Did you work in a uniform?

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

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!

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.

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.

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!

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.

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.

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.

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?

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...

Recently retired physiotherapist here.
Always wore navy trousers and white tunic once qualified and very proud to wear it I was too!!
On clearing wardrobe out during lockdown, realised that most of my clothes are navy and white too!!!

I never wore a uniform as such, but tended to have three skirts and numerous white of pale coloured shirt blouses that I wore in rotation while teaching.

In the Vic (Royal Victoria Infirmary) Glasgow, all nurses of whatever rank wore black stockings in my childhood (1950s -1960s),dresses varied in colour, staff nurses wore dark blue with black belts, sisters even darker blue and matron black.

Consultants (all men) wore lounge suits, as far as I remember physicians wore a white coat over them while surgeons doing a ward round did not.

Junior housemen wore shorter white coats than senior physcians.

District nurses and midwives wore dark blue uniforms with white collars and hats which where reminiscent of girls' school hats.

The army nurses I remember from my childhood wore grey uniforms and veils instead of caps, plus short capes instead of the normal knee-lenght cape other nurses wore when outdoors.

I was a medical secretary in an x-ray department late 60s early 70s, until I had to leave because I had a baby (but that's another story!)
I had to wear a white coat like a doctor! I thought I was marvelous. My mum (a nurse) encouraged me to train to be a medical secretary because she thought the white coats were chic and it's easier than nursing (she was right there)
Hilarious!

Police officer Starting in 1984
A line, wool skirt which smelled like wet spaniels when it got wet
(Trousers only allowed when on night shift ) also wool
Initially was a rubberised mac , yuk
Court uniform with a tunic was always very smart
(And to think people use this in fantasy role play )
No wonder I escaped to the cid as soon as possible
Keep safe

Oh Cagney the wool skirt that smelt like wet dogs when wet!
Our uniforms picked up jet fuel smells. It was truly horrible.
We were lucky enough to get a weekly dry cleaning allowance for this and had three uniforms to use in rotation.
Boy, did they need that weekly clean.

Grandtante I love that junior housemen had to wear a shorter white coat than the consultant.

I was a secretary to a Chief Superintendent at a Police Station in the late 60’s - 70’s. I didn't have to wear a uniform as such just dark coloured suits with a white blouse and high heels. Trousers were a definite no-no and a sackable offence if I broke that regulation! Hair and makeup also came into scrutiny. I think it was to ‘dissuade’ the young single Police Officers from becoming to familiar. It didn’t work though as I ended up marrying one!

I was a Wren in the 50's. The navy uniform was a blazer and skirt, white shirt, black tie black flat shoes and stockings A black "great" coat was supplied for winter wear but was rarely worn due to the weight. A white flat hat with band naming the establishment you worked in - I started at HMS Drake in Plymouth. When I was posted to Malta, I loved wearing "whites" - a short sleeved top and skirt tropical routine for the hot summer. Now that Wrens come under the flag of the Royal Navy most of them wear trousers on board the ships but other than that and the hatt - their uniform looks much the same. Has always been a smart practical uniform to be worn with pride.

I was in the womens royal naval service in the 70,s and was so proud to wear the uniform. A smart dark suit with a shirt and tie,a mackintosh was provided and a great coat.Those were the days.

Dental surgery assistant uniform then registered nurse uniform.

Oh, that was my first job, too.
I wore a white coat and the obligatory scholl sandals.

I worked as a lab technician for over 10 years before having my children. I wore a lab coat all the time so wore really scruffy old clothes underneath. Then they brought in a new rule that we had to take the lab coats off at break times in case they were contaminated, so I suddenly had to wear smarter clothes underneath as they were seen in the staffroom and hospital canteen! Never had to wear a uniform though just protective clothing.

I was a student nurse for a short while back in the 70s. Starched aprons and a cap you had to make up yourself from a starched square. It involved two circles, a smaller one to sit on top of your head with a larger one to pin to the back. I never did get the hang of it and had to arrive early every day to beg someone to help me. It was strictly forbidden to be seen in uniform outside of work, you changed and put your uniform into the laundry, collecting a clean uniform for your next shift. Infection control was drummed into you by the ward sister. We also had a wool cloak to wear over our uniform when walking between the nurses home and the hospital. Ahh I have gone all nostalgic now

Another nurse here! I chose my training hospital purely on the fact I loved the uniform! We had dresses designed by Norman Hartnell with leg o' mutton sleeves! Which were measured to 12 inches above the floor. The buttons were safety pinned on and removed before sending to the laundry, collars kept on with studs, starched hats had to be folded in a specific way and kept on with no hair grips showing. Wonderful starched aprons with straps over the shoulders and crossed at the back. Matron and ward sisters had amazing long frills affixed to the back of their hats. Impractical but looked lovely and I was proud to wear it.