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Fashion Ambush
'Clients want you to look like a lawyer.'
By JESSICA M. JONES
06/25/2006
Who: Professor Nathaniel Nichols, 57, director of Clinical Programs at Widener University School of Law. Nichols was born in Washington, D.C., and moved to Delaware in 1975 to practice law. He has been here ever since.
Who gave him up: Friend and martial arts instructor Rick Berry. "This man has taken fashion, and especially bow ties, to another level at the law school. He buys shoes from Johnston & Murphy in Christiana Mall and Italian made shoes from Bottino's in Philly as well as some clothes at The Riddle Thrift Shop in Media, Pa." |
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Nichols' reaction at ambush: "I'll get you, Rick."
What he's wearing: A hand-tied tan, blue and beige bow tie; crisp white shirt; chocolate brown slacks; shiny brown crocodile slip-on dress shoes, which he notes "are hard to find."
Where he gets his style from: "I was in the ROTC in college, and so that military background made me very concerned about shoes -- shoes being polished, shoes being neat, shoes being clean." It is imperative, he said, that as a lawyer, he look the part. "Clients want you to look like a lawyer."
If it works, it works: "I tend to see a particular style, something I like and I'll stay on it. I'm not driven by what the latest thing is; I'm driven by if I really like it." He has been wearing bow ties for 20 years.
On whether his students dig it: "I think they like it. I think it's gotten to be a trademark. So if students don't see me in a bow tie, and they know me fairly well, they say, 'Where's your bow tie today?' "
Compliments can be a good thing: "If you're out with your wife, fiancé or significant other, I think it's cool to compliment what the lady has on. My wife and I are like 'What are you going to wear?' 'What are you going to wear?' 'I like this!' 'I like that.' "
Does he ever tone it down?: Occasionally, when he is working out or at line dance practice. "You have to sweat, so you don't wear anything you can't sweat in." But at work, the only time you'll catch him in jeans is on the weekends -- when nobody's there. |
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