![]() But I had become a problem solver, a resilient person who learned from my many clients,” she said.Ī devotee of lifelong learning, Slater’s always turned to creative pursuits, taking classes in theater, photography and writing. “When I turned 60, I kind of confronted getting older. For example, if they wanted to be seen as a really good mom, she asked them what they would wear and they would show up in a freshly ironed blouse and pants. Instead, she asked them to think about what they wanted the judge to see. The lawyers wanted them to wear suits, but that made them uncomfortable, so they appeared shifty, she said. People would make judgments, really serious judgments often colored by how a person was appearing.” She began coaching her clients. And for all of the many years I spent in court rooms, what people wore was actually very significant. They do the same thing when you’re admitted to a psychiatric hospital. That’s kind of taking your individuality. I already knew from being in criminal justice, the first thing they do is they take away your clothes. “I’ve been interested in clothes and what happens when we wear them. “One of the things I did observe at that time, maybe as a sociologist, was that clothing had so much power in the system,” she said in a phone interview. Later, as a social worker, she found herself in courtrooms noticing that what women wore influenced their outcome. “He was sort of the father of residential treatment as an alternative to locking kids up.” She then worked at the Saint Anne Institute in Albany, running a living unit and becoming a supervisor. When she was at UAlbany, she took a seminar in delinquency with Fritz Redl, a visiting professor at the School of Criminal Justice. ![]() ![]() It was really much more about using clothes as a tool to sort of talk about who I was.” This is the context I’m living in and so for me, it really never was about fashion. I really continued to dress that way throughout my life and always very much expressing who I am now. The first thing I would do is try to figure out-look around in the closets and trunks and whatever-and see how I could put together an outfit that would sort of emulate them. “When I was little, I would read a book and there would be this character I would like. But I have from the time I was a really small child used clothes to convey who I was, who I wanted to be,” said Slater, who grew up in Dobbs Ferry in Westchester County. However, despite her fashionista appearance, it’s not so much a love of fashion that propels her.
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