Under UK Judges' Robes: Suits, Shorts, Jeans
As civil court judges in the U.K. prepare to abandon a nearly 350-year-old tradition of wearing white wigs and winged collars and step into new all-weather robes designed by Betty Jackson, interest has focused not only on their public attire but what they wear in court underneath their robes.
While business suits are standard, a few judges have been known to wear jeans, and even shorts in the summer, reports Bloomberg in a lengthy article about the sea change in British judicial attire.
The planned October change in judicial dress appears to be cause for celebration for many. “It was absurd to be dressed up like actors in a monochrome restoration comedy when dealing with cutting-edge science,” says Hugh Laddie, a former patent judge who is now a private practitioner. Some also complain that the wigs can cause headaches.
However, not everyone is ready to abandon the attire adopted in the late 1600s, when it was generally in style.
“Barristers, as most trial lawyers are known, voted against the changes and will continue to wear heavy gowns and wigs. So will judges in criminal courts, where an element of anonymity is favored,” Bloomberg writes. Reportedly, defendants often have difficulty recognizing the wigged and gowned judges who have handled their cases in court, when they see them outside court in street attire.
Related coverage:
ABAJournal.com: “New Attire for UK Judges: Color-Coded Designer Robes”
