The deep history of workwear dates back to the earliest insignias worn by soldiers and athletes. But, the closest examples of workwear as we know it today began in the royal courts of Europe.
In the early feudal state of Europe, loyalty might be expressed by a badge with an insignia upon it. By the 14th century, badges would give way to more extensive forms in an effort to make the servants appear uniform.
They wore something called liveries, from the French livrer, the verb for to deliver. Liveries would consist of the colors for a given court. Many royal courts uphold this tradition to this day.
The core concept of a matching uniform we still uphold in most workwear uniforms, but humanity has expanded our goals to include uniform safety standards.
Most modernizations of uniforms have been for the best, but along the way, we’ve had some options that were, well, not awesome.
Some of the following examples are sad, but others will crack you up. Be glad none of these are part of your work uniform today.
Nurses Bonnets (And Habit)
The history of nursing marries with the history of nuns when you trace it back. In fact, nuns started many of our nursing schools.
For this reason, nurses and nuns of the past share some fashion elements. Remember the flying nun. Imagine being a nurse and wearing what basically equated to a nun’s habit.
No wonder today’s nurses prefer scrubs and a pair of crocs. One has to imagine a few nuns still wearing traditional garb wouldn’t mind a pair of scrubs and some injection-molded kicks [read: Crocs].
Gender Restrictive Options
Men and women are built differently. There’s no way around that. We need clothing that fits us right, but that doesn’t mean it should restrict us.
There was a time when women wore skirts, men wore pants, with few exceptions. Skirts are easy to slide on and provide many benefits, one of which is not mobility.
The last thing one wants to think about at work is if the guy in the front row of seats can see up my skirt every time I sit.
Revealing Workwear
On the other side of the gender-biased uniform issue, there’s the uniform that shows a little more than an employee might prefer.
One won’t likely find examples of this in construction sites or emergency services, but in the service industry, focused on our female counterparts. Form-fitting clothes are nice but obscene is a whole ‘nother spool of thread.
Low cut revealing tops, tight clothing or anything otherwise revealing makes some employees feel uncomfortable.
Most overt versions of this practice have faded, but revealing uniforms are still a thing in 2017.
The Stewardess Cap
Caps in general, when they don’t provide an element of safety, can be a drag. They get hot, mess up your hair, and could be more distracting than anything.
The stewardess cap was the most stylish one of the bunch and it was still a pain. Borrowed from the fashion of World War Two, the stewardess cap was inseparable to flight attendant uniforms until the late 20th century.
It would be easy to assume a nice cap would be a time-saver like one could throw on a hat to cover bad hair. Nope.
Getting the cap to sit just right on a perfect coif, then keeping it there was more work than demonstrating seat belt safety.
We all know that even the captain took off that darn cap once he closed the cockpit door.
The Man’s Scarf
Scarves are tough. Like many accessories, they don’t look great on everyone. Some look downright comedic no matter who’s wearing them. They can also look dated.
Trends in scarf lengths, fabrics, and patterns (clearly) change faster than the rules about liquids in your carry-on luggage.
Today’s scarves are simple, like this Edward’s Crossroads scarf, but they haven’t always been.
At the risk of sounding sexist, putting scarves on men has always been risky, at least in the uniform department. The only man who ever pulled off this style was James Brown.
It takes a confident dude to pull off a scarf unless we’re talking about the sort the Red Baron wore; a long flowing aviator’s scarf. It’s the same look that goes with a convertible Cadillac and a pair of leather driving gloves on the Pacific Coast Highway.
Polyester Butterfly Collars
Like most fashion trends, collar trends change too fast. What makes the most sense is what most employers have figured out in recent history: don’t follow the trends, not far.
For the employees of the 70s who had to wear the butterfly collar, especially when it was part of the polyester uniform, those were some smelly car rides home.
Today’s synthetics breathe, but they used to trap smells. All that collar under your nose was a collection place for french fry grease fumes, a smell to haunt your dreams.
These Dishpan Helmets
Reaching back farther than the 70s, we get these lovely safety devices. Believe it or not, these guys were happy to wear them.
They’re called Brodie helmets, created by none other than John Leopold Brodie, from London in 1915. The Brits put them on civilian firefighter’s heads too.
The Brodie helmets were a huge step from the helmets soldiers wore when World War I started. Those first soldiers wore exactly zero helmets.
The most they wore at the start of the war was leather headgear or a cloth hat. After enough head injuries came back from the front lines, they decided helmets were in order.
As late as World War Two, the Australians were still wearing the Brodie helmet, something the Germans called “the salad bowl.” No surprise we came up with a cooler design.
How About NO Helmet?
Not just in war, but in civilian work too. It took us a minute to figure out the value of helmets and other safety features.
This iconic photo, which was likely staged, still shows us how much safety has changed.
In this case, we’re only talking about the uniforms, which is just the tip of the iceberg. An artist has colorized the photo, but we could tell from the black and white version that nobody wore reflective material or even Day-glo at the time.
Sure, if these workers fall, the most likely cause of death, the last thing they’ll need is a helmet, but we can assume the whole project isn’t bare beams floating in space, right?
Helmets protect us from falling objects, low ceilings, and dum-dum moments.
No Chin Straps
Speaking of safety upgrades… When America went from caps to helmets on soldiers, we always added a chin strap, but some soldiers chose not to wear the strap.
The belief held by some soldiers wearing the M1 helmet (pictured) was that the strap would cause more problems than it would solve. They were wrong.
Wearing a helmet is great to protect one’s melon from the butt of a gun or shrapnel, but it’s no good if it doesn’t stay on. Despite a reputation for making you sweaty, the chin strap solved the safety gap in previous designs.
Next time you or one of your team members complain about the company uniform, pull out this blog and show them a few pictures of how bad things could be.
In fact, tell them you’re reading a catalog of ideas for next season’s uniforms. Butterfly collars and Day-Glo scarves, anyone? (Didn’t think so.)
About the Author
Nick Warrick
Nick Warrick is the Sales Manager at All Seasons Uniforms. With over 15 years of experience in the work uniform business, he has worked with hundreds of clients across 20 different industries. Holding bachelor’s degrees in both Business Administration and Information Technology, Nick revamped the company’s online presence, offering its customers a new uniform shopping experience.