5 Essential Style Tips to Find the Best Scrubs for Men
Finding a uniform that works for you is essential – it must fit correctly, allow you to breathe and be comfortable while you get the job done. These 5 style tips will help to determine the best scrubs for men in the medical field.
Scrubs are the standard wear for many professionals in the medical field. It’s easy to see why: scrubs are light, breathable, uniform, easy to wash, don’t stain quickly, and are great to move around in.
Finding the Best Scrubs: 5 Style Tips
Scrubs are also spun and designed in a very different way from most normal clothing – closer to gym wear and athletic jerseys, scrubs are made to quickly:
- Expel moisture
- Dry the skin
- Regulate body temperature
- Avoid odors
- Act as an extra antimicrobial line of defense against countless potential contaminants and pathogens in a hospital environment
But despite their purely utilitarian nature, scrubs don’t have to be aesthetically sterile pieces of clothing. Not only should scrubs feel great and work great, but they should look great too – and with a few simple and quick style tips, you can ensure that your scrub choices reflect well on you, not only in a professional sense, but in an aesthetic sense as well.
1. Pick the Right Fit
The most important aspect of choosing the best scrubs for men is also by far the simplest: it’s the fit. No matter what you do, if the scrubs you own don’t suit you to begin with, you’ll have a hard time overcoming that aesthetic limitation.
Scrubs typically come in a number of different fits, with a variety of size options to accommodate different body types and genders. Common fits include classic, modern, plus size, and tall and short scrubs. Modern is the most common style, with choices between male, female, and unisex, depending on the brand you’ve opted for.
It’s critical to choose a fit based on your body, but the next step is using a sizing chart. When ordering online, your best bet is to head to a manufacturer’s website and figure out exactly what size works best for you. Don’t get an L because you usually do – manufacturers have their own sizing charts, and what might be L for some companies ends up being an M for others.
Scrubs are generally designed to fit on a variety of bodies, so they won’t account for certain differences in limb length and height. As such, you’ll have to make certain adjustments if you find yourself with pant legs that are far too long or far too short. If you generally have long legs and find the average length of scrub bottoms to usually be a few inches too short, go one size up and get a tailor to adjust the waistband. If your scrubs are too long, that’s an even easier adjustment.
2. Play with Colors
Aside from fit, the second most important aspect to an aesthetically pleasing pair of scrubs is the color selection. Style tips from experts say to go with the same color for both your tops and your bottoms. But unless you have a specific dress code at your workplace, don’t be afraid to spice things up a little – or even considerably, if you think you’ve got the fashion sense for it.
A good piece of advice to begin with is to pick two shades of the same color and mix and match. Mixing two completely different colors for scrub tops and bottoms is generally a no-go, but you can go black or gray for your top or bottoms and colored for the other. When doing so, it’s generally better to stick to darker colors.
Some of the best scrubs for men are two-tone, with one primary dark tone and a lighter contrasting tone within the same color or going for an even greater contrast with two diametrically opposed colors (dark brown scrubs with bright cyan highlights, for example). When working with two-tone scrubs, it’s best to match tops and bottoms. Try to avoid having too many colors going on – one major color clash to keep things interesting is enough. Pair the look with athletic shoes that match, or muted white/black clogs.
3. Consider Patterned Scrubs
Patterned or printed scrubs might not always be appropriate, but when they are, they can bring a lot of life to your look. Patterned pants with a matching mono-colored top (matching the patterned pants primary color) can be a great look if you don’t want the pattern to attract too much attention.
Otherwise, go the other way around and opt for a patterned top and solid legs. It’s generally best to avoid having both scrub tops and scrub bottoms patterned. Patterned scrubs are particularly popular in pediatric wings, but they can be appropriate in other departments as well, depending on the pattern/print.
4. Give Your Scrubs that Personal Touch
The best style tips are those that encourage you to embrace your own personality in your uniform. The best scrubs for men are those that they 1. feel comfortable in and can 2. represent themselves through. Embroidery is a big thing among medical professionals, because it lets you further own your scrubs, and gives you a way to distinguish your choice of wear from others.
There might be limits to what your clinic or hospital management allows among embroidery, including limits on religious imagery, certain words, or the size of the embroidery, so be sure to double check before you commit to anything.
5. Choosing Appropriate Men’s Accessories
Men don’t typically accessorize as heavily as women do, but there are still quite a few potential accessories to think about when choosing the best scrubs for men in the medical field. Watches, bracelets, glasses, and scrub hats are the most common, and with a little work, you can match your scrubs to your accessories – or your accessories to your scrubs.
Scrub hats are probably the most personalized of the bunch, and even in hospitals where doctors tend to wear uniformed solid-color scrubs, you will see a large variety in scrub hats, with a great degree of personalization.
Final Thoughts
Aesthetics aren’t everything – but this post is about more than just showcasing your own style. We’ve made a point of emphasizing that form and function must be given equal consideration, with function informing form – without compromising on the looks department. When it comes to high quality men’s scrubs, choosing something that’s ergonomic but still good looking is important.
Being a nurse, doctor, or medical technician means being a job that requires serious people skills – you’re out there on a daily basis, interacting with patients and their loved ones, trying to put them at ease, giving them the impression that things are under control, and moving in the right direction. No one wants to be in a hospital – especially around this time of the year – so looking professional is important. Regardless of whether you’re in a clinic or a hospital, first impressions matter. By making a positive, cheerful, and competent impression on your patients and their loved ones, you can help put them at ease – even if they’re not fully aware of it.
On the other hand, mismatched scrubs, baggy clothes, stained or sweaty clothing and a poor look will reflect badly on you and the practice you work in, even though you do good work and are genuinely passionate about your job.
