Wardrobe for a Pharmacist

[WhiteCoatFashio]

I recently made the switch to inpatient pharmacy but was in retail for 6 years in FL, HI, and WA. How about having your white coat tailored heavily or have one made for you? Medelita makes a slim fit lab coat which looks a lot nicer than the ones that are given to us. I would usually wear blackbird, obey, uniqlo pants and shirts from uniqlo to higher end. For shoes I would wear dress shoes (Allen edmond) to trainers (CP Achilles) and would just take the reprimand if it wasn't per policy ( I made really good numbers so they usually left me alone). The problem I found with investing heavily in a pharmacy wardrobe was the wear and tear from daily activities. We never actually stop moving and it takes it toll on your clothes. Also, your tailored wardrobe gets hidden behind an ill fitted white coat anyways so what's the point? The other consideration is the added dry cleaning cost that sucks. In the inpatient setting I am at a desk for longer periods so it's mostly scrubs and dress clothes once a week so I tend to wear nicer clothes due to the environment. Best of luck with CVS.

Congratulations on the move to inpatient. That's a hard move to make. I worked inpatient staffing for 2 years.

I do have one well fitting Landau lab coat I ordered and had monogrammed but I rarely wear it since they have been pushing the new company issued cheap, thin lab coats lately. I have been looking at Medilita coats and have decided to order a couple since you can try them and return them now to get the sizing right. Initially I would just order the company issued coats and wear them until they needed to be replaced and then throw them out to avoid dry cleaning costs. Now they are limiting us to 2 per year so I have to have them cleaned regardless.

I did get them tailored but I took them to a cheap(er) tailor and he did a shoddy job. I wanted the sleeves shortened and slimmed and the body taken in and it they now look like I ordered them a size too small. I even gave him my coat from school (which fits as well as some of my suit jackets) as a template. He said he did not need to pin them and he could have them fit just like the jacket I gave him. He doesn't speak the best English so something may have gotten lost in translation.

I was reluctant to take them to my normal tailor (super talented guy) as I felt it may be beneath him?


How did the AEs feel for you? No pain for you at the end of your shift? I would definitely be afraid to wear CP Achilles in store since I love those and would be highly disappointed if I scuffed them and scuffs on white sneakers do not really translate to patina like they do on brown dress shoes.

My other issue with the Landau and Medilita coats is the length. Landau has consultation and normal(?) length but I feel like the company issued coats fall somewhere in between. Medilita only has the longer length which seem to be designed for physicians, NPs and PAs. I don't want to wear a jacket that is the "wrong" length as some people get a little touchy about that.

However I think I am getting over that and will probably move to wearing those longer length coats once I get the size figured out.

I initially felt that way about investing too much in "work clothes" and started out with Zara and H&M shirts, trousers and ties. I soon found out that those brands are cheap for a reason. Besides the fit being horrible (even after tweaks from the tailor), the materials felt terrible and looked worse after a few launderings. I also figured that I am in "work clothes" the vast majority of my waking hours and they generally translate to after work dinner/drinks clothes and I would rather buy high quality and replace them less often (the frequency of ripped pants, buttons falling off, zipper malfunctions, etc. was unreal).

 

[MGWS]

Thanks, I tried for a year to get out of retail. I even hired a professional resume writer and ended up with a job in oncology for a University. I definitely feel fortunate for the opportunity and enjoy the work.

You definitely won't offend your tailor to restructure your white coat. I've talked to mine about having him make scrubs for me and he was engaged in the idea and not dismissive. It turns out it would cost more than it's worth (to me) to be to have custom scrubs. We even had a long discussion on why Pharmacy is hands down the worst dressed profession.

Any dress shoe I've worn during a 8 to 12 hour shift has taken it's toll on my feet in retail. Even though I wouldn't wear Cole Haan I know why they stay in business. You could always get a pair of all black CP Achilles and it would meet all work requirements and be comfortable as well. The only downside for the CP's is it will limit how much you can dress them up. An alternative to the CP's is catching a drop on Gustin. Only you know what is right for you but if I felt the need to dress to the quality of my off work style then I would probably be buying a lot off the forum, Shop the finest, Gustin and major sales to offset the cost vs damage of daily use. The Neiman Marcus outlet by me carries kiton, loro piana, brioni, etc.so deals can be had it just requires time and patience. The nice thing about classic men's clothing is that it is timeless so seasonal trends don't really matter.

I definitely understand wearing a well curated wardrobe for work and have gone back and forth with it. I remember when an employee was shaking an amoxicillin suspension with the cap unsecured which then ended up on me and ruined $800 worth of clothes. I started to feel that I was worrying about damaging my clothes too much while working and then took a step back price wise. There is definitely a price to pay for cheaper clothes in quality and comfort and it requires each person to find his/her sweet spot on cost/comfort/quality.
I personally found it beneficial to have pants with a percentage of spandex as it makes getting in/out of the safe, picking up boxes, getting stuff off the bottom shelves so much more comfortable. I never realized how many time I am squatting at work until I did a insane leg day at the gym and had to work terribly sore.

I wish you the best in opening up an independent in the future.