Telling Your Work Buddy She Looks Ridiculous

Maybe it's the heat. Or the sticky air. But for whatever reason, lawyers (can we be honest and say women lawyers?) are getting steamed up about summer clothes in the workplace. Mainly, they are commenting about what other women are wearing, and it's usually about how inappropriate or dated the clothes are.

Here's the battle line: Senior women are shaking their heads at how casual or tawdry junior associates look, while the juniors are thinking that the "old" ladies (that now means Baby Boomers) are way too formal and uptight. "Oh my God," says a first-year associate at a big New York law firm, "they even wear support hose on a 95-degree day!" 

Well, girls, law is kind of an uptight profession. So the old ladies win the style war here.

Corporette, the fashion site for corporate women, asks a timely question: "How do you tell someone that outfit isn't working--or, worse, that their entire style needs to be rethought?"

Despite the aspiring Lady Gagas running around firms, many young women actually want to be told if their clothes are out of line. Typical of the reader comments in Corporette: "If I made a big fashion mistake--whether something just looked terrible on me, or was completely inappropriate for the work dress code--I would want someone to let me know."

But ask senior women lawyers how they handle this issue, and most will say they are reluctant about saying anything at all. A New York-based partner tells me it's "unlikely" that she would make a direct comment, though she adds, "I might say, 'Wow, that's quite something,' and then let her figure it out herself."

Another senior lawyer at a media company in California says, "I have held my tongue on many ...