In a topic related to the 'Starting PhD nerves..' I know people have asked about what to wear to interviews but what do people generally wear when in the lab? Or is there no set dress code?

Probably not that number you bought in Ann Summers earlier

Fifi_fole! You said somewhere you used to be a musuem assistant. I am currently in the process of leaving the post of gallery assistant to pursue my PhD: two weeks left!....Snap!

For my interviews I just wear black trousers, a shirt with a nice plain v neck on top (nice and smart, classic yet vaguely casual in case the interviewer isn't dressed up).

Lol no I thought I would leave the little skimpy black number for special occassions

1) Something that you don't care about in case you spill something nasty on it
2) Something that covers all vulnerable places
3) Nothing with flappy, dangly parts that might get caught in a centrifuge

If your dress code allows it, I think jeans are good lab wear - nice protective thick fabric and cheap to replace (well, unless you wear designer ones!).

Guess who didn't read the question properly?! Doesn't bode well for my postgraduate study does it?! lol *blushes*

I'm not a scientist, but I would love to wear a white starched lab coat: does studying in the history of science area qualify me for a labcoat?!

I'll just wear jeans and t-shirts, jumpers etc...maybe make sure my teeth are brushed if I'm meeting the sup etc. I haven't combed my hair in 4 years and don't intend to start anytime soon...

If you work in the lab you generally wear your older clothes, jeans etc.

Reminds me of when I used to get told off at work for not changing my labcoat enough and it would always be covered in brown stains....

Also reminds me about the time I got told they were going to introduce women's labcoats (the normal ones button the wrong way - tight in the bottom and bust area) but they made them so tight fitting that you couldn't actually wear anything underneath. I bet a MAN designed them.

this morning, I switched the computer on while I was still in my pyjamas. I answered the first email, a phone-call, another email and another... so on.. I found myself sitting in pyjamas, working non-stop until lunch time. So I guess we don't really have a dress code. But then again, I work from home, what do I know about dress codes

H, I you are so right about lab coats being designed for blokes. You'd think that manufacturers would do a 'cut for women' lab coat. Mind you, as a undergrad I saw some techs wearing very bizarre A-line, almost dress-like lab coats which I presume are (or were) designed for women (probably in 1950s). Frankly, given the choice, I'd rather stick with my 'too long sleeves, tight around the womanly curves' coats!

H and Ann...I demonstrated microbiology pracs to undergrads during my PhD, and I am sure one very minxy little tart in the class had modified her lab coat for the boys. Our coats were unshapely - no tight bits, really long sleeves. But hers was so fitted, and had one tight button under her bust which acted like a push-up bra and gave her cleavage! The question I have to ask, why bother?

Thanks guys.. Its what I thought but its nice to get confirmation..

I know what you mean Piglet.. when we were doign practicals at uni some of the girls had overly tight boilersuits to emphasise certain parts of their anatomy lol

Mine was always tight around my bottom and bust but not because I wanted it to be

Imagine if she had some TFA sprayed into her cleavage? I bet she wouldn't ever flash it in practicals ever again!

The girls at uni didn't really have to bother to flash bits to impress the guys. The fact that you were female pretty much did that but I guess thats because 75% of my year were blokes.

Yep! There were guys there that looked at you if you were some kind of weird specimen that they had never seen before and would scuttle back to their dark corners asap.

Obviously we also had the larger than life (hello, I'm an oxbridge reject with 6 As at A-level), in your face type of guys too. I don't know which were worse....

My supervisor (who's over 60) use to wear the infamous Bunny jumper- untill someone told her why everyone was grinning in her company. For a conference she wore a 20 years old dress wich had faded considerably because she'd lost enough weight to fit into it again. So, if your dress sense is better than that you should be fine.

Open sandals and liquide nitrogene are also a big no no, as getting cold feet takes a totally new meaning here! Watches are not always a good option in tissue culture, as they seem to be one of the main sources of contamination.