More on work and clothes

If I stand on a chair, I can see the end of the semester. Between now and then is plenty of  school work, a paper, a presentation, exams, 'n such, but it'll all get done. I need a much bigger chair, though, to see beyond that, a chair even bigger than Gardner's big chair.

via Zippy The Pinhead: "Well-Endowed"
A time is coming when I'll need to buy some interviewing clothes. I'm mindful of Thoreau's caution about new clothes (which is more about changing ourselves rather than about our clothes.) My current jacket is, I kid you not, an $8.00 special that I picked up at the Sears outlet store last fall. I remember fondly that, when Barney Frank ran for re-election as state rep in 1974, he had a poster that proclaimed "Neatness Isn't Everything."
Today's Boston Globe has a style supplement, How to update a classic blazer, with some guidance for the man in need of help. The featured article of clothing is a blazer, around which we're to build several wardrobes. Their recommendation is for a Reporter "Quick Jacket" that runs a cool $595.
Buy a really good jacket and it'll all make sense. Pfft. The jacket is just the down-payment. I'll need a $275 shirt, $495 shoes, and, well, it's clear that we headed in the wrong direction.
My new degree suggests that I should be looking for a job as a paralegal. Might then some blogs that cover paralegal careers be helpful. Let's see.

Practical Paralegalism often has some good tips. Last Monday's post was titled Paralegal Career Dressing. Almost. The subtitle is Flower Brooches from JKW Jewellery. There's a picture of Carrie Bradshaw. I opened the wrong door.
A link in an earlier post showed some examples of what a male paralegal might wear to lunch. The prices have moved from Newbury Street to your basic shopping mall. That's probably the best that we can do.
It'll also depend on the type of work I seek as a BBC correspondent discovered when reporting on the minimalist dress code of the Amazon's Awa people.
Did I mention that I finally had to retire my red paisley suspenders (braces to you folks across the pond)? I bought them at Spag's for five bucks a dozen years ago.
I don't mind looking good. I just don't want to be afraid of my clothes. I don't do well when I am spending more time thinking about how I look rather than how I'm thinking.