Ward + Robes
January 12, 2017 10:01 PM   Subscribe

The Starlight Children's Foundation of Canada teamed up with top designers in various fields (tattooing, fashion, embroidery, and so on), to create Ward + Robes, fashionable and functional hospital gowns for teens. The teens love it.
posted by divabat (19 comments total) 10 users marked this as a favorite
 
Wow cute.
At first I was like oh it's partly the thought that counts. Then when it got to the actual gowns? So pretty. And the little tag, "you're unique?" waterworks...
posted by benadryl at 10:05 PM on January 12, 2017 [2 favorites]


Not a teen by any stretch but I've spent enough time in hospital gowns to know what they're feeling. This is quite awesome.
posted by scalefree at 10:56 PM on January 12, 2017 [5 favorites]


YES. Also: pockets! FUCKING POCKETS. Thank you, gown redesign geniuses.
posted by DarlingBri at 12:28 AM on January 13, 2017 [15 favorites]


Yeah that one with the big contrast pockets and belt? With the button tab sleeves? Would buy for myself if it came in non-white colors, especially if part of the proceeds went to more for the gowns for the kids.
posted by Mizu at 12:30 AM on January 13, 2017 [1 favorite]


Please do note that they have teamed up with top designers like you. There's a PDF in the first link with a pattern, guidelines, a submission form, and a mailing address.
posted by Sys Rq at 12:51 AM on January 13, 2017 [7 favorites]


Alright, so I was fine until that young woman dabbed. Then it got dusty. What a great idea.
posted by chavenet at 1:35 AM on January 13, 2017


What a brilliant simple idea.
posted by Bloxworth Snout at 2:01 AM on January 13, 2017


Having recently spent time in hospital having a complicated hip replacement, I can really, really relate. I had a willing nurse rummage through a bin full of laundered gowns to find two with unusual patterns which I wore in tandem to create a weird look just so I wouldn't feel so much like a blank sheet of paper. It helped. Wish they'd do this for grownups too...

It's hard being reduced to a body; this reconnects the head. Love it.
posted by kinnakeet at 3:20 AM on January 13, 2017 [4 favorites]


This is a great project.

But why can't most people in a hospital setting wear their own clothes? And if there is a need to wear a gown, why not a three-sleeve one? I don't understand the need for an open back. It's undignified and demeaning.

Does anyone know why the requirement is for an open-back design?
posted by Combat Wombat at 4:30 AM on January 13, 2017


Not a teen by any stretch but I've spent enough time in hospital gowns to know what they're feeling. This is quite awesome.

same here.

Wonderful, awesome project. I hope someone takes it a few steps further and makes gowns for us grown ups.
posted by james33 at 6:18 AM on January 13, 2017 [2 favorites]


Fantastic. More of this, please!
posted by widdershins at 6:34 AM on January 13, 2017 [1 favorite]


Totally didn't expect to get weepy over this. Great idea. And those kids rock.
posted by chococat at 7:11 AM on January 13, 2017


I love the zodiac and Ouija-themed ones. Good way to freak out the hospital chaplain...
posted by The Ardship of Cambry at 10:29 AM on January 13, 2017


Anyone else read this as Wand + Robes at first?

I bet that J.K. Rowling would be OK with designs for Hogwarts house robes.
posted by Halloween Jack at 12:11 PM on January 13, 2017 [1 favorite]


Does anyone know why the requirement is for an open-back design?

Back when being hospitalized meant lying in bed for the length of the stay, open-backed robes made it easier for caregivers to examine and treat patients. There have been (and obviously continue to be) efforts to move toward gowns and other garments that give patients more dignity and autonomy (front closures, three-sleeved gowns, etc.), especially as the importance of getting people moving after surgery instead of keeping them in bed becomes clearer.

A couple of articles about it:
THE HOSPITAL GOWN: MISGUIDED AND MALFUNCTIONED
Keep Your Pants, and Your Dignity, at the Hospital
Wikipedia: Hospital Gown#Design
posted by Lexica at 12:40 PM on January 13, 2017 [2 favorites]


Ooo, a chance to use some of my fabric stash!
posted by bendy at 12:49 PM on January 13, 2017


Fantastic idea... It's worth mentioning that these folks do a similar thing in the UK, but for much younger kids. Really hope these things spread.
posted by PeteTheHair at 2:16 PM on January 13, 2017


As someone who was in hospitals a lot as a child and teenager, this is a fucking wonderful idea. The whole medical experience can be extremely dehumanizing, and that can be particularly difficult when you're young.

Glad to see the link about doing similar things for kids as well, hope more gown options for adults are in the works too.

A big part of the problem is the way many hospital staff fail to recognize the patient as a fellow human: they just see the illness or injury listed on the chart. You spend a lot of time alone, uncomfortable and worried about your situation, and when you are visited by staff, you are ignored, treated like you're invisible, basically treated like you're in prison. There are obviously exceptions: there are some amazing humans working in healthcare as well, who manage to acknowledge you, even interact a bit socially, while they're performing their very busy and demanding jobs. I think that having patients choose personalized attire is a very simple way to kind of force, in a very indirect and non-aggressive way, the staff to recognize the patients as individual human beings. So, not only can the patients feel more like themselves while in care, they may also experience the benefit of more healthy social relations with staff, without any extra effort, policy changes, or training for the staff.

I see that these are being produced for Canadian hospitals, and the children's ones are for UK hospitals. Anyone know if there's any plans to extend this program to US hospitals?
posted by ethical_caligula at 11:58 PM on January 15, 2017


Does anyone know why the requirement is for an open-back design?

Bed baths, maternity checks, and both fecal and urinary incontinence are all much easier to manage in patients with open-backed gowns. Additionally, things like abdominal exams and chest exams are a lot easier and faster when you can just lift the hem or untie and drop the top of an open backed gown. Sometimes access is urgent, too -- like you don't want a delay in the application of defib pads while someone runs back to the nursing station for scissors...

So they serve a purpose but I think the last study showed that this applied to only 46% of patients. The other 54% could wear whatever, really, without compromising care.
posted by DarlingBri at 5:27 AM on January 16, 2017


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