“Everything not forbidden is mandatory”? No opinions allowed? Ah, the totalitarianism of the Left.

I saw it more as fashion policing, as opposed to gender policing. :)

“DONT DO IT”? Advice, honey, advice.

…. Huh? Random interjection of gender policing for the whaaaat?

The ultimate goal of female professional garb is to distract the males you’re dealing with from sex for a millisecond maybe so you can get some work done. The sweaters and shells work admirably. How high heels work in here is problematic, but as you note, we have to wear them so what.

I have a young (22) daughter who wears ties. NO DON’T DO IT

How the heck is 5′7″ a “smaller” woman?? Smaller than what?

So, like me, you’re a lawyer. Myself, I like to sit down and glare at a male who dares not sit down for whatever reason, but who stands to attention. Or I yell at them on the phone, and they can’t see my feet when I do that. :)

Sneaks in the desk drawer are always a good fallback. What if, suddenly, you have to walk ten blocks to get somewhere? And still be able to walk without limping when you arrive? A capacious brief case plus some running shoes therein and voila! problem solved. Then you can totter in to your meeting on stilts and no one will be the wiser.

We have to wear heels in court, or we look like bag ladies. It is what it is. Men don’t like ties either, but they wear them to court (here, only to court, nowhere else).

Dj my dear, maybe it’s height. I’m 5/9″; in 3″ heels I’m six feet tall, and look down on most men. Men tend not to like that, and whereas who cares what they like, still if you’re trying to make friends it’s not an asset. (I try to make friends with, say, potential clients.)

But no. Feminism isn’t all about replacing one totalitarianism with another, the way “working women” of a certain age dissed women who stayed home with their kids. Live and let live.

You can wear heels so far as I am concerned, just so long as the rest of us don’t have to. (I feel the same way, by the bye, about foot binding, cosmetic surgery, breast implants. Not morally reprehensible so long as I don’t have to do it. OK for other people, not for me.) Totter along in good health with my blessings, just don’t do it too much or you’ll never walk painlessly again. Or if that’s OK too, go ahead, who am I to say.

As for high heels….sigh. Am I not a feminist anymore because I like them? :( I will completely support any movement that expands the acceptable female office/professional footwear code, but I still want to be able to wear heels if I feel like it. I like feeling taller. :)

Dress Barn Woman has some nice suits that go up to size 24 and cost around $150-$200 (unless you hit a sale, as I did last week - $51 for a reasonable suit). If you need something more upscale than that, you used to be able to order Brooks Brothers suits in plus sizes, but it took 2 weeks. (I don’t know if this is still true or not.) Alternatively, the people that teach tailoring classes are sometimes willing to sew made-to-order suits; the last time I costed it out, it was about $250, but that was several years ago.

Since when were women not expected to wear suits for interviews as well, and sometimes for work? I would never dream of going to an interview for a professional job without wearing a suit, and I don’t know of any woman who would.

I was in a new office when a mailroom cabinet came in, like a bookshelf except with vertical as well as horizontal dividers for putting mail for 50 people in. One of my female colleagues remarked, “I could use that for my shoes,” and this met with general approbation (it was a mostly female office). I asked, “What? Who the hell has 50 pairs of shoes?” Well, apparently, a lot of women do. I would never have guessed. One of them remarked, “Men are lucky; all you need is a pair of brown shoes and a pair of black shoes!” I said, “That’s not right.” They said, “Why, what other shoes do you have?” My answer; “Oh, no, I’m just trying to figure out what I’d need a pair of brown shoes for.”

I’d like to announce that Kate L is a smart lady who has her head on straight. What this country needs is more women like Kate, and if we had them we’d all be happier, healthier, and, I believe, more beautiful, unless you think deliberately induced deformity is beautiful, in which case I’d recommend you to the nineteenth century Chinese practice of foot binding. On yourself, please, not on me and Kate, WE KNOW BETTER.

I know, I know, we all have our constraints. I’m just trying to give you a little encouragement.

I hike for pleasure; I work at a desk. The long life of my hiking boots is a sad commentary on how much free time I get.