This post contains affiliate links.
There are many unwritten rules in medicine. Like we never say the Q-word on call.
You know…**Quiet**… dang it, the things I do for y’all.
At least I’m not working today or else we would be guaranteed a pager that would not stop going off and at least 1 code blue.
Another unwritten rule is that it’s ok to wear scrubs in the hospital, but not in the outpatient clinic.
Clinic requires professional garb such as a collared shirt or a dress.
During the beginning of COVID, my colleagues and I threw that rule out the window and only wore scrubs to clinic.
My routine for the last year and half has been to come home, strip in the scrubs in laundry room, throw the clinic clothes into the washer with high heat and then run upstairs to shower off before touching my kids.
A year and a half later, I’m kind of sick of scrubs and want to get back to regular clinic clothes.
Searching for a Washable Clinic Dress
But since we’re still in the god awful pandemic, the clothes need to be WASHABLE!
But, most of the high quality sheath dresses I used to like are not machine washable.
Also, I will readily admit I am too lazy to iron clothes for work every day.
I’m also often too lazy to pick out two separate pieces for an outfit. I like dresses to keep the decision-making simple.
So, I began to hunt for some new dresses on Amazon. Here is what I was looking for in my ideal clinic dress:
Machine washable: Gotta wash off that COVID!
Durable: It’s going to need a lot of washing.
Knee length: It needs to be around the length of my white coat, ideally a tad longer.
No ironing: Ain’t nobody got time for that.
Professional: Not too tight, thin, or revealing.
Pretty: Because why not?
Three Frugal Clinic Dresses
Here is a review of three dresses that I found on Amazon that are also relatively frugal. From what I can tell about the companies, they seem to be based in Asia. I figure all the major brands here buy and manufacture in Asia and then charge a markup. Whey not go straight to the source?
Anyway, the pictures I took are after the dresses were washed once. I washed them in the washer and air dried them on a drying rack. I definitely did not iron them (see above).
Price $34.99
This cute and comfy dress is very Mad Men. Please excuse my terrible modeling.
The pleats hide the Mom/COVID-19 bulge and hold up nicely through washing.
The material is thick, stretchy, and soft. Out of the three, this is definitely my favorite.
One negative is that it is just a hair too short for a white coat.
I like my dresses to be as long as or longer than the white coat and this falls just shy.
But, it’s not a deal-breaker.
Some of the threads around the zipper did fray a little with washing.
For the $35 price tag, I’ll take a couple more, thank you.
2. VFSHOW Black and White Sheath Dress
The criss cross pattern in the front is slimming and if I didn’t have such a mom bulge, it probably would be awesome. Maybe I should have sized up.
The front and back zippers are cute. The length is just right.
But, the material is a bit thin and fit for me is a bit tight. I definitely had to wear a slip underneath.
Thankfully, the white coat hides a lot. The one I’m wearing is longer than most of others, so sorry but the other one was in the wash when I took these photos after a long day of work. So this is what we’re working with today.
Pro: the material is really nice and thick.
The bow washed well and I didn’t have to iron it.
Cons: I actually ordered the dress with the bow at the waist but I got one with the bow on the shoulder.
I didn’t return it because it is still cute.
However, the shoulder bow does get hidden under the white coat and the weight of the stethoscope makes the boat neck droop a bit.
If you’ve been on the hunt for a frugal clinic dress, I hope you found this helpful!
Do you have a favorite dress you’d like to share? Please do in the comments below!
Stay frugal, y’all!
Disha
Standard Disclaimer: This post contains affiliate links. That means a small portion of your purchase goes to support this site at no extra cost to you.