The splashy designs we see on the runway and in editorials often take a lot of the spotlight in the fashion world, but there's also a whole world of functional clothing that exists to allow people to do their jobs better or to portray a certain image to clients or customers. Nurses are a perfect example. Their jobs are often messy (both literally and emotionally), but the clothes they wear to do their jobs make them invisible. And as much as popular culture loves the "naughty nurse" image, fishnets and thigh high boots don't work in real life. I know this from first-hand experience, because I used to be a nurse.

Scrubs are functional, comfortable, and completely hideous on almost every body type. Bedside hospital nurses I worked with used to wear distinctive jewelry, nail polish, decorated clogs (that's how bad it is)...ANYTHING to add an individual touch to a very pragmatic uniform. So when I heard about a design competition in which Pratt fashion design students were designing uniforms for nurses in a hospice unit, I had to learn more about it.

The Visiting Nurse Service of New York (VNSNY)'s Haven Hospice Specialty Care Unit, located at Bellevue Hospital, has interior designer touches and amenities that very few hospitals have, like a hot tub. The nurses there are dealing with death, dying, and grieving on a daily basis. Pratt hosted a design competition in which students had to design functional yet attractive uniforms for the nurses who work in this special unit. "There is nothing more important than for Pratt students to go out into the world and engage in the broader community and beyond their immediate community and the trends that exist on 7th Avenue," said Jennifer Minniti, Chair of Pratt's Department of Fashion Design in a release.