Is there any way to make this dress office appropriate - think uber-conservative and uber-business formal. I was thinking a brown or gray (with tiny blue stripe) jacket, buttoned up and losing the belt/sash (which I don't think I'd wear anyway). Too much of a swishy skirt? I need to go to court in this outfit, so that's the main requirement.
i think losing the belt and adding a pretty conservative jacket would make it work appropriate, but i'm not sure you can do much to make it court appropriate...i'm sure that's not what you wanted to hear. i'm pretty conservative about dressing for court though myself (at least as a defendant in traffic court, or even just sitting in the gallery)...that could be just me though.
Honestly, I think the fabric and the cut make it un-workable (is that a word?) for court. I think you need a skirt that's more structured with a weightier fabric. I think that removing the sash and wearing a jacket would make it work appropriate, but not for a conservative environment. I'm not one to usually give up on making a piece work, but I just think conservative work environments can be pretty unforgiving when it comes to dressing with originality.
Let me preface this by saying that I may not be the best judge of this, as I absolutely abhor conservative and formal business attire (for me) and refuse to wear it.
That being said, I think it could be work appropriate.
I would go with a gray jacket, as you suggested, and very opaque gray tights and gray shoes (I'm seeing a seude T-strap wedge, for some reason). I would also pull your hair back, since I think hair down would contribute to the swingy skirt / girly factor, which in this context is probably bad.
ETA: I don't see any reason why it couldn't work in court for almost any case. A career-defining case, probably not, but most others, I think yes. Of course, I'm basing this off my experiences of what I've seen lawyers wear in my town, not yours.
-- Edited by poptart at 14:57, 2006-11-06
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Hmmm... I guess if I absolutely have no other choice (I've got about 4 days of non-questionable attire and probably 5 days of court), I could wear it on the day I won't be asking questions, arguing, etc. That way the only time the jury would see the skirt would be when we stood up for the judge...
Tricky...
Okay, I'll only use it as a last resort. Bah. I hate dressing for court.