Drive-by mini fashion report - YouLookFab Forum

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Drive-by mini fashion report

rachylou

Veteran

Went to the doctor and got sliced and diced this morning. Saw an ad on the side of a bus talking about making doctors more fashionable. Had a picture replacing the white lab coat with a tee and plaid shirt. I don't know how I feel about that. My doctor was dressed same as the check-in tech, and I could see she was smart and knowledgeable... But I don't know that I liked not knowing if she was a doctor. And you know, the tech himself didn't know the difference between a resident and attending.

How bout y'all? Do you hate the labcoat?

General

23 replies

Latest reply was from jill58

Aida

Veteran

I don't mind the labcoat one bit. Would probably find tee+plaid shirt a little unprofessional feeling, but business casual would be fine.

texstyle

(website)

Veteran

My doctor doesn't do the lab coat. He works in a small practice and dresses business casual. If I were going to the hospital, I guess I would expect something more "sterile" though.

Angie

(website)

Fashion Stylist

I like to see doctors that are well dressed - business casual - and wearing a lab coat. Some doctors wear scrubs, which is also fine with me, but I do prefer the lab coat for consultations. More professional some how.

Anonymous

Lab coat, or really professionally dressed . I need to know my doctor earns a ton of money for being good - lol - and isn't afraid to show it . I'm so superficial.

Beth Ann

Veteran

Lab coat, but worn open, with friendly, professional clothes underneath.

This is kind of like the Presbyterian ministerial garb -- It's an academic robe, with an elegant stole. However, the "Scottish fashion" was to wear the robe unfastened, so the congregation could see the regular clothing (and the preacher) underneath. It was symbolic: The authority was inferred through the robe, but the person inside is just like everyone else. It was about transparent authority, which I think is a healthy concept for pastors, doctors and ....... politicians, too!

What about a badge that is color coded to designate position -- so you can easily see who's who?

jill58

Veteran

I once went to a doctor for the first time and she was wearing corduroy jeans and a sweater. No lab coat. It was one factor among several more important ones that led me to continue my search for a new general practitioner. This was years ago and I still remember her jeans!

retailgirl

Veteran

I've had a lot of experience with doctors! One of them wore either scrubs, a lab coat, or the same rumpled tweed jacket and khakis. He needed a style intervention, for sure. I have one doctor who is from India, and he wears beautiful long vests with a Nehru type collar, over a regular shirt and with Dockers type pants. I asked him about them, and he has them custom made in India, in beautiful silks and tweeds. They are very distinctive! My female doctors wear wrap type dresses, sometimes with a lab coat. I think a lab coat is the uniform you earn the right to wear when you become a doctor...just like nurses used to wear caps and white stockings. ( I'm dating myself!)

Anne-Marie

I don't hate the lab coat but I don't mind at all when my physicians do not wear them, either. But I would expect business casual dress from my physician, at the very least, and a stethoscope slung about the neck is always reassuring ; )

Anonymous

My doctor, when she wears a lab coat, wears it open. She wears great artsy jewellry.

Maneera

(website)

Veteran

I wouldn't mind if the doc didn't wear a lab coat.....but I do expect smart business casuals. A doctor in a tee would just be scary!

rachylou

Veteran

I'd much rather smart casual to grubby street wear, but I prefer the labcoat. I think I want to know what to expect from what stranger, and I also want to know that something can be taken off and sterilized... Lol.

Windchime

Veteran

I always enjoy seeing what my doctor is wearing; she always takes care with her style--and wears a short white lab coat on top. My last doctor, a man, wore khaki pants and and didn't wear a tie--or a lab coat--but he was laid back as a person, and that style suited him. He was a terrific doc, lab coat or not!

deb

Veteran

My doctors all wear business attire. Lab coats come out only if they do a procedure. When I have been in hospitals I could always tell who was working in the hospital and those that were making rounds at different hospitals.

Anonymous

I like the lab coat, but then I come from the land of uniforms and miss the smart, white-coats aestheticians and pharmacy workers used to wear in Europe.

annagybe

(website)

Veteran

Unfortunately lab coats aren't washed often as they should be, big time germ carriers.

http://gomerblog.com/2015/06/doctor-white-coat/

I've noticed at my hospital the attendings don't wear white coats, but the residents do. Then there's the poor med students in short coats.
I remember *lyn bemoaning the lack of dress among her fellow residents.

The tech not knowing the difference between a resident & an attending, scandalous!

Also relevant
http://gomerblog.com/2015/12/medical-specialty-3/

rachylou

Veteran

Oh no no no! They aren't washed by a professional service? I probably knew that but didn't want to admit it to myself

That's interesting about attendings and residents. It's very random where I go. Everyone gets to do their own thing.

Love the pathology socks, hehe... and radiology (spot on )

Brooklyn

Veteran

I have also heard that doctor's ties are a high source of infection because men don't tend to clean their ties.
I don't mind what they wear as long as they are kind and courteous (and hopefully competent). I hate when they call me by my first name and then introduce themselves as "Dr" So and So.

Meredith

Veteran

What Anna and Brooklyn said. My doctor told me that lab coats and ties (mens') are rarely washed and can harbor germs. She prefers sleeveless or short sleeved tops so she can scrub down and her arms with soap. I am okay with that!

Bijou

Veteran

When a doctor or dentist is performing a procedure, I like clean scrubs or a lab coat. Before reading this post I had never thought that they may not be freshly cleaned each day. Otherwise for general consultations, I am fine with business casual and that is what is normally worn by my GP.

annagybe

(website)

Veteran

Most white coats are professionally cleaned, but yeah not often.
Though for me scrubs on a non surgery day is just lazy.

Julie

I went to a doctor once who appeared in short shorts and a bright pink tee. Later I heard she was charged with hiring her teenage boyfriend to burn her vehicle...poor woman was very troubled...moral of the story don't trust a doctor in short shorts!

rachylou

Veteran

Omg, Julie!

Anna, that just seems amazing. I have had the thought, because sometimes the coats are embroidered with the doctor's name, they just wear this one coat over and over. But then, I'm well, but I'm a baker. I have my 'graduation togs,' but I don't wear them to work. Whites go in a bin at the end of every shift.

jill58

Veteran

Yuck! This is making me re-think my jeans and sweater wearing doctor.