UK Firm to Female Lawyers: Try to Dress More Feminine. But Don’t Be a Slut!

Magic Circle law firm Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer LLP apparently has a lot of money lying around, a lot of free time, and a complete collection of Mad Men DVDs.

They have hired “image consultants” to give their female employees advice on how to dress more “appropriately” for the workplace. This advice seems to be “don’t dress like a man” but “don’t be a slut.”

The original Daily Mail story link is broken, but on Feministe:

Female lawyers at Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer have been advised to team their stilettos with skirts rather than trousers to ‘embrace their femininity’.But they can’t embrace it too much.

Necklaces, they have been warned, should be avoided as they could draw undue attention to the bust line.

That’s right, ladies! Enough with the comfort, already.  Be prettier and more womanly for us — but not too pretty.  No one likes a skank.  What, is this advice straight out of the 40s?

But the best advice is actually for the men…

And in a bid to keep everything above board, male employees have been told not to allow their ties to hang below their belts for fear of drawing unwanted attention to their nether regions.

Yeah. Um… does that work?

Via Daily Mail (link broken), via WSJ Law Blog, via Feministe.

UPDATE: The Daily Mail link is back.