Nurses of bygone eras and the vintage nursing uniforms they wore
The photographs below, while portraying the changing aesthetic of nursing attire, also serve as a testament to the enduring commitment and compassion of these healthcare heroes.
Throughout the 20th century, nurses and their uniforms evolved in step with society. The early 1900s saw uniforms heavily influenced by nuns’ habits, a nod to the religious orders that had once dominated the profession.
As the decades rolled on, nursing attire began to take a more practical turn. Starched aprons and caps gave way to streamlined dresses and tunics, often accompanied by sensible shoes and neat, minimal accessories.
By the 1960s and 70s, with the feminist movement changing societal norms, nursing uniforms continued to evolve. They transformed from the traditional, restricting attire into more practical and comfortable uniforms, including pantsuits. This shift allowed for better ease of movement, reflecting the increasing responsibilities of nurses and the intensifying pace of hospital life.
While traditional white nursing uniforms were still worn (even today) — particularly for pinning, capping, graduation ceremonies, and other formal professional occasions — as we rolled into the 80s and 90s, scrubs started to become commonplace for on-the-job attire.
This marked a significant departure from the strict dress codes of previous decades. Comfort and functionality became the ultimate goal, reflecting the need for nurses to perform their duties efficiently in fast-paced, modern medical settings.
Each snapshot in this compilation not only showcases the evolving fashion in nursing attire but also chronicles the changing landscape of the profession itself. From starched whites to comfy scrubs, these images encapsulate a century of nurses’ dedication to healthcare and healing.
Nurses from the 1900s in vintage white uniforms
Pan-Am emergency hospital nurses – Buffalo, New York (1901)
1910s nurses in old-fashioned nursing uniforms
Vintage “Be a trained nurse” poster (c1917)
Male nurses in New Jersey (c1910)
Male nurse wearing nursing scrubs around 1910
Metropolitan Hospital Training School for Nurses on Blackwell’s Island (now Roosevelt Island) NYC (c1915)
Nurses in vintage nursing caps with babies c1916
Vintage naval hospital nurses in 1916 wearing traditional white nursing uniforms
World War I Red Cross nurse’s uniform
Nurses wearing vintage nursing capes, returning from WW1 nurse’s parade in Chicago (July 1918)
Vintage nursing uniforms from the 1920s
Operating room nurse cleaning surgical instruments (1922)
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Vintage nursing gowns and uniforms (1920)
Nurses at Mercy Hospital Training School in Johnstown, Pennsylvania (1920)
Nurses in the 1930s
Nurses in 1931
1940s vintage nursing uniforms and nursing advertisements
WW2 nursing poster
1940s nurse wearing a mask and white nursing uniform with a newborn baby (1949)
Newborn baby and 1940s labor and delivery nurse (1948)
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In the 1950s, vintage nursing uniforms offered short sleeve options and some color variety
Vintage nurse with a baby in 1951
Nurses doing a blood drive in the 1950s
Surgical nurse in 1955
Hospital nurse with a patient (1955)
Vintage fifties nurses and a heart model (1953)
Jonas Salk Inoculating a Child with the Polio Vaccine, ca. 1954 – National Library of Medicine
Hospital nursery with newborn babies in 1955
Traditional nursing uniforms of the 1960s
Vintage nurse’s cap and white nursing uniform dress (1968)
Nurse in blue and white striped nursing uniform (1967)
Retro 60s nursing fashion (1963)
Comfortable white nursing shoes from the 1968 Wards catalog
Retro Barco vintage nurse uniform – Skim dress (1968)
Whittenton vintage nurse’s uniform dress (1969)
1960s nursing uniform dress by Tiffiny (1963)
Old-fashioned nurse hats from 1967
Streamlined and comfortable vintage nursing uniforms of the 1970s & 1980s
Newborn baby with nurse in the hospital (1972 Pampers ad)
Vintage Barco professional uniforms for nurses (1970)
Retro nursing uniform from Career Originals (1970)
Vintage 1970s Air Force nurse and officer (1973)
Retro nursing uniforms in a range of colors from the 1973 JC Penney Catalog
Retro Barco nurse’s outfits (1977)
Vintage Dacron ribknit shift dresses for nurses (1970)
Nursing uniforms from Sears (1973)
Nurse uniforms from the 70s (1973)
Hospital nurse wearing surgical scrubs holding a baby (1976)
Army nurse wraps a bandage (1977)
US Army nurses in class (1985)
US Army nurse talks with a patient (1985)
1980s NICU nurse with baby (1989)
2 Responses
“Nurse in blue and white striped nursing uniform (1967)”
This image shows a Student Nurse wearing the traditional blue and white striped student nurses uniform dress with the white apron and the white cap. (The ad had to do with becoming an Army Nurse, and the means with which the Army Nurse Corps could help you become one for less money than becoming a civilian Nurse.)
Graduate (Registered) Nurses or RNs (of all types – civilian or military, with very few exceptions) were the only ones allowed to wear all white uniforms during these times. Anyone wearing any other color of uniform during this time, and for considerably longer afterwards, was not a “Nurse” in the strictest meaning of the word. The striped, checked, or even solid colors other than white, worn with white bib aprons, other than all white uniforms, were either nursing students, or ancillary personnel, not directly involved in nursing, such as Radiology or Laboratory staff. Although, Registered Dieticians frequently wore white because Food Service personnel in Health Care facilities wore white, to enhance the image of serious cleanliness in their work. However, they rarely, if ever, wore white stockings, and never wore nurses caps. Licensed Practical Nurses (LPNs) generally wore the same styles of white uniforms as the Registered Nurses, there was a period of time during the middle to latter half of the 20th century where the “Nursing Hierarchy,” in order to clarify their “pecking order” at least amongst themselves, (because the patients rarely if ever noticed such minutiae) when only RNs were “allowed” to wear long sleeved uniforms! LPNs were considered “less than” RNs (at least in their own eyes) in the level of duties, and LPNs were only allowed to wear the short sleeved uniforms, because their duties involved the more common chores of patient care, such as patient bathing, cleaning up patients after they had “accidents,” changing beds, feeding patients, and other activities of daily living, particularly when Nurses Aides were not part of the staffing patterns. RNs on the other hand usually only did the more technically trained, intellectually educated activities, such as giving various types of injections, passing oral medications, managing IVs, doing treatments, changing dressings when the doctor was not involved, and so forth, which did not require the RN to roll up her sleeves!
I was in LPN school myself in the late 1970s, and our instructors were all older RNs, except for one, who was much closer to the age of the younger students, such as myself, who was 21 at the time! And they had plenty of stories to tell from the time before us, and we had lots of questions about how our own roles had changed over the years before us. I had become fascinated by the nursing profession since the early 1960s, when I was quite young, and had spent time in the hospital for various surgeries, all minor, but back then nobody went home the same day! Up until my junior year of high school, I had had several various health issues requiring hospitalization, and had continued to be interested in nursing, and had been able to observe the changes as time passed. I’ve been involved in the health care profession up until 2013, and am now retired. But still fascinated by the history of it all!
I attended nursing school in the late 1970’s and graduated as an RN in 1980. I was only 20 years old at the time! I remember wearing white double-knit uniforms, white hose and polishing my shoes. We had a nursing supervisor, Dorothy Shockley, who made rounds on the units every day to inspect us. She always carried a ruler to make sure our skirts were no more than 2 inches above the knee. No pants allowed back then. Each nursing school had its own style of cap so they were all different. You knew who graduated from the same school as you, even if it was years before because of the cap. RN’s had a black stripe on the cap, maybe two or a black stripe and a school color. Mine was black and maroon. LPN’s always had a grey stripe, never black. I always wanted to be a nurse, ever since I got my first Nurse Nancy book when i was 5. I still work as a nurse, 45 years later! I have never regretted my career choice and when I retire in the next year or two, I know I will miss it.