Tichels in the workplace?

HT217

Tue, May 20 2014, 12:52 pm

I work in health care and I used to wear my sheitel only to work. The rest of the time I only wear tichels. I find them more attractive, more comfortable, and I guess I never really got used to the idea of wearing fake hair. I have been between jobs a few months and only wearing tichels and I love it! I tie them very prettily, adorn them with headbands and think they look so regal!

I'm starting a new job soon. Do y'all think that it looks unprofessional to wear tichels in a clinic/hospital environment? It's a completely non-religious area. My everyday attire would be professional wear on clinic days and scrubs on operating days. My colleagues are all not Jewish, except for one not religious Jew who I already think is wary of having an orthodox Jew on the team. Does wearing a sheitel make me more approachable to the vast majority of my patients who might not know what to make of a tichel? I'm really tempted to give up the sheitel! What do you think?

manhattanmom

Tue, May 20 2014, 12:57 pm

I wear a tichel to work almost all of the time. It's just so much more comfortable for me. I wear a shaitel once in a while--when I know I'll be in a lot of meetings, or a PR thing is happening but for most of the time, as long as I'm wearing a scrubs top, a tichel just makes more sense.
And no, I don't work in healthcare--I teach high needs preschool.

ChutzPAh

Tue, May 20 2014, 1:06 pm

I find it is not professional looking to wear a tichel, although it is a lot more comfortable. This is especially true when you are working with and have patients that are not used to Orthodox Jews.
Find a a Sheitel that is comfortable to wear. For the OR, you can wear a tichel UNDER the regulatory buffont, but on the floor wear a sheteil. You also don't want to hVe to get in to religious conversations about why you are wearing a tichel. You want people to notice you for your good work and not as the lady that wears that funny thing on her head.

SplitPea

Tue, May 20 2014, 1:14 pm

I am Sephardi and don't own a sheital.

To me a tichel is a religious piece of clothing the same as a hijab might be for a Muslim. It's not "shlumpy" it's my religious dress. It's all in how you look at it.

Yeshivish circles make tichles to be unprofessional etc but those who never wear sheitals find a way to make it work with hats, tichles etc even in the most professional atmospheres.

amother

Tue, May 20 2014, 1:19 pm

When I was in college I started out with a sheitel, but after hours at the computer I would invariably come home with a mega-headache. So I started to wear tichels. One of my profs said, "Why are you wearing that shmatteh on your head?"

I doubt they ever had a clue I wore a sheitel (it was in the perm era - DH hated it but I told him I can't look so wiggy in school & the perm looked so much more natural!).

pesek zman

Tue, May 20 2014, 1:26 pm

I work in healthcare (hospital) and only wear sheitels to work.The few observent women at my workplace do the same (to my recollection) I do think that it would look somewhat unprofessional to wear a tichel. I get the comfort thing, but to me, that's for Sundays. At work, when the culture and dress code are professional, one ought to dress accordingly. If comfort were key, I'd wear a denim skirt and sneakers to work. But both are in violation of our pretty loose dress code, because comfort isn't the only consideration, professionalism is. I recommend trying a wig band to make your wig more comfortable, or wear a fall if that's your thing.

morah

Tue, May 20 2014, 1:40 pm

I am married to a sefardi and don't wear sheitals ever because his minhag does not allow them. I work in a Jewish setting now, so it totally doesn't matter, but I have worked in non-Jewish environments as well. You can make tichels professional looking. No funky Wrap-unzel styles, neutral colors, coordinated with rest of outfit. People will notice, and some may ask out of genuine curiosity, but if you're not all out-there, no one will bat an eyelash.

amother

Tue, May 20 2014, 2:49 pm

(Anon b/c someone figured out my name IRL so now I'm paranoid.)

I wear only tichels to work. I work in a non-Jewish setting (a public school). I receive lots of compliments and I look good. But, I don't wear the kind of tichels that look like you're getting ready to mop the floor. I wear a bump underneath for shape. Then I tie a pashmina around my head, wrapping it so I have height in the front. I tuck the ends under so nothing is hanging out. I wear scarves that are subtle, saturated colors that coordinate with my outfits, or sometimes rich looking paisleys. Nothing shmatte-ish at all. I'm proud of who I am and don't try to blend in. I love looking identifiably Jewish.

Go for it, OP!

SplitPea

Tue, May 20 2014, 3:36 pm

morah wrote:

I have found in Jewish settings I have to fight MORE to wear tichles. I worked at a bais yaakov and got major issues for wearing a tichel but the non Jewish places I have worked see it as a religious thing and have no issue with it at all.

cbsmommy

Tue, May 20 2014, 3:37 pm

ectomorph wrote:

I would wear a sheitel the first day just to start off on a neutral impression. Then phase in the tichels over the first few months of working there.

NO! This is a very bad idea! They will not appreciate that before you were wearing a sheitel they'll just be very confused as to why you could uncover before.

I graduated from a secular university and I have worked in the following areas: public schools, non-profit organizations, hospitals, day cares, secondary universities, film sets, city festivals, community events, and at a variety of children's birthday parties.
My opinion is that if my co-worker can wear a hijab, my husband can wear a yarmulka, and my downstairs neighbor can wear her crucifix, then I can wear a nice tichel.

And to the person that said that sheitels look nicer, I've seen sheitels that are shmattas. Not everyone has the disposable income to care for a sheitel, nor do people always work in environments that are conducive to a sheitel. On the flip side, I've seen tichels that are terrible and scarves that are tied neatly and professionally.

It's all in HOW you wear them.

For the record, and my 2 cents:
1 - A pretied tichel, scarf, or chenile snood that slides back and exposes your hair in wisps does not look professional in the workplace. If you happen to not cover fully, that's different, but then those front wisps should be tamed, and not sticking out statically.
2 - A scarf, hat, or beret that matches your outfit can look very professional provided that it is clean, neat, and well fitting.
3 - Leave the feather headbands or sequins at home, but there is nothing wrong with the wrapunzel style wraps.
4 - Baseball caps are NEVER professional. Even with a sheitel fall, baseball caps are not appropriate.
5 - If anyone comments on your headgear, smile, thank them, and take ownership in the fact that you are doing a mitvah.

Frumdoc

Tue, May 20 2014, 4:21 pm

I wear a pretied or chenille snood to work as a hospital doctor. It looks neat, professional and keeps my hair away from my face during procedures or physical exams. I don't get wisps, or tuck them away, it is not an issue.

I wear darker colors rather than bright israeli tichels, that would look too "fun", they match with my dark medium long skirt and subtle top, a suit would not work for the kind of hands on activity I do. Some people think I am muslim, esp with a pretied, orthodox jews realise, no one else makes much comment. To be honest, I look slightly older and more professional with the chenille snood type hat, and find people respond to me with more respect than before I got married, when I used to tie my hair back.

It is all about the overall look, I find, if I wear a bright funky scarf tied in a certain way at home, I dress to match. Whereas at work I wear dark neat clothes and a plain black/ navy matching haircover, and I look put together and respectable.

Whatever, I was never comfortable in a sheital, and I am very very against hair, whether real or wig, falling in front of my face when I am with a patient, so that is my reasoning and I do what works for me in the setting I am in. But I do get comments from mentors that they were worried about what I would look like with my hair covered, but now feel, as I do, that it is part of a professional image that projects confidence and works well in a healthcare setting.

MaBelleVie

Tue, May 20 2014, 4:25 pm

It depends on who your colleagues and patients will be. There was a brief period of time that I wore a tichel to work, and I happened to be working exclusively with a Hispanic population at the time. I can't even tell you how many compliments I got on my Israeli tichels- they just seemed to love the look . But in other workplaces I've never felt comfortable with it.

Ruchel

Tue, May 20 2014, 4:54 pm

SplitPea wrote:

Some had to get a wig heter for work though

and yes, some schools want only morot in sheitel Sad

amother

Tue, May 20 2014, 7:30 pm

I work in healthcare as well. Like mabelle, when I worked in a mostly Hispanic and African American setting, I received numerous compliments on my Israeli scarves, which always matched my outfits. I did find though that patients would frequently ask me "What are you?" when I wore a scarf, because I looked far more "ethnic" (for lack of a better word) with a scarf. However when I left the clinic setting and began a new job in a very suburban private office, I began to consistantly wear a band fall. Personally, I feel better about myself and think I do look far more put together with a wig. I also do agree with the women who said a wig looks more professional. At least in my setting, I do think my patients would be put off by a hat/scarf etc. I'm very proud to be Jewish and frum, and most of my colleagues including the doctors I work with know I wear a wig, as well as why I wear it. I just think that overall, for me, that's the best choice. In other settings, a scarf or hat may work.

eschaya

Thu, May 29 2014, 3:31 am

I work in a hospital and have always worn tichels. Scrubs and sheitels just don't go together! And besides, as Frumdoc mentioned, it is unhygienic and unprofessional to have any kind of hair loose when involved in patient care. I don't want blood or secretions in my sheitel, and my patients don't want hair brushing their gowns.
When I go to professional events or classes, I usually wear a sheitel.
It really depends on the workplace.