Each rotation we go through as fourth years has a dress code. Food animal rotations require navy blue coveralls and rubber boots. Equine rotations require khaki pants and scrub tops. Our community practice rotation requires dress clothes and a white coat. When you start to think about that, you realize you need quite a few different sets of clothes. In preparation, I went shopping last weekend. I used Google to locate the local used clothing stores, and I set off.
It took the large part of a day, but I walked away with six nice pairs of khaki pants, some new dress clothes, and even a new pair of work boots, all for less than $100.00 (which worked well with my budget). I had to dig through a lot of clothing racks and try on a lot of clothes, but I saved a lot of money and got ready for clinics.
I would encourage all students looking to expand their wardrobe for school to check out used clothing stores. New khakis at the store, for example, would have cost me thirty to forty dollars a pair, but when I picked up a used pair they were five to seven dollars. I like having nice clothes, but when I considered that in the long term these pants would get dirt, blood, and poop on them, it just made sense to buy used ones that could get me through. If they get torn or stained, I won’t be throwing away a pair of pants that I’d spent a lot of money on and only had for a short time.
