Uniforms...........l ove `em or hate `em?!

Another nurse here who started training in pink and white striped dress, starched apron, collar and cuffs. I think after a few months they brought in the white overall type dress with coloured belt to denote seniority.
I like uniforms.

Like others, I was a teacher and we had no uniform but were expected to look smart. Dress or skirt and top or smart trousers and top. Some younger members of staff were reprimanded for wearing jeans and skimpy tops and they were irate but I think it was right to tell them. The men were expected to wear shirt and ties and smart trousers (never jeans or shorts) though it didnt have to be a suit - shirt and jumper was ok.

My daughter is a midwife and wears a comfortable uniform of tunic, trousers and trainers. As she works 13 hour shifts and does a lot of stretching and bending I think this is much more suitable than the nurses uniforms of old. She never wears her uniform outside of the hospital and is highly critical of anyone who does. The old uniforms where certainly attractive but not as practical as now. Also easier washed when something unmentionable gets splashed on them!

I love uniforms but as an accountant have never worn one to work. But I've always said that if I were a boss, I'd have all the staff, including myself, in a corporate uniform. I think it adds to team spirit; makes customers / visitors / clients more comfortable - they can identify staff immediately rather than having to ask "Do you work here?"; and stops the worst of slovenly dress. But I've never managed to persuade my fellow managers!

I hated my school uniform of bottle green and now avoid the colour like the plague. In a shop I had to wear a navy blue overall which was dowdy, then office work clothing was my choice which I preferred. I like a smart suit with plain skirt or trousers, dress in summer.
Then as a cleaner (oh dear, going down in the world!) I wore a tabard which was practical but black which I hate even more than bottle green.
Now I'm retired I enjoy looking smart but comfy in t-shirts and trousers. Track suit for gardening.

I've just had many happy memories brought to mind of my nursing years. I loved my uniform. I remember being an in patient,having had an Appendicectomy, when my finals results arrived. The Matron came to the ward to give me the good news and present me with my treasured hospital badge. I was so disappointed because she didn't bring me the lovely Staff Nurses cap. I wanted to sit up in bed wearing it. I did get my cap when I returned to work but it wasn't at the time. I remember my friends were on night duty and they all came up to the ward to see me that evening and caused some hilarity. Happy times.

I agree with Panache. Nurses uniforms should only be worn on the ward not for going to and from work, get up 5 minutes earlier and wear one's own clothes to work

My school uniform was brown, including the knickers with elasticated legs and pocket (also worn for PE) and a felt pudding basin hat. The school was very strict and we had to make sure our skirts were long enough and touched the floor when we were kneeling. Once outside the school gates though, the skirts were rolled at the waist as high as possible and the felt hats were steamed to shape the brims in all sorts of shapes.

I wore various kinds of traditional nurses uniforms, often with butterfly caps which were made of carefully folded starched cotton, easily spoiled as we dashed from the hospital to the nurses home. The uniform I loved was one I wore when I worked at a children's hospital in Vancouver. We wore red culottes and white polo shirts, very comfortable and wonderfully practical. Other staff wore similar uniform but with differing coloured culottes, green for OTs, blue for physio's, etc.

I worked as a secretary for an electrical company and when I first started there were only four women in the office. We could wear anything that wasn't too scruffy.

But we realised that the men had their work clothes paid for by the company and began to feel this was unfair. So we had a discussion about whether we should have a uniform so it would also be paid for. In the end it was decided it wouldn't be a set uniform but we could wear any variation of black and white and we'd get reimbursement if we handed in receipts for these clothes.

I was really pleased with this - to get some money back for my clothes shopping, and also being able to wear the same things over and over again, not having to think about what I would wear each day. It also meant that I had freedom with the other clothes I bought so they could just be whatever took my fancy.

And, yes - it was nice at night to change into my comfy clothes.

I'm very much with Alina on the not having to decide what to wear. Bliss. My 'uniform' was in the form of a sort of all in one overall in an office. We had the company logo emblazoned thereon. Never once heard anyone object. I also did a stint in the Wrens and there was a huge amount of pride involved. Regards nurses, I thought they disrobed in a locker room, moved into 'civvies' and their uniforms were sent to the laundry with a new set awaiting next shift. This was in the interests of eliminating any germ or disease spread. Obviously I have this completely wrong. Pity.

As a teacher I never had to wear a uniform as such but I always had smart trouser or skirt suits I kept for work. In my later years I I added dresses and matching jackets in the summer term. Very different form the clothes I wore at home or for going out in the evening.

I remember having to starch my dad's Fire Brigade collars with Robin Starch - they were detachable from the shirts which I used to help press, only dad pressed the trousers they were sancrosanct! Then after marrying a policeman, I had all his white shirts to press. I was sooooo pleased when they changed to the black nylon tops- far more practical and best of all no ironing!

Kim 19, indeed there was a time when rules and regulations meant Nurses changed into uniform on site at the beginning of their shift,removing same on retiring and leaving their place of work.
Personally I think this is a rule that needs to be reinstated and rigidly adhered to .........if only for the sake of hygiene which surely must rank highly in this line of work.
Nothing worse than seeing the Nurse, whom one minute is dishing out your medication,or attending to your wounds .......but the very next is heading out the door, wearing exactly the same clothes plus perhaps a fleece or similar,and then hopping on the `bus and into the nearest supermarket..................it really reeks!!
Then we wonder at the spread of these new bugs and super bugs.Surely its a case of "Look no further"

I loved the old fashioned nurses uniforms but do understand it wasn’t necessarily easy to wear and maintain (sister was SRN) but I really hate seeing nurses outside the hospital still in their uniforms and shopping etc these days. I wonder what they were doing before they left the hospital!

‘Onesies’ ..... !!!! The person who first thought of putting adults in ‘romper suits’ should be strung-up by their ‘onesies’

I loved it when the bank I worked in introduced a uniform. It was great not to have to decide what to wear every day! The trousers were not to my liking (every time I was a pair the song Baggy Trousers by Madness would pop into my head)but the skirts and jackets were lovely, as was the maternity dress. I think most people liked having the uniform and everyone looked very smart.

Oops - every time I saw a pair - not was

Saggi............rather strongly put perhaps but I have a sneaky feeling you are not too far wrong and off the mark!!!!
They are certainly about as far from smart as can be!!

Before people chose to go into a certain line of work they will know what the company expects them to wear so what's there to complain about? As for school uniform, if you look at what some of the teenage girls wear to turn up to school in over in the USA then I think a standardised uniform list is a good idea.

WRNS uniform I wore with pride, then after training a nurses uniform. The 'nursing' uniforms I see around the supermarket etc, are not nurses but usually Care Assistants doing shopping etc for the people they are caring for in their homes. Look carefully do you not see the any shoes will do etc that shouts aloud who you are looking at? I object to the navy blue ones especially as we had to work for that one. So please do not assume they are nurses, the navy one bimberlng around Sainsbury's enrages me every time.

As a physiotherapist the uniform was more practical being a tunic and trousers and easy to work in. I'm always annoyed by seeing nurses, care workers and physios going round the supermarket/shops etc in their uniforms. We were never allowed out of the hospital to do errands in our uniforms!

I had to take my Mum to A&E last year following a bad fracture while abroad. The nurse who saw us was lovely but had so much make up on I couldn't believe it!!

Carolpaint......please believe you me I am not just seeing things when I see well know Nurses outside the Hospital doing their daily shopping and whatsoevers, still regaled in the uniform of the Hospital they.............and I once worked for.......still intact.
Yes care workers are equally to blame for exactly the same lack of respect for their uniforms,and quite frankly it is something I think very strongly about, and should be abolished.
It was certainly not even thought of during my Nursing career........and so why now?
We only have to see the rise of superbugs and the rest to realise why this is not a practise that should be allowed to continue.

I was an Air Hostess in the very early 1960's and the uniform was really smart. Deep blue woollen jacket with braided trim and knee length pencil skirt. Short sleeved white cotton blouses and a fresh one every flight. The uniforms were made to measure individually, so had to be returned when you left the airline. We HAD to wear a pantie girdle and stockings and black high heeled shoes. The hat was modelled on the RAF cap so looked quite rakish. We had a lighter uniform for working in hot countries down the line. Full make-up was a requirement, so all in all, it took quite a while to get ready each day. We all looked very smart, and I loved it.

Not read the whole thread, I admit- but yes Teetime, I did like uniforms in hospitals- so everyone knew who was who- in particular the patients.

And I did fall head over heels for that young houseman- loved his white coat and the stetoscope round his neck- for sure.

Otherwise- hate them.

And could never quite understand the British rationale, that to be a good professional person, and respected- you have to wear a strict uniform or at least a smart suit.