Lab Fashion 101

Your PPE Starter Pack:

Lab Coat: Your lab coat is not optional. It's not a fashion statement. It's not a cape (so stop trying to make it fly dramatically behind you, you are not a Nobel laureate). Button it up properly, and we mean all the way, not halfway like you’re about to DJ. This is your armor against rogue chemicals, biohazards, and accidental spills.

• Bonus Tip: If it’s crisp and clean, you’re either brand new or lying about how often you’re actually in the lab.

Gloves: Nitrile gloves are your second skin now. Wear them. Change them. Often. Like, way more often than you think. Gloves aren’t magic shields that are impenetrable forever. They’re single-use barriers. Touching your face, phone, or sandwich with gloves on? Congratulations, you’ve just contaminated yourself and potentially your experiment.

• Golden Rule: Gloves don’t leave the bench. Gloves don’t open commonly-used door handles.  Gloves don’t travel between rooms. Gloves don’t shake hands.

Goggles or Safety Glasses: Because burning your retinas is not a vibe. No one looks cool in safety goggles. That’s kind of the point. Protect your eyes because you only get two, and they're painfully hard to replace. Splashes, sparks, and rogue pipettes are real, and you’ll want those goggles when things get unexpectedly dramatic.

Closed-Toe Shoes: Crocs with holes still count as open-toe. We’re watching. No sandals, and definitely no slides. Chemical spills don’t care about your summer aesthetic. Cover your toes, always. Preferably with something sturdy. Your future self will thank you when glassware inevitably shatters right where you’re standing.

Hair Tied Back: Long hair? Tie it up. High buns, low buns, braids, a mohawk, whatever. Just make sure it’s secure. Flames, centrifuges, and Bunsen burners love loose hair. You will not win that fight. The phrase “caught in the centrifuge” should remain hypothetical, not autobiographical.

Face Mask (if required): Protect your lungs and your experiment from mutual contamination. Masks aren’t just about public health anymore-  they’re about keeping your aerosols out of your experiment, and your experiment’s aerosols out of your lungs. Wear it when protocols say to. Scientists share data, not microbes.

Pro Tip: Never reuse PPE between benches. Your gloves are not Dora, so they should never go exploring.