Inside A Bastion Of Old-School Power Attire
在Bickel & Brewer律师事务所，即使是收发室的职员都穿西装打领带。就在不久之前，人们可能会认为这样着装有些极端。而眼下，“权力着装”的风潮正卷土重来，使律师事务所的老派风格成为新潮。Clark Perkins律师迈克尔·加德纳（左）和比尔·布鲁尔就是这股权力着装风潮的典范随着律师事务所的裁员风愈演愈烈，人们对失业的恐惧似乎正在为权力着装风潮的回归推波助澜，就连年轻一代也概莫能外。波士顿的一位沟通咨询师格莱勤·尼尔斯(Gretchen Neels)说，实习律师已经开始摒弃商务休闲装，改穿正装。尼尔斯专门为律师事务所和研究生院提供咨询服务。她说，“在眼前的经济形势下，人们都迫切希望保住工作。因此，在着装方面再怎么正式也不过分了。”男装专卖店Paul Fredrick里的权力服装卖得相当不错。该公司负责商品的执行副总裁迪安·怀特(Dean White)说，1987年的电影《华尔街》(Wall Street)中戈登·盖柯(Gordon Gekko)锺爱的那些各色白领衬衣，在最近几个月成了畅销货。黄色的“权力领带”也同样畅销，而这也是80年代成功人士的着装选择。传统权力着装风潮的回归，终于让Bickel & Brewer律师事务所的共同创始人和执行合伙人比尔·布鲁尔(Bill Brewer)出了一口气。这家律师事务所在达拉斯和纽约市设有办事处。布鲁尔从来都不明白人们在办公室穿卡其裤和橡胶底的古琦(Gucci)懒汉鞋魅力何在。他得意于自己在纽约Bruce Clark定制的三扣单叉西装和衬衣。当他谈到一些新入行的年轻人穿到办公室的“那些方头休闲鞋”时，声音就高了八度，而且语带轻蔑。“我想，人们希望看到举足轻重的律师能有个举足轻重的模样，”布鲁尔说。“否则就会发出错误的信号。”即使是在半年前，这种论调听起来都会像约翰·莫洛伊(John Molloy)一样过时。莫洛伊在80年代撰写了公司着装“圣经”--《穿出成功》(Dress For Success)。休闲装一直被人们视为时髦，而且它也逐渐演变成了一种重要的职场特权。我在2007年的一篇专栏文章中写道，很多年轻律师主张穿着Ugg靴子牛仔裤和紧身T恤上班，宣称他们需要在工作时穿着舒适。而且他们觉得自己有权这么做。然而，随着失业人数不断增多，人们对工作的这种权利感也烟消云散。尼尔斯建议，所有找到工作的法律专业毕业生都应准备按照公司的要求买衣服。她说，“如果他们想让你每天都穿得像《芝麻街》里的“大鸟先生”，那么，为了16万美元的年薪，就照做吧！” 16万美元是今年律师的基本起薪。艾丽西亚·拉塞尔(Alicia Russell)是Boyden Global Executive Search公司的法律人才招聘主管。她说，像Bickel & Brewer那样要求所有职员都权力着装的公司很少见。“我想我从没去过一家每个人都穿着正装的律师事务所，”她说。但是，她并不反对这一理念。实际上，她建议律师都穿深色保守的西装。男士应该系领带，女士则应该佩戴“让人眼前一亮”的饰物--比如一件珠宝饰品抢眼的小包或者是公事包。在Bickel & Brewer，当新员工应邀参加每年秋季在达拉斯举办的“回访周末”（Call-Back Weekend）活动时，都会接到权力着装的明确要求。“我在那个星期六上午9点与他们见面的时候，会穿西装打领带--他们也应如此，”主管招聘的迈克尔·加德纳(Michael Gardner)说。57岁的布鲁尔和39岁的加德纳谈话时，会让人感觉回到了1985年。在这家拥有40多名律师的事务所，他们宣导一种“努力工作，顽强拼搏”的企业精神，用强调奋力拼搏的橄榄球运动来说明，第一位是工作，第二位还是工作。“这是一个明星系统，”布鲁尔说。当谈到商务休闲装时，加德纳听起来像是在竭力克制自己的厌恶情绪。“那实际上和我对时尚的看法相抵触，”他说。他表示，如果不穿正装， “我感觉就像一个橄榄球运动员没戴垫肩就冲上了球场。”加德纳说，他会对那些初来乍到不了解权力着装要求的年轻律师进行“良师益友”般的教导。让我们打个比方，如果加德纳邀请你去星巴克(Starbucks)喝一杯，你可能就要考虑一下你穿的鞋子是否得体。大厅里星巴克的隔壁就是一家擦鞋店。他会和那些鞋子看上去邋邋遢遢的员工说，“你知道吗，我准备去擦擦鞋。要不你也一起来吧？”80后亚当·桑德森(Adam Sanderson)属于“千禧一代”律师。2006年加入该事务所后曾陪加德纳去擦鞋店。加德纳说，桑德森的鞋子太时尚了。“我当时想退而求其次的办法就是让他去擦擦鞋，”加德纳回忆说。但是他并未就此甘休，“我直接了当地对他说，‘我们不能穿那样的鞋上班。’”桑德森说，他当时正打算买几双新鞋--所以就按照加德纳的意思买了Ferragamos的正装皮鞋。他补充道，“在这里，油光发亮的皮鞋表示自豪。”曾有一段时间，就连布鲁尔对权力着装的信心都动摇了。布鲁尔说，在90年代末，“我们服务的物件是在新领域--高科技行业中备受瞩目的人物。他们中的许多人都穿着商务休闲装，或者更休闲的服装。”布鲁尔曾提出事务所是否应该在夏季尝试商务休闲装。他说，他的合伙人们当即表示反对， 认为“这简直是无稽之谈，” 并表示“如果那样做就不是Bickel & Brewer了。”Christina Binkley相关阅读穿衣方式揭示内心世界 2008-11-21佩林的衣橱 2008-10-24穿衣规则：为悦己者容？ 2008-09-05古怪着装要求时代的结束 2008-09-05职装话题促生友谊 2008-08-05性感着装适合工作晚宴吗？ 2008-05-30视频：美国办公室里怎样着装 2008-04-30
At law firm Bickel & Brewer, even the mailroom clerks wear suits and ties. Until recently, that might have been considered extreme. But now, power dressing is coming back in style, and the old-school law firm has a new relevance.As law-firm layoffs mount, fear of unemployment appears to be speeding up the resurgence of power clothes, even among the youngest recruits. Legal interns have begun flouting business-casual dress codes and wearing suits instead, says Gretchen Neels, a Boston communications consultant who works with law firms and graduate schools. 'In our economic times, you really want to have your game on. You can't be too formal,' she says.Power clothes are selling well at menswear retailer Paul Fredrick. Those white-collared, colored dress shirts that Gordon Gekko favored in the 1987 movie 'Wall Street' have been big sellers in recent months, says Dean White, executive vice president of merchandise. So are yellow power ties, another 1980s dress-for-success accessory.The return of old-school power dressing is something of a 'duh' moment for Bill Brewer, co-founder and managing partner of the law firm, which has offices in Dallas and New York City. He never really got the appeal of khakis and rubber-soled Gucci loafers at the office. He prides himself on custom three-button suits with a center vent and shirts from Bruce Clark in New York. His voice tightens with disdain when he describes 'those square-toed club shoes' that some young recruits wear to the office.'I think people expect high-powered lawyers to look like high-powered lawyers,' Mr. Brewer says. 'Anything else is sending the wrong signal.'Even six months ago, that kind of talk might have sounded as outmoded as John Molloy, who penned 'Dress For Success,' the 1980s bible of corporate style. Casual clothing has long been seen as a sign of a modern attitude and has become an important job perk. In a 2007 column I wrote, a number of young lawyers defended working in Ugg boots, jeans and clingy T-shirts, arguing that they needed to be comfortable at work. They felt entitled.But people's sense of job entitlement has evaporated as unemployment figures rise. Ms. Neels suggests that any law graduate with a job should prepare to invest in whatever the firm asks. 'If they want you to dress up like Big Bird every day, for $160,000 a year, just do it!' she says, citing the going starting salary for law associates this year.Alicia Russell, an executive recruiter for legal jobs with Boyden Global Executive Search, says Bickel & Brewer's all-inclusive power-dress code is unusual. 'I can't say that I've ever been in a law firm where every single person is in formal business attire,' she says. But she isn't opposed to the concept. In fact, she recommends that lawyers stick with dark, conservative suits. Men should wear ties and women should add an accessory that has 'panache' -- such as a piece of jewelry or a sharp-looking purse or briefcase.At Bickel & Brewer, the power code is made clear when recruits are invited to 'Call-Back Weekend' in Dallas, which takes place each fall. 'When I greet them at 9 a.m. that Saturday, I'm in a suit and tie -- and so are they,' says Michael Gardner, the firm's hiring partner.In conversation, Mr. Brewer, 57, and Mr. Gardner, 39, manage to sound like the calendar says it's 1985. As they describe the corporate-litigation firm, which employs more than 40 lawyers, they evoke a work-hard-play-hard ethos, tossing around hard-driving football analogies to convey that work comes first. And second. 'This is a star system,' says Mr. Brewer.Mr. Gardner sounds as though he'd like to hold his nose when he discusses business casual. 'It's actually a little offensive to my sense of style,' he says. Without a suit, he says, 'I would feel like a football player who ran out on the field without his shoulder pads.'Young lawyers who arrive ignorant of the power-suit ensemble get a little tutoring from Mr. Gardner 'in a mentoring way,' he says. Let's just say that if Mr. Gardner invites you for a quick cup of joe at Starbucks, you might want to reconsider your footwear. Next door to the Starbucks in the lobby is a shoeshine shop. 'You know,' he tells those with scuffed shoes, 'I'm going to get my shoes shined. Why don't you join me?'Adam Sanderson, an associate of the 'millennial' generation born after 1981, accompanied Mr. Gardner to the shoeshine shop after joining the firm in 2006. Mr. Gardner says Mr. Sanderson's shoes were too trendy. 'I was thinking the next best thing would be to get his shoes shined,' Mr. Gardner recalls. But he didn't stop there. 'I just told him, 'We gotta get rid of those shoes.''Mr. Sanderson says he had been planning to get new shoes anyway -- and he bought the cap-toed Ferragamos that Mr. Gardner suggested. 'Shined shoes are a point of pride here,' he adds.There was a time that even Mr. Brewer's confidence in power attire wavered. In the late 1990s, says Mr. Brewer, 'we were doing work for people who were very high-profile in the new space -- high tech. Many of them were business casual, or less than casual.' Mr. Brewer asked during a corporate retreat whether the firm should test business-casual for the summer.'That's ridiculous,' he says his partners countered. 'That's not Bickel & Brewer.'Christina Binkley
At law firm Bickel & Brewer, even the mailroom clerks wear suits and ties. Until recently, that might have been considered extreme. But now, power dressing is coming back in style, and the old-school law firm has a new relevance.As law-firm layoffs mount, fear of unemployment appears to be speeding up the resurgence of power clothes, even among the youngest recruits. Legal interns have begun flouting business-casual dress codes and wearing suits instead, says Gretchen Neels, a Boston communications consultant who works with law firms and graduate schools. 'In our economic times, you really want to have your game on. You can't be too formal,' she says.Power clothes are selling well at menswear retailer Paul Fredrick. Those white-collared, colored dress shirts that Gordon Gekko favored in the 1987 movie 'Wall Street' have been big sellers in recent months, says Dean White, executive vice president of merchandise. So are yellow power ties, another 1980s dress-for-success accessory.The return of old-school power dressing is something of a 'duh' moment for Bill Brewer, co-founder and managing partner of the law firm, which has offices in Dallas and New York City. He never really got the appeal of khakis and rubber-soled Gucci loafers at the office. He prides himself on custom three-button suits with a center vent and shirts from Bruce Clark in New York. His voice tightens with disdain when he describes 'those square-toed club shoes' that some young recruits wear to the office.'I think people expect high-powered lawyers to look like high-powered lawyers,' Mr. Brewer says. 'Anything else is sending the wrong signal.'Even six months ago, that kind of talk might have sounded as outmoded as John Molloy, who penned 'Dress For Success,' the 1980s bible of corporate style. Casual clothing has long been seen as a sign of a modern attitude and has become an important job perk. In a 2007 column I wrote, a number of young lawyers defended working in Ugg boots, jeans and clingy T-shirts, arguing that they needed to be comfortable at work. They felt entitled.But people's sense of job entitlement has evaporated as unemployment figures rise. Ms. Neels suggests that any law graduate with a job should prepare to invest in whatever the firm asks. 'If they want you to dress up like Big Bird every day, for $160,000 a year, just do it!' she says, citing the going starting salary for law associates this year.Alicia Russell, an executive recruiter for legal jobs with Boyden Global Executive Search, says Bickel & Brewer's all-inclusive power-dress code is unusual. 'I can't say that I've ever been in a law firm where every single person is in formal business attire,' she says. But she isn't opposed to the concept. In fact, she recommends that lawyers stick with dark, conservative suits. Men should wear ties and women should add an accessory that has 'panache' -- such as a piece of jewelry or a sharp-looking purse or briefcase.At Bickel & Brewer, the power code is made clear when recruits are invited to 'Call-Back Weekend' in Dallas, which takes place each fall. 'When I greet them at 9 a.m. that Saturday, I'm in a suit and tie -- and so are they,' says Michael Gardner, the firm's hiring partner.In conversation, Mr. Brewer, 57, and Mr. Gardner, 39, manage to sound like the calendar says it's 1985. As they describe the corporate-litigation firm, which employs more than 40 lawyers, they evoke a work-hard-play-hard ethos, tossing around hard-driving football analogies to convey that work comes first. And second. 'This is a star system,' says Mr. Brewer.Mr. Gardner sounds as though he'd like to hold his nose when he discusses business casual. 'It's actually a little offensive to my sense of style,' he says. Without a suit, he says, 'I would feel like a football player who ran out on the field without his shoulder pads.'Young lawyers who arrive ignorant of the power-suit ensemble get a little tutoring from Mr. Gardner 'in a mentoring way,' he says. Let's just say that if Mr. Gardner invites you for a quick cup of joe at Starbucks, you might want to reconsider your footwear. Next door to the Starbucks in the lobby is a shoeshine shop. 'You know,' he tells those with scuffed shoes, 'I'm going to get my shoes shined. Why don't you join me?'Adam Sanderson, an associate of the 'millennial' generation born after 1981, accompanied Mr. Gardner to the shoeshine shop after joining the firm in 2006. Mr. Gardner says Mr. Sanderson's shoes were too trendy. 'I was thinking the next best thing would be to get his shoes shined,' Mr. Gardner recalls. But he didn't stop there. 'I just told him, 'We gotta get rid of those shoes.''Mr. Sanderson says he had been planning to get new shoes anyway -- and he bought the cap-toed Ferragamos that Mr. Gardner suggested. 'Shined shoes are a point of pride here,' he adds.There was a time that even Mr. Brewer's confidence in power attire wavered. In the late 1990s, says Mr. Brewer, 'we were doing work for people who were very high-profile in the new space -- high tech. Many of them were business casual, or less than casual.' Mr. Brewer asked during a corporate retreat whether the firm should test business-casual for the summer.'That's ridiculous,' he says his partners countered. 'That's not Bickel & Brewer.'Christina Binkley