Each morning during my trial, I rushed through my routine to have a bit of time to prepare before heading into the courtroom.

I cut my workout time in half, skipped breakfast (not recommended), and was an all-around ball of stress.

But I didn’t have to worry about what I would wear or whether I would look prepared for court. When it was time to suit up, I simply pulled my ready-to-wear suit from my closet and was on my way.

The suits I wore ended up feeling like armor to me – they shielded me through my knees buckling when I stood for my first cross-examination. The protected me when I lost my place in my questioning and when I heard my first objection from opposing counsel.

I was able to totally forget about how I looked and focus on what I was saying.

I didn’t have to keep tucking a blouse into pants or a skirt. I wasn’t tugging at my jacket because it didn’t fit. I wasn’t pulling up my pants when I sat down or stood up. The stretch of the fabric gave me freedom to focus on the task at hand.

Moving forward, I’ll always plan and prepare powerful outfits ahead of trial. Doing that gave me a solid foundation for confidence when everything else felt like it was crumbling.