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I start by looking at a rare and remarkably complete uniform that belonged to Edna Muir while she was a student at Montreal's Western Hospital School for Nurses in 1917 (Figures 1 and 2). Her ankle-length dress buttons up center-front, with long sleeves and V-neck. The fabric is blue cotton, soft from repeated washing, and printed with the entwined initials of the hospital-WHM.
Let us follow Miss Muir as she dons her uniform. First she inserts the heavily starched collar carefully into the neckline of the dress. She reaches behind her neck to attach the collar to the back of the dress with a stud. She also studs the tabs together at the front of the collar, but this is not sufficient to keep the collar in place, so she draws long tapes attached to the collar tabs over her bosom and ties them at the back of her waist. No matter how carefully it is placed, the starched collar is going to chafe her neck.
Next she puts on her cumbersome bib, with shoulder straps that cross over the back, secured with pins to a separate waistband underneath her apron. The center front of the bib is pleated at the top and held in place with a pin. Her dress is worn thin around the shoulders from the rubbing of the starched bib. Miss Muir will now have to stand erect lest she crease the bib! Next, she puts on her apron, attached with a stud at the back, then her starched cuffs, closed with studs, and finally, her cap, the crown of which she has carefully folded into box pleats and sewn into place. The brim at the back is worn, patched, and full of pin marks where she has inserted hat pins to keep her cap on her head.
Now let us look at the photographic portrait of Miss Muir. Her hair is neatly parted in the middle and pulled over her ears into a bun at the back. Her spectacles and expression give her a serious and demure demeanor. Her uniform is immaculate and precisely arranged. Her stiff bib stands out from her upper body and her rounded cap sticks up above her head.
Taken together, this object and image form...