Dress "Code" for NOVA? (Alexandria: fit in, lawyers, college)

[Mizsyx]

Will you share with me please, the common dress for business, nightlife, and everyday casual in the area? I will be working a professional job in the legal field in DC, and living in Alexandria. Obviously, it can run the gamut from jeans to the nine's, but someone told me a woman would never be seen in anything less than a black or dark blue suit, and to never wear a colored suit outside of those two. Is this an accurate portrayal?

Do business women also wear regular dresses or skirt and blouse sans the jacket? I'm packing to move there in 8 days and wonder if I should dump half my wardrobe! I've never been a "try to fit in with the crowd" kind of personality - I am who I am, but I don't want to appear a flagrant newbie to the scene, either!

Thanks if you would share your observations!

[Yankeesfan]

No need to dump your wardrobe! I'd suggest wearing a conservative suit for the first day of work and observe what your colleagues are wearing.

[saganista]

Good advice. Go as conservative as you've got on Day-1 (maybe even Week-1 so as not to startle anyone on Day-2) then you'll have a much better idea of what wardrobe adjustments (if any) will be needed or can be made. In general, DC (particularly in the Summer) is less a slave to fashion formality than some other places, but at least the upscale legal community that in some ways typifies the K Street area is something of an exception to that rule. That community alone keeps a lot of dry cleaners in business. Even there however, sensible shoes on the Metro are a given.

I can understand the black suit comment though. At least between Labor Day and Memorial Day, it sometimes seems as if half the women in town are wearing one. Reminds me a little of the Viet Cong in their black pajamas. A bit scary in that regard! But the warm (okay, hot) weather brings a change. It's just not feasible for things to be otherwise. Extra skin -- unless you're a summer intern -- is not such a good idea. Half these interns will come in half naked. But what the heck...they're interns. As a professional, that's not a good route to go.

Outside the office and its localized norms and standards, things typically run a quite liberal gamut. Wear what you want. Basically, beachwear in the summer and jeans-and-a-sweatshirt type stuff when it's cool are entirely appropriate in most public settings. You can go to the Kennedy Center in upscale jeans and a nice top (particularly if accented with shoes and a nice jacket), or you can go high end. People do both. Only a few of even the best restaurants have what could be called strict dress requirements, so in most cases, those who have dressed at the high end did so because they wanted to, not because they had to...

[TheseGoTo11]

Originally Posted by Mizsyx

I will be working a professional job in the legal field in DC

Some of the lawyers who deal with tech clients have come into the mid-90s and gone business casual. Agree with other posters though who said start conservative.

DC at night is far more casual than NY or LA. I have a lot of single female friends and they almost always go to bars in jeans. There are some new places that are trying to pretend they're in Hollywood, but for the most part there is not much of a velvet rope bar scene here. More of a post-college, Irish pub, happy hour scene that extends to people in their 40s due to the high pop. of educated singles.