Did you work in a uniform?

As a teenage student in the 60's, I worked in a psychiatric hospital as a summer relief. I was very slim in those days and was also quite tall at 5' 7". The only uniform they could offer me was an old fashioned navy uniform dress which was worn with a starched white cap and apron - much fiddling with shirt collar type buttons and hair grips to get the cap on properly. As I went from ward to ward I heard several scary stories about the 'locked ward' including how a nurse had been held down by patients and forced to drink liquid paraffin... Reliefs did not usually work on the locked wards but one day found
me looking at the rota and allocated to that ward... Imagine my feelings when two nurses on duty said 'oh good you're here' and went off for lunch locking me in with no keys! I spent the hour with the one well known patient sitting on my knee, and holding a kind of group discussion with the rest. I took the nurses aside on their return and explained my position. They were horrified and explained that the uniform I was wearing was an old fashioned staff nurse's uniform and that they thought I could easily be left in charge...

This is so interesting.... I did not know that the Womens Institute had dresses for their dance teams.
Also, surprise that Library Services even had uniforms.
It was obviously the culture of those decades ( sixties, seventies and eighties ), when belonging meant something
Good or bad?

I have worn uniform with every single job I have done. First a white uniform when I started nursing and then followed with a with a cap and after qualified with a trail (cap). I work in shop like Argos, duty free shop(airport), library clerk in hospital. With lot of changes in fashion, you wear different uniform( blouse, jacket, skirt, suit....colours). Just thinking of it now making me dizzy.

I worked in the Library Service for a number of years, and at one point it was decided to deck us library persons in a horrible polyester navy uniform - A-line skirts, striped polyester blouses, navy cardigans and navy polyester jackets. We all hated it and there was rebellion. As a manager I had to deal with the flack and try to be positive when inwardly I agreed that the uniform was hideous and didn't want to wear it myself. I was always being mistaken for a District Nurse out of the library environment. The lovely public complained about the cost, and eventually, after a few years, it was decided to abandon the uniforms, thank heavens.

Puzzler They introduced blouses as uniforms when I worked in a surgery. I was very unpopular when I held out for cotton blouses as it limited the pattern choices.

A few years after I left I was passing a bus queue when an ex colleague said that she realised why I had stood my ground. It was a very muggy day and her blouse and hair were wet with perspiration. I always used to open windows first thing to get some fresh air in but most thought it a waste of time.

The only uniformed job I had was as a saturday/holiday "girl" in British Home Stores. Our uniform was a pale blue and white checked long sleeved nylon overall with a matching apron if we worked in the restaurant. It got vey hot in the summer but fastened with poppers so wearing it just over our underwear could be risky!

During the war I was in the WAAF. I hated the stiff collars, thick stockings and heavy lace up shoes.
In the 1960s and 70s I was in country dance group in the Women’s Institute and we matching dresses. pale green for the ladies and navy blue for the “men”, for competitions with other WIs and demonstrations at local shows.

My 'uniform' was quite versatile when I was a complementary therapist. I generally wore a Lavendar T-shirt (with a logo) and navy trousers. Comfort was what sprang to mind.

I think I must just like uniform hats. I liked my school uniform 'boater'; later on my WRNS 'sailor' hat and even later my Salvation Army bonnet!

School uniform : vile. Never again.
Since then: vest and shorts in summer, tee shirt and jeans in winter. Working "uniform" is now sorted!

My first job after leaving school was a shorthand typist for the Halifax Building Society. Mum was proud of me and bought me a couple of suits to wear. I was so disappointed to learn that I had to wear a blue, nylon overall. I don't know why, as I was working in an upstairs room and wasn't seen by the public at all.

WRNS for me. Various uniforms. No 1s - quality navy serge jacket & skirt with gold badges, white shirt with starched (!!) collar, black tie, stockings and court shoes and white hat scrubbed to within an inch of it's life. This was worn for parade or formal duty stints. No 2s - hairy itchy navy serge with blue badges, soft blue shirt, black tie. Depending on job this could be same top but be accompanied with bell bottoms, socks and flat black lace-ups. Same hat. In the Mediterranean we wore lovely short sleeved v neck white linen dresses with blue badges. Same hat. Flesh tights and flat white lace-ups. Work was short sleeve blue cotton shirts with navy denim trousers and brown leather open toe sandals. Need I say, same hat. Loved every minute of that part of my life. Quite wonderful in every way.

Still wear a uniform - now just tunic top and trousers when I started training (nurse) starched aprons, linen hats we had to fold ourselves etc.

You are right missdeke, uniform designers did go for style and gave little thought to the climate/atmosphere that you would be working in.
I was based on the middle eastern routes for my airline and the temperatures on arrival at destination were off the scale.
In those days we worked for five days down the line in the countries on your roster. We did not travel home.
After the strict check-in proceedures, the girls would rush into the tiny toilet cubicles to strip off underwear and Playtex girdles.
Knowing that after the flight we would be on the beach or by the hotel pool, we didn't want strap marks!

I love uniforms, being brought in School uniform then being a Nurse all my life.Iloved my Nursing uniform with white apron, lovely belt and of course the frilly cap,I was always proud of my uniform, especially when I became a Sister, in our Hospital Sisters had smart royal blue dresses, white arons and even prettier frilly caps,these days nobody looks smart with those terrible" scrubs" Those were the days!

20 years with a bank and uniform supplied meant not having to decide what to wear each day and I could keep my clothes for best. I used to take the name badge off if I went shopping after work as often people would stop me and ask 'could you show me where#### is please. Just assuming that a lady in a suit with a badge on must work here!

I worked for Thomas Cook at the beginning of the Noughties & the uniform was really smart although the blouse was polyester but was easy to wash quickly at the end of the day. We had a navy fitted blazer style jacket & matching pencil skirt and the blouse was classic blouse style with short sleeves in white with a navy & red swirly design. High heeled navy shoes were obligatory & I always felt very smart when I set off in the morning. Fortunately I left soon after the change to something far more relaxed.
I did a couple of stints at Boots over Christmas in the 70s - pale pink cotton dresses with a navy panel down the front. Quite liked those as well!

Uniform in Woolworths years ago, uniform in the WRAF and finally uniform as a local government officer. Didn’t mind any of it, saved me wondering what to wear each day.

After five years working in an office, children looked after by doting grandparents, I decided to add a little more interest to my life which meant standing behind a counter selling cosmetics wearing the company uniform. I was later offered a manager position within the company which meant travel so off with the uniform smart suits becoming the order of the day for which I was given an allowance.

I sometimes think the designers of uniforms go for style rather than practicality, as a holiday rep I wore a variety of uniforms but very few were designed for working in temperatures of 30-40 degrees plus!!! One company had a wool based pencil skirt, blouse of thick cotton with sleeves to elbows and a stiff collar worn with a polyester scarf tied tightly around the neck and high heeled black court shoes. Looked smart before you left your air conditioned apartment and then it all went downhill from there.

...nurse here! Grey and white striped mattress ticking type fabric which started off at well below knee level and by the end of three years of being boiled it shrank to just on the knee - very trendy for the 60’s. I wore a fabulous starched hat, complicated to make and if I made a ‘good one’ I’d keep it for weeks. Beautiful pure wool cape, navy blue on the outside, bright red lining, very cosy on cold nights and I’d almost forgotten the crisply starched white apron, changed three times a day - no plastic aprons then. Once qualified the dress remained the same but the colour of the belt changed and the hat was smaller and frilly. On becoming a ward sister the dress was navy blue, hat even frillier. As a district nurse I wore a grey dress with a white coverall. Thanks for this post it’s brought back lovely memories. The issue I had was when I moved from practice into teaching and I had difficulty knowing what to wear each day. I’ve never really developed a style of dressing as I had so many years not having to think about clothes except for going out!

I still wear a uniform (well, I would if I weren’t furloughed!) I’m very concerned it won’t still fit me on my return so I’m trying to lose the lockdown weight! ??

I worked as a Supported Living Manager for a Housing Association.

No 'formal uniform' as such, but we were asked to wear dark/navy blue skirts (or trousers) with a plain white blouse/top. However, there was a rather nice 'necktie/scarf' in the Housing Association's corporate colours of navy background, with 'dark red and white squiggles' on it. Looked very smart and efficient without being too formal.

Also expected to wear Name Badges at all times when on-duty.

Txquiltz oh how I remember those starched collars, aprons and cuffs, especially in the heatwave summers in the mid 70s. I loved my uniforms back then, good quality fabric and well made.

Does a lab coat and safety goggles count as a uniform?