I am extremely happy: for my new job, it turns out I get to wear scrubs. SCRUBS. Long have I waited for this day. Back in my daycare years, my co-worker was working on her nursing degree and she brought in a scrubs catalog one day, and I remember the envy that suffused me: SHE was going to get to wear SCRUBS. We co-workers pitched in to buy her a set as a graduation present, and it was so fun to CHOOSE: there were so MANY! TONS of fun patterns! TONS of pretty solids! MIX-AND-MATCH FOR MILES.
Scrubs look so MEDICAL. I remember when I got to wear a white coat for my pharmacy job, and people mistook me for a pharmacist. In scrubs, I might have nursing training! I don’t, but I look like I do!
Plus, I was freaking out about what to wear, and now I don’t have to worry anymore! Because I’ll be wearing scrubs!
Better still, I MAY wear complete sets of scrubs, but I may INSTEAD wear my own pants (even jeans!) with a scrubs top. This is great. It’s just GREAT! The perfect thing.
The company gave me two sets of scrubs to start out with, but they’re the leftovers of a failed experiment to have company scrubs, so there wasn’t much choice of color (i.e., none choice). Also, they’re unisex sizing, so the tops fit me so tight in the hips I can barely tug them down, and so loose in the shoulders and waist I look like I’m wearing a deflated balloon. Also, the office manager said apologetically that all of them “ran small” and we should take one size up, but the highest size they had was my actual size. (Not because they are cheeseheads who don’t recognize the full range of body sizes, but because it’s been years since these were ordered, and the higher sizes ran out way before the lower ones.)
BYGONES! This means more shopping. I went out and bought two sets of extremely cute scrubs, and I will be buying more soon. I didn’t want to buy too many all at once, in case I find I prefer one style or type, or in case I find unexpected shortcomings in the ones I bought (“Wait!! These don’t have POCKETS!!”).
LIVING THE DREAM.
I am so happy for you and yet filled with simmering jealousy. I have 0 percent chance of ever having a job where I’d wear scrubs but- MAN- they just look so comfortable and easy while also making the wearer look competent and skilled. Just perfect, really.
Seriously – I wish I could live every day in scrubs. I’ve never even worn them before but they just look so dang comfy.
I, too, harbor a secret scrubs fetish. I wonder how common that is?
You are living the dream, Swistle. How I wish I had a job (ever) that required scrubs.
LOVE SCRUBS!!!
I was a dental assistant for a period of time, and we even wore scrubs at school while training. It is everything you might hope! They are so comfortable, and really, really fun to shop for!
Easy to care for and on days when you don’t know what to wear, and feel like nothing looks good- scrubs save the day. Every single time.
A suggestion, if I may- keep a nice set that you really like set aside, and wear those ones on the days you feel crummy and feel like nothing fits right. These days DO happen, even in scrubs. This way, there is zero thought involved. I liked this on a day to day basis anyhow. Just- no thought. Pick a set and done. But, it’s nice to have that “back-up” set for the bad days.
Go forth and ENJOY!! And now I’m a bit jealous. I miss wearing scrubs.
FUN! I’m so jealous! I both live and work by major hospitals, so there people in scrubs all over the place, and I’ve often longed to have a reason to wear some. (This is why I am currently embracing maxi dresses so hard: they feel remarkably like wearing pajamas all day to work.)
There’s a pretty good second-hand market for scrubs, so you might be able to pick up several sizes/styles/patterns at your local consignment store or Goodwill!
We got to wear scrubs in mortuary school and I hate them. They don’t have any GIVE. I feel so constructed. My husband (then boyfriend) thought they were so awesome! You could basically be wearing sweatpants in public and it was completely acceptable! I guess because I needed them so big to go over my ass, they’d be so baggy on my waist. I just didn’t feel comfortable. Maybe it’s because I always bought the cheap ones. I hope you love wearing them! It is nice that you don’t have to even think about what to wear now!
One of the two kinds I got is called “stretch”: the top has stretchy panels that run down the sides, and the pants have a stretchy wide band around the waist. I think those are probably going to be my favorites!
Oh yes, pockets are a must! I kept a trial bottle of hand lotion in one of my pockets when we were doing clinicals for my CNA program. (SO MUCH HANDWASHING and I think they had lotion at certain spots throughout the facility, but having my own made sure I used it more often and that kept my hands from getting super chapped!)
Just this very morning I was at the orthodontist’s office admiring the employees’ ability to wear bright scrubs and Nikes. I would love that so much! So many pretty colors! Such comfiness! I hope you really enjoy them and the faux authority they bring.
I was admin staff at a nursing facility for years, and every year at my review when they asked, “Can we make anything better?” I would always petition to wear scrubs. It seemed like the ultimate uniform: comfy, customizable, I could MAKE TOPS if I wanted to! Alas, a dream unfulfilled. They said it might confuse the residents.
I’m a nurse and I *hate* that so many departments at the hospital, including janitorial and food services staff, wears scrubs. It’s one more nail in the coffin of disrespect that everyone else is mistaken for being a nurse. It makes my job *much* harder when my patients report their pain or intake/output to someone who has merely come into their room to change the trash.
Sorry if I sound bitter. Our union is currently working out a particularly contentious contract with the hospital I work at.
I totally get where you’re coming from. I work in admin at a drs office and am very glad to not wear scrubs, actually. I can understand the appeal but for me, it’s for people physically working with patients. Isn’t the point to keep your regular clothes clean since patients hurl and stuff? And in hospitals, to try and reduce outside grime from coming in? Oh well, they do look comfy. Some of my admin coworkers wear them and that’s totally fine, but for me–the idea of people asking me medical questions like I’m an MA/nurse or something is frightening. I’ll just take that there paperwork please…
And what do you wear for shoes?! My best friend in college was in nursing school and her spouse in med school and I loved pouring over the catalogs of clothing with them. Do we get to see a post of best scrub patterns?!?! This is probably almost as good as Target shopping!
I second that! I would love to see a post of scrub pattern options, especially the ones you picked out! I want to seeeee!
It really is fun. I picked out one set in dark bright pink with black stretchy panels on the sides of the shirt, and then an individual cheap set of pants for emergency back-ups (we’re supposed to keep a set in our car), and a dark teal top with a string-tie in the back (I would have gotten the matching pants, but they didn’t have my size).
It’s so fun. I saw a SuperGirl scrub top, but unfortunately not in my size.
I’ve been wearing athletic-type sneakers. I think my Converse tennies would be cuter, but I’m worried about wrecking them—and they’re not very foot-supportive.
Good point about wrecking the shoes!
When I started my first really real job out of grad school I had to wear a business suit 5 days a week. I looked at my friends wearing scrubs all day and realized I was completely losing out – comfort-wise and economically. Hooray for scrubs.
I had to wear suits for an internship, and although they definitely were not as comfy as scrubs, I enjoyed certain uniform-y aspects of those, too. Like, I’d buy two complete suits with patterned jackets, and one had a grey skirt and one had a black skirt, and then I bought a solid jacket that went with both skirts, and then shoes in grey and black, and it was fun to mix them around. And pins! I had pins. I don’t know if it’s still common to wear a pin on a jacket, but it was then. I had a salamander with sparkling eyes! A dragonfly! A big flower! Really fun too.
Oh, my mom had a suit-jacket job for about 5 years and I had the BEST time finding her pins! A funky snowman one! A multi-colored parrot! An antique shoe buckle! A piece of rock with gold vein! My grandmother had a selection of antique stick pins that were so much fun to make into a “bouquet” And then she left that job and then retired and no longer wears lapel pins at all. And it makes me very sad not to be able to buy her pins. Pins are great.
THIS IS AMAZING NEWS!!! My husband frequently wears scrubs and I am SO jealous. He calls them the professional equivalent of wearing pajamas. And in fact I sometimes wear a pair of his too-small scrub pants as pajamas. So comfy! So strangely professional looking!!!
Yay for you!!!!!
If you’re like me, and a little thick around the middle, beware of thigh chafing. This is a shared complaint among me and many of my co-workers. I highly recommend Cherokee Luxe mid-rise pants. Comfy, fantastic fabric, NO CHUB RUB!
Yay for wearing pajamas to work! I went from working in an operating room to a desk job in the OR and the very first question I asked when offered the position was “Can I still wear scrubs every day?” They are super comfortable and I don’t have to decide what to wear every day. As an added bonus – the hospital launders the scrubs for us for infection control purposes.
Congratulations on the job, this sounds like something you are well suited for and I can totally see you going back to school for a nursing degree in the future.
It’s so funny how having a uniform–or even just a special outfit–can make a job seem so much more official. I work in childcare, and about a year ago the place I work for started requiring all employees to wear matching t-shirts so the kids and their parents can easily identify us. At first I was sort of disappointed, because the shirts are not very cute and I thought I’d miss getting to put outfits together. But I was wrong! I love it! It’s so much easier to get ready in the morning, and the somehow the idea of matching with all my co-workers makes me feel like I’m Part Of A Team. And the shirts are super comfortable! And we can modify/decorate them however we want! And I don’t really have to worry too much about my shirt getting wrecked if we do anything messy, because I have five of them and I can buy even more for like $5 each!
Scrubs would be even more fun, though. So comfortable! And I would have so much fun choosing colors and patterns!
I’m glad that you like them.
One of my daughters is in her fourth year of medical school. I think part of her decision of what to specialize in came from her hatred of scrubs. I mean flaming hot intensity of the sun hatred. She keeps a pair in her purse for days when patients can’t control their bodily fluids, but other than that – she wants no part of them.
I love scrubs – like work pajamas! Even though they’re a bit more expensive, I highly recommend the Koi brand. Super cute, a tidgy bit of stretch, cut so they flatter a bigger lady like me, and they last forever. I always felt better in those scrubs.
PICTURES.
Ohhhhh, so happy for you! I’ve always wanted to have a job that let me wear scrubs! Think of all the cute sneakers you can wear, too! Hey, are you going to get one of those awesome pin-on watches that nurses have?