excuse me for not having free time to read the whole thread.

Yeah, women in skirts or skirt suit command respect by apperance. Not that I don't respect authority at all, but if was at meeting and two women were on same side of the table, one in pants the other in skirt, I would assume the one in skirt to have higher authority.

It's the whole "woman knowing her place" thing. Docetboy said that a woman in pants is "try[ing] to look like a man." What do we say when a woman's in charge of a family? We say that she "wears the pants," i.e. that she's assuming a male role: being strong, assertive, making money, supporting others, and setting the rules. If a man lets his wife "wear the pants," he's seen as being less of a man. He's "whipped." By keeping women in skirts, we keep them in traditional roles.

So to follow that argument, a professional woman is one who wears a skirt, symbolic of knowing her place. Where is her place? Subordinate to men, of course.

I have always worn pants to interviews. Out of all of my interviews there were only two jobs that I didn't get.

If I had worn a skirt the person conducting the interview probably would have had to wear sunglasses because my legs are SOOOO white, lol.

You might be mistaken by assuming that. My mother has been a partner in her law firm for many years and has recently begun wearing pant suits. She is higher ranking than all of the other women and most of the men at her firm. She wears skirt suits to court but not always.

Clarification
 

DeltAlum, I'm not accusing you of hostile sexism. I'm sure that you have nothing against strong women; you've just been trained to believe that women look more professional in a skirt.

Everybody is prejudiced. Don't believe it? Take the Implicit Association Test. It's a fact of life that we all have certain prejudices simply because society teaches us to have them. It's these prejudices that can lead to hostile sexism, spousal abuse, acceptance of date rape, etc. That's why it's important to figure out exactly why people think the way they do. Only then will we be able to fix some of these problems.

Re: Clarification
 

I think I pretty much said above that I base my opinion totally on my experiences in business, although I'm not sure "trained" the the correct word. It has been the "rule" in business for many years -- even longer than I've been around.

In any event, it doesn't change my belief that most hiring managers feel that a skirt is more professional looking. And I think that is true for both male and female managers.

If you want to consider that some kind of sexism, there's not much I can say to change your mind. I don't think it is. It has more to do with convention than sexism.

By the way, I've lived with one of the strongest women I've ever met for the past 33 years. Had she gone the corporate route instead of the volunteer one, she would be someone's CEO by now.

(She owns a clothing business and nearly always wears skirts -- for whatever that's worth)

Cream, a comment on your mom. This thread started about what to wear to a interview. I suspect your mother, esq. isn't in that position anymore.

I have worn a skirt on 1 interview my entire life. It's the only job I didn't get (after getting the interview).

And I have to agree with the sexism card on this one. It's not overt, but it's there. If I heard a manager @ my company say they prefer women who wear skirts, I would do 1 of 2 things: if I know them well, I'd maybe call them on it. More likely, I'd report it to HR. Because it's an issue.

I hate skirts & dresses. And as a result, I'm not nearly as comfortable in them. I'm not myself, because I'm distracted the whole time by my stupid outfit. (Probably a factor in why I didn't get the 1 job- I was distracted). I dress very professionally & pay attention to the cut & style of my pants & pantsuits at work. If someone is uncomfortable with it, that's their problem.

If skirts are more professional, why is it okay for men to wear pants? (OK, I'm being funny, but do you get the point?)

Re: Re: Clarification
 

My mother is on the decision making (hiring) side of the interview. I was just responding to OP's post that the woman in the skirt is in higher authority. :)

ETA: I think that a woman ought to wear a dark, preferably navy, suit with a skirt for an interview.