Many doctors and medical professionals these days are turning their backs to the standard-issue one-size-fits-all unisex lab coats of the past, instead opting for styled, tailored, high quality white coats that speak to their high levels of professionalism. Choosing a lab coat that fits you well and looks sharp and polished is always a good move for a physician who is upgrading their professional appearance.

Because like it or not, the way you visually present yourself to the world does matter. It doesn’t make you vain or frivolous, it makes you smart. Studies have shown that patients definitely do notice what their physicians wear, and doctors who wear professional-looking white lab coats frequently cite higher patient satisfaction scores.

So if you’re shopping for your first professional, fitted white lab coat, here are some guidelines so you know what to look for:

Fabric

A high quality lab coat starts with the raw materials. If the fabric used to make it is poor quality, chances are the construction of the coat will be as well, and it is likely that the lab coat won’t make it past a few washes in the laundry before falling apart at the seams.

Look for performance fabrics that breathe and repel stains, with a bright white finish.

Fit and Design

This is probably common sense, but a unisex lab coat is not going to look good on anyone. The brand of fitted lab coat that you find should have separate styles available for men and women, because there are definite differences in proportion and design between the two sexes. The more styles there are available for either gender, the better, because you can bet that a lab coat company with many different styles is putting a heck of a lot of thought into every new style they introduce.

Sizing

Small, medium, and large might suffice for scrubs sizes, but if you can, try to find a brand of lab coats that offers blazer-style sizing. If you want your fitted lab coat to fit like a nice suit or jacket, you need this level of detail to sizes so that you look as professional as possible.

This fitted lab coats company offers men’s lab coats in blazer sizes (38, 40, 42, etc) and women’s lab coats in dress sizes (0, 2, 4, etc)

Slim Fit or Classic Fit?

This depends on your personal style. A company that offers these options is going to be paying a lot of attention to how their designs fit the wearer, so you can’t go wrong either way if you’re looking for a fitted lab coat. Generally, slim fit tends to be more contemporary looking while classic fit is a bit more traditional and not quite as close fitting to the body.