Where I’ve worked, very few women wore skirts, and almost always those who did wear them regularly had really nice legs. Well – those who wore shorter skirts, anyway, to the knee or higher.
In any case, pants were the norm.
As an expert on all things professional (and women for that matter 
), any of these looks are appropriate except for the “shorts” or capri pants:
I’ve lived around and about on the US coasts and have never worn a skirt or dress to an interview in any field. I can’t recall being turned down by any prospecive employer.
Great. Now you tell me.
I don’t think I’ve ever noticed. All my suits are skirt suits but it’s just a personal preference. There’s only one other female attorney in my office besides me and she seems to wear pants suits exclusively. Everyone and their mother is scared of her (in a good way, she doesn’t take shit) so I don’t really see where the respect or lack thereof part comes in.
mssmith, you may be joking but you don’t know how many people I’ve seen wearing gaucho-capri (or Gauch-toe as I call them) suits around downtown L.A… They seem to have died down, though.
Personally, I think a well-fitting pantsuit can be just as professional as a suit with a skirt. However, if I were interviewing for a job, I would go with the skirt because 1) the interviewer might have a more conservative outlook on pants v. skirts than I do and 2) I look better in skirts.
I think the skirt suit is no more professional than a regular business suit. I wear pantsuits because I want to look professional without feeling breezy and uncomfortable like I would be if I were wearing a skirt and hose and whatnot. You couldn’t pay me a million billion dollars to wear a skirt to work every day, but I really abhor skirts. I am sure that women who don’t want to wear pants for comfort or religious reasons feel like they can be professional without pants. Well, you know what I mean. 
For just ONE million $$, I’ll wear a kilt every day. 
I have worn a kilt and I don’t really find them “breezy and uncomfortable”. True, here in the uSA, they are generally not “professional attire”. 
To me, “pantsuit” sounds like the word “polyester” should be in front of it. ecch. (Note that I found the male “leisure suit” to be an abomination)
Look! Back over here!
My daughter found her outfits. However, she looks really out of proportion in the skirt, but well-tailored with pants.
So if a skirt is more professional, but she looks better with pants (not better as in prettier, but better as in better coordinated) does that mean pants beat skirt?
Pants that fit properly and are flattering definitely beat a skirt that doesn’t, and isn’t. Good luck to her!
I think everyone of both sexes who is working should be compelled to wear a shapeless orange jumpsuit. Otherwise, it’s discrimination.
I think for the grand majority of women, skirt suits look better, as well fitted pants are very hard for most of us to find. I find the skirts have more give for slight weight changes. You wouldn’t notice five or ten pound in a skirt, but you would in pants. Another problem with pant suits is in general, if you take off your jacket, you’re down to business casual, where as with a skirt suit you still are a step above that.
I’m with DianaG: something that fits well, is flattering, and is appropriate will have more ‘well-dressed points’ than an article of clothing that is normally equivalent or slightly higher in dressiness but doesn’t fit well and/or isn’t flattering. However, all else being equal, I am in the camp of a skirt looking more dressy.
Plus, there is the element of feeling comfortable in the clothing. If you don’t feel comfortable with what you’re wearing, it tends to show. If you feel comfortable and confident in what you’re wearing, that shows as well.
Personally, I very rarely wear skirts. Why? Because the type of shoes that normally look best with the types of skirts that look good on me are the typical pumps/heels and I can’t wear my othropedic shoe inserts in dress shoes. If I can’t put my inserts in the shoes, then I can only wear them once in a great while. So, this restricts me to pretty much lace-up shoes and boots with low heels. Lace up shoes with a skirt? :dubious: And boots with a skirt is normally a combination that would be too trendy and/or casual for conservative places that prefer women to be in skirt suits.
<< I got a life, but it won’t run on my operating system. >>
I honestly think that pants suits and skirt suits are pretty much on an equal professional playing field. What it comes down to is the tailoring.
I mean, if I wear a skirt that’s well on the upper half of my thigh, of course I’m going to look like a mornic floozy. But, if my skirt is knee length and not clinging to my hips, I look fine.
Personally, I have a ton of trouble finding dress pants that aren’t clung to my ass like Seran Wrap. If I go a size or two up, the pants are still tight on my hips, loose in the ass, and baggy in the thighs. When I wear dress pants, you can see every curve of my hips, ass, and legs (a good thing in most places, but not in the work place). Luckily, skirts just graze my hips without clinging to all my good stuff. YMMV etc and so forth.
I’ve never really perceived a difference in the professionalism of skirt suits vs. pant suits. I personally don’t wear skirt suits for one simple reason–I look pretty good in skirts, but not in the kind of skirts that skirt suits tend to have.
If the only reason someone wasn’t hired is because she wore a nice pair of pants instead of a skirt, is that really the type of place you’d want to work, anyways?
It might be social stereotyping.
I noticed that over the Labor Day weekend, when we were in the Colorado Springs area, we saw a lot of Air Force cadets with their parents (apparently it was Parents Weekend). The cadets were all in some kind of dress blues, and for the women, it was a skirt. Of course the armed forces are conservative fossils.
However, I worked for a law firm where all the trial attorneys wore suits with skirts, rather than suits with pants, to their trials. They didn’t necessarily wear skirts if they were just hanging out in the office. And meetings of various boards took place in this office–mostly the board members were men, but if they were women they were pretty high-powered women, bank presidents for instance, and they always wore skirts to the board meetings too.
Obviously there are professions where this doesn’t apply. I know an architect and I don’t think she even owns a skirt. On the other hand I’ve never seen her in a formal business environment, so I dunno.
I would personally not be caught dead in anything called a “pantsuit.” But then I can be very, very casual. I can go to work in jeans and I usually do. Wore a skirt to the job interview though.
If the only reason someone wasn’t hired is because he wore a nice *utilikilt *instead of pants, is that really the type of place you’d want to work, anyways?
But no one is selected just on skirt vs pants, or at least I hope not. They are selected based upon their qualifications, their interview, and how the interviewer perceives them. Two candidates being 100% equal, the one wearing the more traditional garb perhaps has a slight edge. Why not take it?
Exactly!
Once you get the job, I’m not sure one looks more professional than the other. I’ve seen people look pretty unprofessional in both, and usually because they’re a size too small.
I like pants and skirts equally, but I ‘feel’ more professional in skirts, and usually get more compliments when I wear skirts. That’s not always a bad thing. 