Start with the Clothes is a research project examining the impact of courtroom attire on women and genderqueer trial lawyers in the US. Inspired by studies on sexism in the legal profession, it combines oral histories, material culture analysis, and legal research. The project explores how clothing norms in courtrooms affect these lawyers' experiences and invites public contributions to its archive.
info@startwiththeclothes.com
Our Story
In 2001, Stanford Law Professor Deborah Rhode chaired the American Bar Association's Commission on Women in the Profession. Her report, The Unfinished Agenda, examines sexism and misogyny in the legal profession. Rhode articulated the "double standard and the double bind" for women in the courtroom who must balance not being seen as "too 'soft' or too 'strident,' too 'aggressive' or 'not aggressive enough.'" In 2018, University of San Francisco Law Professor Lara Bazelon reflected on Rhode's ABA report in her essay, What It Takes to be a Trial Lawyer if You're not a Man, writing, "Let's start with the clothes."Start with the Clothes is a body of work combining oral history, material culture exploration, and legal research to investigate the intersectional experience of trial lawyers and gender. Building from a Repository Research Fellowship with the Elizabeth Sage Costume Collection at Indiana University, this project examines courtroom attire and considers its disparate impact on women and genderqueer trial lawyers in the United States.
The project uses oral histories of people in "professional" attire to examine these lawyers' experiences. Testimonials and material culture analysis activate new conversations about the values of the legal profession. We invite the public to build upon this archive by submitting testimony about clothing in the courtroom.
Substack
J. Amy Dillard Professor Dillard serves on the law faculty at the University of Baltimore, where she teaches criminal law and procedure, professional responsibility, and a #MeToo seminar. She began her teaching career at American University, Washington College of Law, where she served as the director of the Legal Rhetoric Program, and she has been a visiting law professor at Seattle University and at both law schools affiliated with Indiana University. Before entering the academy, Professor Dillard was the deputy public defender for the city of Alexandria, Virginia, and she maintains a private law practice where she has served as lead counsel in a capital murder case in Virginia for over 20 years.
Professor Dillard enjoyed a research fellowship with the Elizabeth Sage Collection at Indiana University, which first inspired her work on Start with the Clothes.
Her other scholarly interests include sanity and competency issues, police use of force and death-in-custody, and the #MeToo movement.
jagdillard.com
Julea Seliavski Julea Seliavski (Them/They) is an autistic, non-binary artist practicing within the legal field. Julea’s practice emphasizes a collaborative approach to law by centering impacted people as the “expert” to defining methods for advocacy. They believe the expert shall be defined by the question rather than a professional degree. Julea believes in utilizing a user as the beneficiary model to the legal profession.
They hold a B.F.A. in Sculpture from Virginia Commonwealth University and an M.F.A. in Curatorial Practice from MICA. Julea is pursuing a Juris Doctorate and is expected to graduate in Fall 2024. Their work centers on disability justice, education law and pre-trial detention. Currently they serve as Co-President of External Affairs with the National Disabled Law Students Association.
Julea began investigating material culture and its relationship to the legal profession in 2017. During graduate school they decided to “de-professionalize” fine arts and legal practice by looking at the meaning clothing holds on the identities of practitioners and artists. In 2022, they joined Professor Dillard in the Start with the Clothes project.
seliavski.com