Last month Rachel and Leesa decided to take our product for a test drive and wear a pair of scrubs around the office for a day. Unfortunately I didn’t work here yet; otherwise maybe I could have been the one coming to work in a pair of comfy medical scrubs! Perhaps I can convince them that we need to have scrub Monday, in addition to casual Friday. Then I could buy medical scrubs to wear to work instead of the normal office apparel. I’m not going to count on that though.

This month, instead of having Lydia’s employees do a road test of the scrubs, we decided to let a customer try it. Our customers are the ones who are working hard, moving about and putting their uniforms to the test on a daily basis, so why not hear what they have to say about their scrubs from Lydia’s.  

Our customer, Kassie, tested a pair of Katherine Heigl scrubs from her New York Collection and answered a few of our questions.

 
What are your thoughts on the fit of the scrubs?
I absolutely love them!  The tops are flattering, and have a professional look and they don't make you feel like you are wearing a box like some other tops. The pants don't quite fit perfectly, if you have wider hips, they hug that area. I love the flare bottom with the slit on the outside of the leg. I got several compliments on both the bottoms and the tops. The small details that went into making these scrubs really show.  I love the black stitching on the white, and it's even better on the black collar with the white stitching.  That is what gives these scrubs their own personality.

What are your likes/dislikes about the scrubs? What do these scrubs have that other brands do not?

These scrubs are definitely different than all the other brands out there.  You can tell that she put thought into what she was designing.

Have you received any compliments on them?
Oh my, everyone at work complimented me on them, and when I told them they were Katherine Heigl, they were floored and started calling me Grey’s Anatomy girl.  No one had seen any of her scrubs yet.

Do you have any anecdotes about your scrubs to share with us?
The only anecdote that I have is that I need to lose some weight in my hips! No scrub can help me with that!  Haha

So it sounds like Kassie is pretty happy with her Katherine Heigl scrubs, even if they did get her the nickname “Grey’s Anatomy Girl”. There’s nothing wrong with being the first person at work to have the newest designer medical scrubs. And instead of trying to make her hips smaller (because we all know that losing weight from our hips is virtually impossible) maybe she could try out a pair of Cherokee Flex-I-Bles Scrub Pants, I hear they’re quite flattering.

Does anyone else have scrubs from Katherine Heigl’s New York collection? What do you think about them? Do you agree with Kassie?

I don’t think I’m alone when I say that I’m impatiently waiting for April 24^th to come; the day that Grey’s Anatomy finally returns to the air after what seemed like decades of no new episodes! Hopefully I’m not the only Grey’s geek who has been counting down the days since the last new episode aired in January. I can’t help it; there’s something irresistible about watching McDreamy saunter around in his lab coat and scrubs.

In the last episode that aired Meredith and Derek’s on again off again relationship was once again off and the episode has left us wondering (for the last 3 months!) whether or not the two will stay apart. Plus there’s the turmoil between Miranda and her husband, the possibility that Lexie and George might move in together and the fact that Erica admitted that she might actually be interested in Mark if they weren’t colleagues.

So what do you think is going to happen when April 24^th finally comes around? Is there a possibility that Derek and Meredith will get back together, or that Miranda and her husband will separate?

And who do you think wears their hospital scrubs the best? I think Izzie is required to look amazing in them since she does have her own line (see our Katherine Heigl scrubs here), but I’m personally a fan of McDreamy myself.

(Also, have you seen our full line of Grey's Anatomy scrubs by Barco? If not, check them out.)

I had the opportunity to have a great conversation with Kathy Peterson, the designer of Koi Scrubs the other day.  She and I really see eye-to-eye, probably because we both love to show off the fashion side of medical scrubs.  Here’s what she had to say…

Can you talk a little bit about your background?  Why scrubs?

My background is actually in fashion. I’ve been in the fashion industry for 15 years and started off working for Carole Little and have also worked for companies like Guess. I’ve done Disney product and really, I’ve just run the whole gamut of fashion design. I ended up at a uniform company called Barco and designed for companies like McDonald’s and KFC.  I had an opportunity to do some designs in the medical field and just loved it. It was the best happy medium between doing fashion and doing something that was functional. I really enjoyed the fashion element.  I love creating something that has a purpose… so that was the best opportunity to do something in fashion that was practical.

I started Koi because when you work for someone you don’t have control over the image of a product.  You have to turn it over to a marketing department and it wasn’t a complete vision for me. I wanted to control my product from beginning to end and have a unified vision. This was the next step because I was at the maximum I could grow.  This gave me an opportunity to share my vision and hope that people liked it.

What is Koi Happiness?

How we qualify a garment is that we look for something that is cheerful and happy, but functional.  We want to take the current trends and infuse the two. We interpret from fashion because we feel like a lot of the customers that are shopping for scrubs are the same ones shopping at Macy’s Bloomingdale’s or other stores. It’s important for me to have scrubs look like they’re viable in that same marketplace.  I think that the scrub market had existed for a long time on scrubs that did not have a fashion component.  Scrubs used to have fashion as a secondary component, and people focused on how practical it was, just the function.  We looked for things that married the two.  It’s great to create a product that people appreciate and helps them to feel good about themselves. 

What is the one thing you want customers to feel from your designs?

If we could in a small way help someone to feel better about themselves, that is the great reward for us. They work so hard and have such long shifts- anything we could do to make their lives easier or better is what we strive for.

I have to say that the road test of our scrubs was a success- not just because of what Leesa and I found, but because of YOUR comments.  What we found was that you are looking for sizing options and comfortable fit (kind of like us!).  I agree that everyone should feel like they look their best, whether at work or not, in scrubs or out of them.  So, without further ado, here are my top suggestions for medical uniform brands to try based on body type.

If you are petite or slender, try…

Urbane Scrubs - These designer medical scrubs are junior fit and flatter petite types most.

Baby Phat Medical Uniforms – Choose Baby Phat scrubs for a fun and funky alternative in scrub fashion.

Dickies Hip Flip – Popular “hip flip” scrub pant styling, and you’ll love the color palette.

Grey’s Anatomy – More celebrity uniform style comes to you in the form of quotes from the show and super soft fabrics. Made by Barco medical scrubs.

Our Own Signature Collections – Our Lydia's Signature Scrubs as low as $5.99.  Starting at XS and featuring petite and tall options as well as a variety of fabrics and prints galore. Great option for offices and hospital teams!

If you are average, try…

Dickies Sandwashed Scrubs– This line is missy fit and is sized like the misses section of your favorite department store. Lots of cute options!

Cherokee Authentic Workwear – The “hip flip” styling on their pants makes for a comfy fit and avoids “baggage”.

Katherine Heigl Medical Uniforms – She created this line after working in scrubs on “Grey’s Anatomy”, and trust us, she knows what you need in a stylish medical scrub!

Koi Nursing Scrubs – Youthful tailoring and girly details make everyone feel great.

Cherokee Flex-i-bles – This yoga-inspired line keeps you ready for action.

LA Rose – Cool basics & prints with extra detail in the styling.

White Cross – Your own style expressed in artistic designs.

Our Own Signature Collections – Our Lydia's Signature Scrubs as low as $5.99.  Looking for options?  Check here first!  Our hospital uniforms feature the most color choices you’ll find anywhere.

If you are curvaceous, try…

Dickies W – These scrubs are designed to fit all of your curves. 

Cherokee Basic Uniforms – One of the world’s most recognizable brands features specializes in super soft fabric. 

Landau Medical Scrubs – Top notch comfort with lots of options up to size 5X.

Our Own Signature Collections – Our Lydia's Signature Scrubs as low as $5.99. As always, our own line has options for EVERYONE up to 5X.

If you are tall, click here to see our full selection of uniform pants for tall sizes.