Dr. James Lab Coats in Space Force

Lab coats made by Dr. James aren’t just functional, they’re stylish. So stylish, in fact, that they recently made their own television appearance on Space Force.

You might have heard about the U.S. government deciding to start a sixth branch of the Armed Forces that operates in outer spaces and does missions associated with space. Well, art imitates life, and Netflix was quick to come out with a comedy show about the Space Force.

What is Space Force?

Space Force is a workplace comedy show with none other than Steve Carell, the famous workplace boss on The Office. The TV show focuses on Carell’s character, General Mark Naird, in charge of the U.S. President’s orders to get American boots on the moon by 2024.

Who’s in it?

There are quite a few big names in Space Force, most notably Steve Carell. Here is a breakdown of some of its other characters:

• Steve Carell as General Mark R. Naird, the Space Force First Chief of Space Operations
• John Malkovich as Dr. Adrian Mallory, Space Force’s chief scientist
• Ben Schwartz as F. Tony “F*** Tony” Scarapiducci, social media director of Space Force
• Diana Silvers as Erin Naird, teenage daughter of Mark Naird
• Tawny Newsome as Captain Angela Ali, Space Force pilot and astronaut

What’s the plot exactly?

The first episode begins with Mark Naird promoted to full four-star general. But things already start getting weird when he is appointed as Chief of Operations to the newest U.S. military branch, the United States Space Force. The new Space Force branches off from the US Air Force which is led by Naird’s rival, General Kirk Grabaston (played by Noah Emmerich). Naird’s character has to deal with all kinds of disorganization, inexperience, and general un-readiness as he and his family relocate and work to kick Space Force into gear.

Episode one ends on a Chinese satellite clipping the solar panels of the Epsilon 6 satellite—the Space Force Flagship—and putting it in danger of losing power.

Episode two involves trying to reattach the Epsilon 6’s solar panels using two unlikely astronauts: a chimpanzee and a dog, whose only previous experience is on promotional missions. After the unsuccessful reattachment, the Chimpanzee, Marcus, attempts to resign from his position, but is denied by the Secretary of Defense.

Yes, you read that right.

There’s quite a bit of other unusual stuff that happens throughout the first season of the show. The president personally directs Space Force to use fuel supplied by a business associate in one episode; in another episode, a Chinese lunar rover drives over the flag planted by Apollo 11 on the moon’s surface. There are also conjugal visits between General Mark Naird and his imprisoned wife, and an astronaut flubbing the line “It’s good to be back on the moon” and instead saying: “It’s good to be black on the moon.”

Basically, the show is a light-hearted bit of fun poked at the United States’ overly-large military and overall bureaucracy, with plenty of wacky humor thrown in for good measure. The show has divided critics and audiences. Professional critics, in general haven’t been the most appreciative, while audience reviews have been fantastic. Rotten tomatoes gives it a 40% from critics and a 77% from audiences. Google reviews report that 88% of viewers have enjoyed the show. In general, a low critic rating and high audience rating means that a show is pretty good, it maybe just upsets the sensibilities of certain professional critics. That’s fine. Why not give the show a watch yourself, and make up your own mind?

Dr. James Lab coats appearances

On episode seven of the Space Force, Dr. James apparel shows up front and center. The episode involves something that anyone living in the U.S. knows plenty about: a conflict of interest.

Conflict of interest is when a politician uses his or her political office in order to benefit a company, usually owned by the politician. In Washington, they actually call it the “revolving door” policy. The idea is that CEOs and other top officers in corporations briefly quit their jobs in business to go into politics, and in their political careers, they have the U.S. government make deals with companies that benefit the companies greatly. After a term or two in public office, the politicians are done and go right back to their now much wealthier corporations. The “revolving door” is the constant influx from corporations of politicians and the outflow of politicians back to their previously-worked-at corporations.

In episode seven of Space Force, the U.S. President directs Space Force to contract its rocket Fuel from Edison Jaymes (played by Kaitlin Olson, an accomplished comedienne who started on It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia), a tech entrepreneur. After demonstrating the positive environmental effect of her rocket fuel “Skinny Fuel,” Space Force agrees to use it. When F. Tony learns that the fuel will not work as planned, he secretly changes the fuel back to the original formula, and the launch of the Prospector satellite is successful. Meanwhile, Skinny Fuel and Jayme’s company receive positive publicity for the success.

Upon letting Jaymes know the truth, however, Jayme is requested to inform the President that no private companies are needed for the Space Force. So, the good guys win against conflict of interest…well, a little more happens in that episode, but you can watch for yourself to see.

Throughout the episode you see many scientists and lab technicians, and they are all looking authoritative and stylish in Dr. James Lab coats. A lab coat is more than a functional piece of attire; it also has a big effect on the minds of those who see one. Studies have shown that people view doctors who wear lab coats as more knowledgeable and professional. When a doctor wears a white lab coat, patients reported more satisfaction, and increased adherence to treatment and clinical outcomes.

This plays out on TV as well—just about every ad you see that wants to go for a clinical, authoritative approach will involve someone acting as a professional in a lab coat. People get paid to show up at political rallies as doctors, too, still wearing their white coats outside of work for some reason...the list goes on.

Dr. James lab coats were chosen for Space Force episode seven for their professional appearance, and thus their effect on the audience—and it’s easy to see why.

Here’s what you will see when you watch this episode:

DR5 Ladies Lab Coat

The DR5 women’s lab coat is the gem of the Dr. James collection. It’s tailored, contouring design is elegant, slimming, and comfortable, making for a lab coat that can be easily worn all day, and looks good. The polyester-cotton blend makes for a durable coat that can handle what a laboratory throws at it, while offering some protection to the user and clothes underneath from spills and dust.

DR10 Ladies Lab Coat

This coat offers a styled, slimming look without limiting movement or comfort. The main appeal of this lab coat is its feminine style that doesn’t sacrifice performance. This workhorse can candle lab duties, industrial uses, and the medical environment.

DR2 Unisex Lab Coat

This smart, functional lab coat is ideal for the educational environment — it’s also the first garment every created for the Dr. James brand, and it blazed the trail for the rest of the collection. It offers limited protection, comfort, and can be used in various work environments.

DR4 Unisex Howie Coat

The DR4 offers extra protection with great style. The mandarin style collar, and knitted wrists provide more protection than the average V-neck coat. All the while, it maintains functionality and comfort in a wide variety of workplaces.

Women’s Lab Coats

Hopefully, you’ve noticed that there are two women’s lab coats from the Dr. James collection that were featured on Space Force. We think that’s important. “Why,” might you ask?

Until about 50 years ago, science, math, medicine, or really anything that required wearing a lab coat wasn’t an acceptable career for women. Really, until the 1970s in the U.S., women were supposed to be only homemakers, or perhaps have a feminine job if they had to work, such as being an airline hostess or grade-school teacher.

Thanks to the Women’s Rights movement of the 1960s and 1970s, there has been an explosion of professional women in technical fields. And that’s been good for women and for the rest of society. Who wouldn’t want twice as many skilled individuals capable of high level work? The fact that we have more people in scientific and medicine, in particular, has done much to push our society forward at an ever-faster rate.

Why Women’s Lab Coats are Important

Half of all entrants into medical schools in the United States are women. And, currently, they are already a third of the medical profession and growing. However, women face systematic problems when it comes to the medical field. Many of these problems are societal, economic, and the result of years of inequality. They are paid less than men on average, they experience higher rates of divorce, and lower rates of good mental health. There are still plenty of obstacles women have to overcome to get equality, even in the highly-educated field of medicine.

Some of the problems women in STEM careers face come from social perception, particularly patients’ perceptions of women doctors versus male doctors. 42% Of patients prefer male doctors while only 11% prefer female doctors. This indicates a need to improve the perception and capabilities of female physicians.

Fortunately, a lab coat can improve those perceptions. As we noted before, a lab coat makes the patient put more trust in the doctor, and also improves the general perception of the doctor as a professional. In this way, women’s lab coats are making their mark.

Having Different Lab Coats for Different Purposes

Space Force uses four different lab coats, and that’s because a lab coat isn’t just part of a stylish ensemble—it’s a functional piece of scientific equipment. The lab coat protects the user from dangerous materials that may be in a lab and also helps keep the laboratory sterile from contaminants that may be on a professional’s personal clothing or skin.

It’s important to have different lab coats available as a STEM professional, too. A doctor may want a lab coat that looks professional for interacting with patients, while having another “working” coat for doing actual clinical work. And it’s certainly more hygienic to wear a different lab coat in surgery than a doctor would wear when meeting with his/her next patient!

Scientists, too, will often alternate between different labcoats as they go into and out of different labs as well, so that they can prevent cross-contamination between different materials in those work areas. Not only does using different lab coats improve overall work place hygiene, it also helps prevent one coat from being overused and worn, so that it no longer offers the same level of protection. It just makes sense for professionals working in scientific laboratory and medical environments to have different lab coats for different occasions.

Space Force certainly takes a comic spin on a lot of what’s going on today, but as far as their choice of lab coats goes, they’re spot-on with the best trends and practices.