How to be sensitive in dress

[Anonymous]

I am starting a job in a few weeeks at a healthcare facility that serves a very poor population. I’ll be working in middle management and interacting with executives. How to maintain a professional appearance without being too flashy/polished? I want to look professional but not out of place.

[Anonymous]

I think you're overthinking it.

[Anonymous]

Generally aren’t any healthcare workers with considerable patient interaction supposed to dress for safety first?

[Anonymous]

I think a standard pants suit and business appropriate (i.e. not flashy) accessories would be just fine.

[Anonymous]

In my opinion Americans are entirely under-dressed and very poor people will not notice, won't know and won't care. You can go stealth wealth and wear the most luxurious clothes that don't have flashy labels, and no one would realize.

Avoid jewelry, visible labels and if you have a non-clunker car, make sure it's discreetly parked. But not one will tell a polyester shirt from a silk shirt or an acrylic sweater from a cashmere one.

[Anonymous]

Like every job, I would just take a cue from others in similar roles. It’s still a hospital/clinic so even if you are not in scrubs, I’d adhere to safe, clean and neat and stay away from long loose hair, more than minimal jewelry, very high heels, etc. id you’re going to be visiting the patient areas. But that has nothing to do with the population but rather with the fact it’s a hospital.

[Anonymous]

Wear clean clothes that fit, nothing too fancy, no designer accessories with logos.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Like every job, I would just take a cue from others in similar roles. It’s still a hospital/clinic so even if you are not in scrubs, I’d adhere to safe, clean and neat and stay away from long loose hair, more than minimal jewelry, very high heels, etc. id you’re going to be visiting the patient areas. But that has nothing to do with the population but rather with the fact it’s a hospital.

This is OP and I’m in a non-patient facing role (think finance) and will work with the leadership team. All wore standard business attire during the interview and looked neat and polished, as with any office environment.

Yesterday I was on site for onboarding activities and saw that the patient population is pretty downtrodden. I just don’t want to be inconsiderate, and even though I won’t really be interacting with patients, I will still be on site a few times a week (it’s a hybrid role).

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Like every job, I would just take a cue from others in similar roles. It’s still a hospital/clinic so even if you are not in scrubs, I’d adhere to safe, clean and neat and stay away from long loose hair, more than minimal jewelry, very high heels, etc. id you’re going to be visiting the patient areas. But that has nothing to do with the population but rather with the fact it’s a hospital.

This is OP and I’m in a non-patient facing role (think finance) and will work with the leadership team. All wore standard business attire during the interview and looked neat and polished, as with any office environment.

Yesterday I was on site for onboarding activities and saw that the patient population is pretty downtrodden. I just don’t want to be inconsiderate, and even though I won’t really be interacting with patients, I will still be on site a few times a week (it’s a hybrid role).

I had a similar role in a similar hospital setting and generally dressed a bit less formally than the top leadership team, but still nicely. I didn't wear a suit unless there was a specific event/meeting. I wore things that were do-able across price points: lots of black pants and sweaters – something I could throw a blazer over if I needed to dress it up. My work uniform was a nice crisp shirt and a sweater over it. Nobody was close enough to know if it was cashmere or scratchy nylon. No logos (easy for me, I avoid them) and no bling. Just simple, biz-casual. Someone else mentioned a "stealth wealth" look and that's pretty much it.

I still work for a nonprofit, but a much more casual one. I've traded my black pants for jeans these days.

[Anonymous]

I look downtrodden when I'm a patient at the hospital too. One doesn't wear their best clothes and jewelry then.

[Anonymous]

Don’t sashay around in your Louboutins.

[Anonymous]

I have been in a similar healthcare role for 15+ years. Key is being able to flex between biz standard and biz professional when needed.

Always keep an extra suit jacket and nice heels in your office in case meeting with higher ups or off site. Leave the designer bags at home. Invest in an all leather Tumi-type tote bag if needed.

Also, consider the neighborhood you will be walking through between your car and the building.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Like every job, I would just take a cue from others in similar roles. It’s still a hospital/clinic so even if you are not in scrubs, I’d adhere to safe, clean and neat and stay away from long loose hair, more than minimal jewelry, very high heels, etc. id you’re going to be visiting the patient areas. But that has nothing to do with the population but rather with the fact it’s a hospital.

This is OP and I’m in a non-patient facing role (think finance) and will work with the leadership team. All wore standard business attire during the interview and looked neat and polished, as with any office environment.

Yesterday I was on site for onboarding activities and saw that the patient population is pretty downtrodden. I just don’t want to be inconsiderate, and even though I won’t really be interacting with patients, I will still be on site a few times a week (it’s a hybrid role).

I work in a similar facility in a non patient facing role and I agree you are overthinking it. Our c-suite does tend to wear suits but as someone who works in quality, we sometimes wear sneakers with stretchy pants and a nice top (including the VP for our dept), especially if we have to round. Business attire is fine. I wear work pants and a swearer most days in the winter and work pants and a blouse with ballet pants in the summer. My colleagues would look at me strangely if I showed up in a suit except if I had a big presentation or something (and even then, those are usually on Teams so only the top matters!)

[Anonymous]

You're overthinking this. I used to work in legal aid and while I wouldn't wear flashy or expensive bags and jewelry (not that I was getting paid anywhere in the ballpark to affors that stuff) but you're interacting with the public in a professional capacity you want to be polished and professional. As a lawyer me dressing down for the population would be insulting and project that I wasn't taking the cases seriously. So my job called for suits, I wore suits.

[Anonymous]

Stay away from flashy jewelry and handbags as others have said. Otherwise just normal boring American business attire should be fine.