Research Subject #1
October 15, 2008
Attire for a woman in the Directorate of Operation:
Women in the DO tend to dress in a way that reflects their overall personality as aggressive type A types. They are in good shape and are sharp women. Analysts tend to be frumpier.
They tend to be fashionable and on top of trends, especially the younger ones. Sometimes though you can tell that someone has been oversees too long because they seem to have “lost the thread” and are about 5 years behind the times as far as fashion goes (again though younger women tend to be up to date).
In general when in Washington, Subject #1 would dress as a professional woman, the corporate American look. If she was just passing through though she’d wear her jeans and just phone in that she’s there.
Although she can wear red and likes to, she avoided it because it made her stand out. She tended toward neutrals so as not to stand out. Footwear is important. Because you need to be on your feet for long periods of time it needs to be functional. General corporate business attire is what she would wear overseas as well.
Research Subject #2
October 15, 2008
Attire for a woman in the Directorate of Operation:
As an officer in the Directorate of Operations you didn’t have to dress so conservatively. Officers did tend to dress well, tending toward business attire. The look was never flashy or sexy and not too casual. The higher up the ranks you went the better you tended to dress because you never knew what kind of important meeting you might be pulled into.
She tended to choose dresses or nice pantsuits and favored heels and boots.
In general women in the DO dressed better than average. She was stationed in NYC and so tried to stay fashionable.
Women do wear jewelry but not overloaded. People who had been stationed overseas would sometimes have diamonds if they had been in South Africa or perhaps gotten a good deal on jade pieces or rubies or sapphires. She had rings from Thailand that she liked to wear.
Men in the DO also tend to dress nicely, almost always with a shirt and tie.
Attire for others at Langley:
What you will tend to see walking down the halls of Langley are a variety of not-stylish people. These are analysts, researchers, security people who, unlike Officers in the DO, never have to go out and meet people.
They tend to be much more casual than DO officers and wear the sort of fashion you might see on an average Virginian or West Virginian who shops at WalMart.
Many of the women, not in the DO, are overweight and favor the kind of wash and wear gabardine pants that don’t really flatter their fuller figures.
There is a real fashion difference between Officers in the Directorate of Operations and the other workers at Langley.
Research observation (KM):
Note: It does seem that some female case officers prefer
tasteful pearl earrings and trim suits. They seem to be opt for
fitted suits and plain neutrals. Valerie Plame mixes in some
turquoise jewelry and ethnic touches and favors simple shift dresses
for events.
Another story in this agent's book describes a female case officer
on assignment who wore a business suit to meet a prospective agent at
a hotel. It was conservative and yet the hotel security man mistook
her for a prostitute because there weren't too many female
businesswomen in that part of the world...
