by Susan Zehnder, Education Director
Two years ago COVID-19 arrived, and since then we’ve all learned
to live with a variety of changes. One of those changes that continues to
evolve is how we present ourselves at work. With more meetings happening
remotely, some office workers are opting for a more casual look on the job but keep
“zoom shirts” or jackets handy to appear more presentable online.
Our current exhibit All
in a Day’s Work: Dressed for Success shares examples of how, over the
years, different Chemung County professionals have dressed for work.
Three uniforms on display in our exhibit reflect some ongoing changes
in our societal expectations for work attire.
A woman’s nursing uniform, like other uniforms in the medical
profession, is designed to inspire patients’ confidence and trust. Being
attended by someone wearing a dirty uniform is almost hard to imagine, and the
importance of wearing a uniform in nursing can be traced back to Florence
Nightingale. When Nightingale established the world’s first secular nursing
school in 1860, she dressed her nurses in gray uniforms. The outfits helped identify
nurses who had training, and the gray didn’t show the color or blood when wet. The
uniform was also meant to neutralize the wearer’s appearance and deter
unwelcome advances from patients under their care, who were commonly young male
soldiers far from home.
At the beginning of the 20th century, nurses shifted
to wearing white. There were strict protocols and expectations for them to keep
their uniforms starched and pristine. Wearing white was “proof” that nurses
were clean, sanitary, and offered scientific care. Mid-century nurses wore
starched white dresses, white caps, white nylons and white shoes, similar to
the example on display from St. Joseph’s Hospital. Often nurses were required
to care for their own uniforms which meant time-consuming work to remove from
bodily fluids.
When women’s fashion became less restrictive, the style of
nursing uniforms followed along. By the 1970s and 80s, nurses began to wear
scrubs, and today scrubs are the primary outfit of choice for the profession
which includes more male nurses. Scrubs allow the wearer more freedom to move, often
come with pockets to carry tools, and can be worn by any gender. Scrubs come in
a variety of bright colors and patterns which allows nurses to personalize their
look, if their affiliated institution permits it.
For women entering the workforce during the last century, fashion
trends shifted from ultra-feminine to more traditionally masculine. Early on,
it was unthinkable for women in offices to show up without wearing stockings,
heels, skirts or dresses. Women began to wear suits similar to their male
colleagues, adding shoulder pads to convey power and authority. The office
worker’s outfit we have on display is a man’s suit from 1930, when white-collar
workers were expected to wear suits, hats, and dress shoes to the office every
day.
Today, advice for anyone interviewing for a job is often to
dress for the job level above the one they’re applying for. What we
choose to wear is a kind of language. We represent the organizations we work
for as well as representing ourselves, and our clothes can say something about
us.
Whether or not the more casual styles adopted during the pandemic
stay with us, we’ll just have to see.