To examine in a county Recorder's Office you had to meet certain requirements.
Reminding you this is the early 1970's. There were plenty of men's clothing stores, and even more numerous were the women's stores. Small towns had entire stores selling nothing but shoes! So, the economy was not yet big box retailing. Something else, most if not all law school graduates were male. For whatever reason, women just had not chosen law as a career. To be considered for a position with a title company, usually there was an attorney somewhere near the process. Either it was their law firm who sponsored the title company, the lawyer did titles for a living, or the attorney played a significant role in the output. Whichever it was, there was a certain standard set for examiners. Many, although far from being attorneys, felt the professionalism and carried it with them to work. Many firms would not hire an individual unless they had first become part of a law school program - even if the student was expressly interested in becoming a prosecutor. True, moreso than now, most record rooms were dusty affairs. Still, it was a professional position and work - and a person should not come to work dressed inappropriately. Dresses or skirts with hose were a pretty standard thing for women. T-shirts and tank tops, blue jeans and Nike's did not become popular in the work world until the later 1980's. Office workers in D.C. sort of began the liberalization of dress codes, and it spread. Soon, blue jeans and running shoes were common - with a tie and dress shirt. That has given way. As 'short-form' searches became the standard, the requirement of being some kind of a college graduate fell by the wayside. A blue collar mentality grew. Dress codes slackened and disappeared. True, if it is work, then the clothes worn to perform that work are - by definition - work clothes. So, skin tight or shaggy, soiled or shiny, it came to work with the 'worker'. The new uniform was a non-uniform. Ties left, then button down collars, then dress trousers, and leather shoes. Women's attire left the dress at the cleaner, the hair in rollers, and the midriff bare and pierced. Tattoos appeared - mostly on women! Make up became the functional minimum - almost never lipstick. After all, there is a ladder to be climbed, and that is work! Maybe this is one reason why E & O Insurance now is required to examine or abstract, certification tests have been developed for examining and abstracting, and mortgage companies have come under fire to strengthen their procedures. These days you really can not tell what a person does by what they wear to work (FedEx and McDonald's employees excepted).