I took a look at a few of the young ladies featured in the Streetwalker section of Fashionista.com. Picture this outfit*: yellow cowlneck sleeveless sheath worn over a grass green long-sleeved crewneck dress, paired with leopard print tights and gray slouchy boots. A number of the comments suggested that this was a fashion miss, but Fashionista.com noticed this woman and marketed her as a fashion-winner for taking the risk! As a result of not playing it safe… not pairing her yellow sheath with something black and boring, she chose to be the one that stands out in the room. And, for some reason… I got the outfit. Immediately, I understood it. And I LIKED it.

When it comes to fashion, I am a good follower, so I guess that makes me a fashionista after all! A Brown Girl in leopard tights could be coming soon…

At any rate, it takes a very self-assured person to gamble on an outfit like Ms. Jones and/or woman in the leopard tights. If you see someone in an outfit like Genevieve’s you know that person has to be somewhat comfortable in their skin to just put together any print and or color combination that they feel like sporting on that particular day. It’s all about having the guts to rock out. And, let’s face it y’all, confidence is clearly the most fashionable accessory of all…







*FYI: this is the picture to which I was referring. Does the outfit look the way you pictured it? is it a fashion hit or miss? Now that I review the pic again, I think she could’ve done the outfit with a different choice of footwear and it would’ve made the outfit even stronger.


A couple other cool outfits:

(she got her tie from a member of a Mariachi band. no joke...)


(And this... *sigh*... this outfit just friggin ROCKS! there's no other way to say it... this is what I aspire to. I'll be 30 in less than 2 years. I don't have very long before I will look like a grown woman pathetically TRYING to look like a youngin. Yikes!)

Part 2 of Law School Redux: The Good, the Bad & the Ugly

The post was getting kind of long, so I decided to break it into two parts... happy reading!

• Graduation from law school is very anticlimactic. All it means is that you’ve secured yet another degree. When you graduate from law school, you are not really an “attorney”. I mean, technically, you shouldn’t really call yourself an attorney until you pass the state bar exam. So, really, you pay for three years of law school just to able to say that you graduated with a law degree – but you are not really an “attorney” in the traditional sense of the word. Take the bar while you are still in school mode, i.e., as soon as you graduate. The second you finish your last final exam, start studying for the bar exam. If you take time off, it will be hella hard to get back in study mode for the exam.

• The bar exam is the hardest test you will ever take – in LIFE. You should fear failing the bar. Not because you should be embarrassed that you weren’t successful (No need to be embarrassed since plenty of folks fail it every year. That’s no biggie.), but because you do not want to take the damn thing again if you can help it. After sequestering myself, including avoiding television and pretty much all telephone conversation, for 10 weeks during the summer of 2004, I made a vow to myself that if I failed I would NOT take the exam again. The entire process was too emotionally draining and stressful and I would NOT be putting myself through that drama again simply because I didn’t study hard enough he first time. Funny thing… as I said before, you are not a lawyer until you pass the bar exam. Everything you need to know about the bar exam will be taught to you during your bar prep course. Your bar prep course is only 8 weeks long. Which leads me to these questions: If I can learn everything I need to know to become a licensed attorney in 8 weeks, why did I just spend upwards of 100 grand on law school and three years of my life studying all this nonsense in the first place? I could’ve easily skipped the three years of being bored and worked to death and learned everything I needed to know in 8 weeks. Go figure…

• At one point in U.S. history, being a lawyer was something special. There weren’t many accredited law schools in existence. Those that did exist only accepted the top-notch applicants. Therefore, being a lawyer was an elite and respected profession. Now, law schools are more interested in making money than they are in turning out quality lawyers. And because money is the primary focus, they are willing to accept just about anyone who can secure a loan to cover the tuition, hence putting money into the law school’s pocket. As a result, being a lawyer is NOT an elite profession. In Washington, DC alone, something like 1 in 17 people is a lawyer. That’s just too damn many!

• Everyone seems to think that being a lawyer = RICH. In most cases, that equation is false. People who want to become a lawyer to get rich will be terribly disappointed. Yes, it is true that starting salaries at large law firms (100+ attorneys) are $160k/year for the fresh-out-of-law-school attorney. But, there are not enough of those jobs to go around. Since President W came to power, and the US economy took a nosedive, only the best of the best have been getting recruited by large firms. Every other lawyer (outside of the large law firm) is just making “regular” money. Government lawyers get paid at the same rate as a person with any other grad degree (around $55-60k/year). Solo practitioners or lawyers at small law firms in DC get paid anywhere from $40-80k/year. Last time I checked, $40-80k was not the kind of salary that makes you “rich”. If you are going to law school to get “rich”, save your money and three years of your time and pick another profession. And, like, I said before, don't get sold this bill of goods that “law school can take you anywhere". I fell for that, but would find out later that this was, in fact, NOT true and that law school can take you a few places, but it can’t take you EVERYWHERE. In other words, a law degree is more like an American Express card than a VISA...

Ok, I know this was an extremely long post. And, if you made it this far, then clearly you are interested in law school, or you are just bored and had nothing else better to do with your time. I hope you found some of this information helpful and that, if you decide to attend law school, you decide to take some of this advice to heart.

At any rate, maybe after reading this, some of you will understand why many lawyers groan when they hear someone say, “You’re a lawyer? I’ve been thinking about law school.” It’s definitely not for everyone. That being said, it definitely IS for some people. So, you have to do your own assessment to decide whether you’ll be someone who would enjoy the challenge that law school presents.

Now, just so you can see that I am not some bitter, jaded law school grad who is also completely off her rocker, please take a moment to read this article about the dismal legal job market that was recently published in the Wall Street Journal. Or this article (all at once humorous and depressing) that was published in the Washington City Paper that describes the hellish job that a good majority of law graduates end up taking when their dreams of getting rich don't pan out.

Alright! Enough about the law. I'm sick of talking/writing about it, as I am daily striving to live a law-free life. Back to what the Brown Girl loves best - mindless drama...

Law School Redux: The Good, the Bad & the Ugly

Without fail, when people find out that I am a law school graduate, the first thing that they ask (with the exception of a substantive question of law) is whether I can speak to their son/daughter/niece/nephew/grandchild who has expressed in interest in the legal field. Just a few days ago, I agreed to speak to a friend’s younger sister who has now decided that she wants to be a lawyer. I essentially relay the same advice over and over and make sure to add that law school is not for everyone and that they should be sure of their decision before they take on the responsibility of three years of hard labor.

In my last blog, I gave a little insight into what it means to be a lawyer in today’s oversaturated legal market. As I said, it’s a lot of smoke and mirrors. I went to law school optimistic, thinking I would graduate and somehow contribute to society with all the nifty things I learned. But, when I got there, I felt like an outsider from Day 1. For some reason, everything important about law school seemed just out of my reach. It was like everything was one BIG secret that everyone was privy to – everyone except me. But, pretty soon, I learned the ropes and was able to figure some things out, which made the experience a lot more bearable.

As promised, here are some things I wish I knew before I went to law school. One day, when I have the time and energy, I will probably write a book about this. So, here is the (not-so) short version. It’s pretty detailed and opinionated. I’m sure that you will find law school grads that disagree with my perspective. You will also probably find just as many that will co-sign every word of this post. Either way, do your research and make the decision that is right for you. Here’s a little bit of info that might help make your law school life go a little more smoothly…

• Everything you do from the time you apply to law school until the day you secure an offer for permanent employment from any willing employer, should be an effort to position yourself for the ideal post-graduate job. That means that your choice of law school (more about that later), your coursework, your extracurricular activities, your internships, and accomplishments should all be helping you reach the end goal – your dream job. If, along the way, you find you are spending your time on things that will not help make you marketable to your dream employer, stop doing what you are doing and focus on something else that will get you a step closer. Nothing else really matters.

• If you know the city/state where you would like to practice post-graduation from law school, you should probably save your money and attend the best state law school in that area. Why? Because most of the local lawyers probably attended that school as well and the alumni connections in that city will really help you out in the long-run. Plus, if you can get in-state tuition, you will save yourself the burden of astronomical student loan payments in the long-run.

• If you do decide to attend a private law school and spend ridiculous amounts of money to attend school each year, make sure to attend the highest ranked school that you can manage to get into. When I got ready to go to law school my dad said “Nobody will ask where you got your degree, they will only care that you got a degree.” Maybe that works for other grad degrees, but with a law degree… not so much. The best employers recruit at the best schools. If you go to a school that is in the second or third tier (you’ll learn about tiers when you start to research schools), you might as well just save your money and get a degree in something else. Trust me… you’ll be better off 30 years down the line.

• The best grad school advice that I ever got was from a teaching assistant in one of my undergrad government classes. When he found out that I would be attending law school he said, “It will not be humanly possible for you to complete all the reading that will be assigned. Immediately upon arrival, learn to skim your reading assignments for the important bits. Just do what you can and the rest will fall into place.” It’s true. Time management is the most valuable skill a law student – or ANY grad student – can have. If you are not good with managing your time, get good at it BEFORE you go to law school.

• The most important class you will take during your first year of law school is your legal research and writing class. If you can ace that course, you have pretty much gotten all the skills you need to secure a law clerk or summer associate position. You need to secure these jobs to add weight to your resume because when recruiting begins in earnest, you need to have a killer resume to get the best jobs.

• Remember that – no matter what – 50% of the class will be ranked at the top, and 50% will be ranked at the bottom. Mathematically, this isn’t necessarily true considering that typically significantly less than 50% of the class falls in the Top 50% of the class. (Anyone who understands curves knows what I mean by this.) But, law students need to learn this early. People who go to law school are typically type-A personalities that have always been at the top of their class. But here’s a wakeup call: EVERYONE in your class has always been at the top of their class. Smart people come a dime a dozen in law school. In law school, it’s not about being smart, it’s about being disciplined. Law school is not hard. Anyone can comprehend what is being taught in law classes. But, you can be the smartest person in the world and if you don’t lack the discipline required to DO THE WORK, you will be in the bottom half of the class. Every time. Be committed to the work and the rest will come easy.

• When the notices come around regarding law review/law journal, moot court, and mock trial, try out for these activities! The write-on competition for law review is no joke, but if you are lucky enough to make law review or journal, your life will be a lot easier! Take a look at attorney bios on law firm websites. You’ll see that the few law school-related activities that are mentioned is law review/journal and/or moot court/mock trial. These activities provide you with the practical skills that legal employers are seeking in a candidate. They are important. Participate if you can.

• At some point during your law school career, consider a judicial internship. A judicial internship is basically an opportunity to work under the supervision of a judge and a judicial law clerk. Depending on the court, you could get a ton of research and writing experience. No matter the court (or the judge for the matter) you will get an opportunity to say that you have first-hand knowledge of the judicial process, which will make you more marketable to legal employers.