You be the judge

Stop in the name of the law!

In planning my clothes for jury duty this week, I had two goals:
1) Adhere to the dress code, which requested "anything that you would wear to an office that presents a professional appearance" and "no shorts, cut-off jeans, halter, tank or tube tops or other attire that revealst the abdomen or lower back, spandex or mesh garments."
2) Look as unprofessional as possible within those bounds, so as to make a poor impression, be seen as an irresponsible person, and hopefully minimize my chances of actually getting selected for a jury.

The more I think about it, the less I am sure that that is the most effective way to avoid jury duty, but nonetheless, it produced the blog-worthy outfit you are now seeing!

I started with jeans, because nice jeans can totally be worn to an office (on casual Friday, at least!) but they are definitely not the kind of pants that scream "businesslike!"

I already had one outfit in my advance-planning arsenal that involved jeans, and I thought it would make a nicely lackadaisical impression in a courtroom. It featured a purple tank top, covered with a short-sleeved flowy cardigan. Sure, the tank top is covered up, but the dress code explicitly stated that tank tops were forbidden, which is the genius of this subtly subversive element. It also means I can take off the cardigan when the day is over and achieve an instantly different look. The semi-sheer fabric is a nice touch, I think. Yes, you can see through it, but only in certain light, so it could easily be interpreted as an honest mistake (which it actually was) or a deliberate attempt to test the limits of the court.

Originally, I planned this outfit with a white cardigan and sandals, but since I didn't want to wear sandals in a place that was likely to be cold, I revised a bit and chose the same light green cardigan I'd worn the day before and a pair of kitten heel pumps in a similar hue.

In the end, I was dismissed before ever appearing in the court room, so the big questions remain unanswered. Is trying to look unreliable the best way to get struck from a jury? Would this outfit have helped me or hurt me? I don't know. What's your verdict?