The uniform fits the assignment more closely than it fits the person.

What you wear for work is designed around a function, a signal and a category, none of which are you. It tells people what to expect and it makes the person inside it slightly less visible, which is convenient in some situations and wearing over time. The gap between the role’s outline and your own shape is real even when the job suits you.

Notice what you change about yourself when you put on whatever your version of a uniform is. Keeping one small thing that is yours, in how you speak or what you carry, stops the outline from becoming the whole shape.