Justice Kagan sat down for a lengthy interview on C-SPAN. At 27:33, she is asked about her decision not to wear a neck doily. For those of you outside the SCOTUSphere, the neck doily is the frilly lacy thing that Justice Ginsburg wears around her neck (for more on the doily, see here, here, and here). Here is what Justice Kagan had to say:

“I think you just have to do what makes you feel comfortable. In my real life I’m not a frilly, lacy person. Some of the things people wear just struck me as not something I felt comfortable with. I have, on occasion, worn a white scarf under my robe. I have worn that for all of our pictures and my investiture. I wear pearls a lot. I think the robe is a symbol of the impersonality of the law.”

There you have it.

Update: Thanks for the link Above The Law, and picking up my usage of the term “neck doily!”