The days when I felt like wearing my pajamas and slippers to law school classes were the ones in which wearing heels and a dress helped the most.
If you’re feeling down or overwhelmed, which you often will during your 1L year (and beyond), the best thing you can do is put on clothes that won’t keep you stuck in that mood. According to this Self Magazine article:
New research shows that what you wear has the ability to boost your mood (or bring you down).
If you’re already feeling in the dumps, wearing clothes that made you feel dumpy are only going to make things worse. If, for instance, you start feeling better during the day, your clothes will bring you back down to the gloomy place where you started.
In particular, I found that even if I was wearing a nice dress, if I chose my comfy (but sloppy) shoes, I still found myself coming back to that negative place. Heels were the antidote to being down on myself.
I’m not saying you have to wear stilettos or spike heels to class. A nice, classic pump will improve your posture and your overall look and will make you feel more confident.
If heels aren’t your thing, for whatever reason, think of the shoes that make you feel most confident. Perhaps you have a pair of pink ballet flats that add some pep to your step. Those will make you feel better than your worn-out Birkenstocks.
The shoes you wear in law school don’t have to be uncomfortable, but they do need to make you feel powerful.