Early Fashion...remember this?

[OCNRN63, RN]

I graduated in the early '80s and started my career in real "whites," including including white hose and my cap. I never had any problems with the cap when I worked in orthopedics. My cap was, fortunately, fairly small and sat close to the head; maybe your cap was one of the big, clumsy ones.

If I stick my cap on my head, I can get HBO and Cinemax.

If I stick my cap on my head, I can get HBO and Cinemax.

I can water the cows and horses out of mine LOL

This thread gave me the opportunity to share this......

I TRIED several times to post a link to the pages itself, but Medscape is being a bear it seems!!! I'm a member so I guess I got to it easily, but still can't link to it??

Anyway, go to medscape.com and register, OR you can put the words " nurse cap slideshow" into Google and you can pull up the pages individually. It's a three-part series. And I have no idea why I can't link you directly to it, but there it is

Honestly, I thought the slideshow was just beautiful, and who knows....there might VERY well be some of our own AN people on it!

Edited Aug 30, 2014 by RNsRWe
trying to get a link to work...argh!

[RNIBCLC]

We could only wear whites dresses or skirts, no pants. I don't miss uniforms at all but I do miss the feeling of that support hose. Just the feeling of support..not wearing the hose. My nursemate shoes were great at the time. My Danskos are better though.

Just out of curiosity, how did one wash their cap if it got soiled? And were you able to get a new one if it got ruined?

To clean a Kay's or other "Perma-Starch" cap:

From Kay's Caps:

NEED NO STARCH - WASHING INSTRUCTIONS

IF SLIGHTLY SOILED:

1. Rub clean with small hand brush, soap and warm water

2. Run off soap under faucet

3. Dry flat on towel - do not wring. Ironing is optional

4. DO NOT USE BLEACH.

IF BADLY SOILED:

1. Wash in warm soapy water

2. Scrub clean. Rinse and dry as above

3. Iron with moderate iron.

DO NOT DRY CLEAN. CAP WILL DISINTEGRATE!

Dontcha wonder what the thing is made of if it DISINTEGRATES with dry cleaning....?

Just out of curiosity, how did one wash their cap if it got soiled? And were you able to get a new one if it got ruined?

Kay's caps both as original makers and via absorption of now defunct cap makers has the patterns for hundreds if not thousands. Their website/catalog lists the most common but if your particular school is not listed you can contact them for a custom order. Nurses Caps-Kays Caps Inc-Nursing Graduation Caps-Custom Nurses Caps, Nurses Cap-Nurses Week and Nurses Day,Nurses Uniforms

IIRC Kay's may require some sort of proof of graduation or otherwise authorization for certain school caps when placing a custom order. Don't think Bellevue's cap for instance is in their general catalog.

One difference you may notice is that a new school cap may not resemble yours in terms of materials. This is probably a natural outcome of changes to production and or supplies. For instance the current version of Saint Vincent's cap seems to have some sort of indentation in the center which the originals one remembers at least from the 1980's did not.

Dontcha wonder what the thing is made of if it DISINTEGRATES with dry cleaning....?

Dry cleaning involves the use of solvents and as such certain finishes and or materials can suffer an adverse reaction. One assumes whatever material these "Perma-Starch" caps are made from and or the finish used to give that effect suffers from solvents and or heat of dry cleaning process.

I like learning something new. Thanks :)

Does anyone know if there's a company that cleans/restores nursing caps that have yellowed? I would really like to spruce mine up and then put it in a display box. I did do a google search, but I couldn't find anything. My school closed nearly 20 years ago, so I can't get another, and besides, a new one would have the sentimental feel of the old one.

Search out a place that offers "French Hand Laundry" and or "Textile Restoration" services. There are a few left in the USA but not as many as in years past.

If your cap does not require complicated laundering such as the "Perma-Starch" sort and you are comfortable with unfolding/laundering it yourself could offer some suggestions.

[RNIBCLC]

In nursing school we were never allowed to wear jeans to class. We always had wear professional clothes. Things have sure changed.

[HazelLPN, LPN]

I still wear my whites AND my cap, proudly.

They just banned wearing dresses or skirts at my facility. I was a little dismayed because I just read "The World According to Garp" and was thinking of wearing my old whites and cap all the time, like Garp's mom did :)

[Muser69]

They just banned wearing dresses or skirts at my facility. I was a little dismayed because I just read "The World According to Garp" and was thinking of wearing my old whites and cap all the time, like Garp's mom did :)

What was was the reasoning behind banning skirts/ dresses? Is it an infection control issue?

What was was the reasoning behind banning skirts/ dresses? Is it an infection control issue?

Ok, I'm almost afraid to ask how stockings and a skirt creates an infection control issue that pants don't. But....?

Anyone have pictures of what male nurses used to wear?

Ok, I'm almost afraid to ask how stockings and a skirt creates an infection control issue that pants don't. But....?

Actually there is an infection control issue with skirts and dresses which is the reason they were for the most part gotten shot of in OR, L&D and other units/floors where nurses once wore scrub dresses. They were replaced by the scrub pants and tops common today.

The idea is to contain "perineal fallout" from (to put it bluntly) beneath nurse's skirts. Where nurses or female physicians for religious or other reasons wish to wear scrub dresses "big girl" underpants must be worn with pantyhose (not suspender belt and stockings).

Considering what accounts for undergarments among young females today (thongs about the size of a postage stamp) banning skirts and dresses seems far less intrusive than coming up with an exhaustive list of "allowed" undergarments. Even better than deciding whom is going to check and by what method.

https://allnurses.com/operating-room-nursing/skirts-in-the-146292.html

Note the sexy pose in second pic....lol

Oh I can top that! *LOL*

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