Did you work in a uniform?

When I was a nursing student, we had to wear storm blue scrubs. (Called Caribbean Blue on this web site so you can see the colour. www.scrubsandbeyond.com/shop-by-scrubs-color) We also had to wear flashes on our shoulders that identified our program. We resembled a bunch of Smurfs.

There were only two clinicals where we didn't have to wear those scrubs. One was our mental health practicum - most sites only required street clothes (even in the hospital). The other was our final preceptorship, our last clinical. We still had to wear the flashes but didn't have to wear storm blue.

Grannysue andWitzend such a glamorous job! Witzend loved the Caledonian tartan uniform! The smartest nowadays are the Singapore Air flight Assistants.

I used to wear a blue nurse's uniform with a belt, for work and I have never been a nurse!

Strangely enough, I now work for the same agency as I used to, but in a different sector.

I wore a uniform in all of my jobs.
I was a Saturday girl in Woolworths while still at school. We wore a pale green overall, not my colour at all.
When I left school I went to work in the shop belonging to my DH's family. We wore blue shop coats there.
From there, I went to train as a psychiatric nurse. On our first day we went to the hospital laundry and were issued with six dresses and three belts. I was a student nurse so my dresses were blue and white checked, with orange belts which were changed for red ones when we qualified. No cap or hat.
When I went back to nursing after having my children, I went into a Nursing Home, there we had white dresses with blue belts and black shoes.
At the last home I worked in I wore a navy tunic and navy trousers with black shoes.
I loved my time as a psychiatric nurse, it was a good career.

No uniform for me. I was a sewing machinist in a clothing factory making coats, skirts and jackets. We made the red uniforms for Freddie Laker airlines.

I had one in RAF , in late 60`s to mid 70`s .
The nearest I have got when working in Tesco with a uniform there.
Mick

Oh Witzend that Caledonian uniform was so patriotic. Like the tale about the pin!
And Mick what was your uniform? Was it that lovely air force blue ?
I am interested in all the various nursing uniforms. There were obviously so many different styles and colours. I had no idea.
I always thought dark blue meant Sister. So sit up straight and watch out!

I worked in a Doctor’s Surgery doing clerical work and wages for a few years and we bought our own navy blue jacket and skirt in whatever style we wished, and got a monatery allowance towards it. The blouses were provided so that we all looked alike. They were ditsy patterned in multi colours made of polyester. They would cling to you (static) and the fabric wasn’t breathable like cotton.
I loved my skirt which was midi length with full all round sunray pleats (fashionable again now) and a fitted peplum jacket. I had a tiny waist then!

This thread reminds me of the first antenatal visit I had at Queen Mary’s Roehampton. Nothing about bathing babies, episiotomies or even analgesia but how to recognise and address the different levels of nurse. This was very important.
1) student nurses - light blue short sleeved dresses with little white cuffs, black stockings, simple cap, apron. . Called “Nurse”
2) staff nurses - mid blue short sleeved dresses with frilled white cuff, slightly frillier cap. Natural coloured stockings, apron. Called “Staff”
3) ward sister. Dark blue dress with frilled cuffs, apron, very frilly cap, natural stockings . Called “Sister”:
4) Matron. Dark blue dress, long sleeved but still with frilled cuffs, no apron very frilly cap, natural stockings. Called “Matron”
If anybody trained at the Westminster and I have got it wrong - well it was 1973!

My first uniform, as a cadet nurse, was canary yellow.
Uniform in first year was a pink and white striped dress with detachable starched collar and cuffs. The apron could stand up on it's own and was attached to the dress by a fob watch and a tie pin. Qualified nurses used their SRN badges in place of a tie pin. The cap was a piece of starched cotton that had to be folded and resembled a Russian peasant scarf when done.
Black stockings and black laced up shoes were mandatory.
During my first year they changed our uniform to a white overall with a coloured petersham belt, different for each year. We kept the hat until qualified and then went into the little round cap. Hair, at all times, was pinned up and neat. No earrings, no rings except for wedding one and absolutely no make up.
My old matron would have an apoplectic fit if she saw the state of the nurses at the hospital now.

Well remembered MawB and didn’t they look wonderful.
There must have been regional variations I suppose, as I remember some nurses in a lilac dress?Any nurses on here can tell us.?

I worked as a vets assistant for 10 yrs. We wore light blue dresses with white piping on the collar and pockets, also wore those plastic disposable aprons on top for the dirty jobs...of which there were many !

I met my husband when he was a patient. He was unconscious from a bad RTA and I had to take his clothes off- nice!!!

I worked for New Home Builders for many years Barrets/Wimpey/Wainhomes/Redrow etc and we always had nice uniformes all smart and nicely cut blazers.
During the Summer time some would issue a Summer dress depending on their budget.They where never returned so when I retired I had a wardrobe full of uniforms from different builders.

Oh Teetime you are the first to say you met your husband on the job. Your tender loving care lead to marriage!
I also met my future husband on the job. No tender loving care....I stepped on his foot by accident and he was in agony.
Anyway, fifty odd years later, we are still here.

Another nurse I am afraid. Mauve and white striped cotton dresses, stiff cardboard collars that cut into your neck, petersham belts, colour dependent on your year. Sleeves rolled up and kept in place with white elasticated cuffs. Very complicated butterfly cap to fold. Thick navy cloaks with a red lining, worn inside out to sing Christmas carols round the wards. But we were allowed flesh coloured stockings!!

MawB your post reminds me how much respect was shown to hospital staff and their various qualifications.
This has certainly shown itself again during this crisis.

Just after I retired I got a temporary job one summer in a Victorian museum and had to dress up as a maid. I wore a long black skirt with a white frilly apron and a white top, and
a mob cap made of lace.
But mostly, through my secretarial years, I just wore various navy blue suits. Very boring.

Yes I wore a uniform- the design changed 3 times during the time that I worked for a certain opticians.
Started off with a lilac tunic top and black trousers or skirt that was quite nice to wear - although the tunic was made of polyester that was not very comfortable on hot days when you worked in a shop that had no aircon!
Next came a lilac short sleeved blouse and charcoal trousers or skirt. On the hanger, the blouse looked nice and smart - however, you had to be careful what colour bra you wore - a dark coloured one showed through! (As some as my colleagues found and for a while the business was very popular with male customers!) I used to wear a vest top underneath - it also helped again with the fact it was again polyester! I also wore my own trousers as I am allegic to wool mix materials that the official ones were made of!
For a while I wore a black polo shirt and trousers - as store merchandiser, it gave me the chance to get on with my role of the constant stocktaking and restocking.
Jeff Banks designed the last one I wore - there was a choice of I think 5 different styles (and colours )of tops and 2 different styles of skirt and trousers. We wore (and they still do) a long sleeved jersey wrap effect top and trousers or a skirt that was in a really deep purple that looks more like black in daylight, with a patterned scarf that you can tie in different ways . Best by far - top was soft and stretchy, a dream to wash - trousers were a bit rigid, just got round that by getting a size larger and putting elastic through the back of the waist - even though they were all supposed to be bespoke when first introduced!
So easy wearing uniform no problem having to choose what to wear each day and you also can claim tax relief on the laundering!!!

Jaylucy I worked in a store as a Saturday girl when I was sixteen.
It was Kendal Milne in Manchester before it became House of Fraser, and was a really posh place to shop at the time.
I had to wear a sickly brown nylon coat to serve (!) in the cashmere department. As I knew nothing about cashmere I was usually ignored by customers.
I got sacked on my seventh weekend as I missed my bus into town and was twenty minutes late.
Not tolerated in those days.

I worked in a bank in the 60s and all females wore the most hideous navy blue nylon overall. The men wore their own clothes .

I've worn a few. As a junior shop assistant I wore a navy blue polyester dress which zipped up at the front with a mandarin collar which was hideous. It almost resembled a raincoat and once a customer asked another if they knew where something was. "Do I look like a shop assistant?" in a snooty Margot Leadbetter voice was the reply.

In my last job as a cleaner we had to wear horrible black tabards which attracted pale dust and fluff.

I met my first husband at work, he was a male nurse and we trained together. When I started my training the Nurses Home accommodated both male and female students. After a while the men were moved to a different building, can't think why.

I worked in my school uniform.

Green, green, and more green!

I wore a uniform when I worked for Sainsbury's. Easy to wash, no ironing needed, and you didn't have to think up something different to wear each day.