100 Words, Business, Health, Uncategorized, work

Work Clothes

39 Comments

We were required to wear masks at work in April. Two weeks ago we were issued face shields to wear over our masks. Now we have the option of goggles. Instead of looking like welders we look like mad chemists.

I had to wear a uniform when I waitressed at Mr. Steak in Moorhead when I was in college. I have not worn a work uniform since. I like the goggles better than the shields,  but we all still look goofy. I am thankful we don’t have to wear paper gowns, but that may yet happen, since cases of COVID are increasing exponentially in our county.

What is the oddest or most uncomfortable clothing you ever had to wear?

39 thoughts on “Work Clothes”

    2. Only a playboy bunny outfit would top that, and I am willing to guess there is not a playboy bunny on the Trail. Unless, of course, someone is holding back a juicy detail.

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      1. When I was in high school, I worked in the display department of a J. C. Penney store. One Easter, I was talked/pressured into donning the costume. The rest is history.

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  2. 50 years ago i went from the bell bottoms and sandals to 3 piece suit florsheim shows a crisp ironed shirt and a double winsor necktie knot crease on the front of the pants leg and a blow dry hairdo that took me. 30-45 minutes every morning to plug in.
    glad that’s done

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  3. Wow, Renee – are you seeing kids, and do they find you scary? I suppose they have to wear a mask too?

    At my first job in the hospital lab, I wore basically a nurse’s uniform, which in 1965 was still a white dress. That’s the last one, although when I worked for the consulting firm, I was asked to dress it up a bit from my ultra-casual jeans, since as receptionist I made the company’s first impression on newcomers.

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  4. The air conditioning in our new building continues to be set too cold, and I wear a wool Norwegian cardigan or sometimes a shawl to complete my outfit. I hate being cold .

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  5. Well, and to answer the question, clothing that’s too tight – when I was maybe 8 or 9 we would get hand-me-downs from cousins who had much smaller waists than mine, think full skirts from the 50s, and I was embarrassed to tell my mom they were too tight for a while.

    And of course high heels, but I learned pretty quickly to use the low heels for teaching.

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  6. Rise and Shine Baboons,

    Aside from weird fashions, of which there have been many, I never had to wear a uniform for work. When I did child protective services, I only wore highly washable clothing, because homes of clients were smelly and not very hygienic. Sometimes, after a head lice, flea house, I would strip at the door and put on my robe, then run for the shower. Then I would wash the clothing in HOT water immediately.

    Really, I think a bunny suit would have been more fun than that.

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    1. I have a photo of me in a Ren Fest dress (bought from Shakespeare in the Street) around here somewhere. It wasn’t really uncomfortable unless it was a blazing hot day, but the fun of wearing it pretty much negated any discomfort.

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  8. I remember very itchy scratchy dresses for church when I was a child. The petticoats were stiff. I think I have mentioned rumba pants with rows of scratchy lace on the bottoms. I wore those when I was really small, until I refused to wear them anymore.

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  9. When I first started on the NICU, the female nurses wore white 100% cotton scrub dresses that were a b**** to get in and out of. They had no give so movements like bending over were a challenge. Switching to a looser fitting synthetic blend scrub dress was a godsend. However, with the scrub dresses, we were forced to wear white pantyhose (couldn’t go bare legged). I chose light support hose since we were on our feet all the time. Finally we changed over to everyone wearing scrub pants and tops. What a relief!! White nursing shoes were never comfortable – nor fashionable. Many of us were glad when we could switch over to white tennis shoes of our choice. And I am forever grateful that I never had to wear a nurses cap – they were nothing more than a nuisance and an infection control nightmare (no way to cover them when going into an isolation room).

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    2. My brother -in-law is an RN who is bald as a bowling ball. We have always teased him about his “nurse hat” and asked him how he planned to hold that on his head.

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  10. And for retirees, there is the ushering “uniform” of black bottoms, white tops, and I always bring a white sweater because they keep the A/C in the theater turned way up for the cast, who are of course very active.

    I remember trying to teach kindergarten in mini-skirts (you spend most of your time bending over), and was one of the first to buy the midi-length dresses. Then I landed a public school job and could finally wear pants, or “maxi” skirts…

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    1. I have fond memories of my third grade teacher, Mrs Kuntz. I had a big crush on her. Class photo shows her in a mini-skirt with black stockings.
      This would have been about 1972. That’s all I remember is that I thought she was pretty and nice and I remember the picture. Don’t remember anything about class.

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  11. I’ve never had much of a uniform. Band uniform. With Spats! And the “plume” we got to add to our hats. That was pretty cool. Spats are snazzy. They should come back into style.

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  13. I’ve worn uniforms at several jobs. At the hospital in Basel, a bluish grey cotton short-sleeved dress (mid calf in length) with a white apron provided, and laundered weekly, by the hospital. Actually a pretty decent looking and well fitting uniform. Didn’t mind at all. Similar situation in the hotel kitchen in Greenland, and the hospital kitchen in Minneapolis. Those uniforms made sense. They were practical, and made it easy for others to know where you fit into the organization.

    The Danish diplomatic family that I worked for, briefly, in Moscow also required a uniform, sort of two, actually. One for when they were entertaining, and one for when I was just the cleaning lady cum child care worker, grocery shopper, cook, and dishwasher. Neither made sense to me except to remind me I was the hired help. Not that I needed it, the little silver bell she used at the dinner table to summon me to clear dishes and bring the next course, while I was eating by myself in the kitchen, kept me pretty well aware of where I stood in that household.

    The entertaining uniform had a small white, frilly apron tied at the waist, and a ridiculous white cap which I refused to wear.

    I’ll never forget, the first occasion of them hosting the Danish ambassador and his baroness wife for dinner. It started out very formal and proper, but as the evening progressed, and the ambassador got more and more inebriated, things began to deteriorate. Between courses he would come out into the kitchen to try to kiss and fondle me. I was frantically trying to fend off his advances without causing an incident, and still remember to take off the “nasty apron” that the guests weren’t supposed to see. I finally gave up and said to hell with it. I worked the remainder of the evening without bothering to take off the “nasty apron.”

    That day I worked from 7 AM to midnight, and I fully intended to take a little respite the following afternoon after my grocery shopping was done. The lady of the house, however, had other plans. When I returned from the store, she informed me that she had filled the bathtub with warm water and put all of her boys’ Lego blocks in the water to soak, and would I please scrub them. Without hesitation I refused. I walked into the bathroom, pulled the plug to drain the water, and told her that she would have to fix her afternoon cocktail herself, that I was going to take a rest. I walked into my room and slammed the door shut behind me.

    A few hours later when her husband came home and found her sobbing in the living room, and nobody cooking dinner, he came knocking on my door. What had happened? he asked, and I told him exactly what had transpired. He apologized profusely, but please, for his and the boys’ sake, would I cook dinner? I relented and did, but there was a decidedly cool relationship between the lady of the house and me until they were sent back to Denmark ten days later.

    Sorry for getting carried away on this story. Truth be told, the only truly uncomfortable piece of clothing I have ever worn were those damn garter belts young girls and women used to wear before pantyhose were invented.

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  14. I always hate it when I go to the radiology department at the hospital for a scan. They give you those cotton robes and drawstring pants that are supposed to be one size fits all, and they are enormous. The pants are too long and all bunched up around the waist, and the ties on the robe seemed to be deliberately placed to be ineffective at holding the robe together. Plus they always seem to feature the same faded blue and white diamond pattern, probably adopted in 1950 and never changed.

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  15. i read something about the perception of a doctor if the white lab coat is on or not

    it’s an amazing difference

    i went to catholic school grade 2-6 and it was not good
    the nuns did not appreciate my insistence to doing a variation on a theme

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