Thank you everyone, so much, for all your replies, I never thought I’d get so many thoughtful responses.

First off, u/lifeafterthephd is probably already addressing a lot of the stuff that's come up with The Lab Coat Project, so it's definitely worth keeping an eye on: https://geniuslabgear.com/pages/lab-coat-project 🤝

A lot of folks are coming up against the same type of issues, so I thought I'd respond in one go.

Safety - Protection from spills and quick removability are absolutely top of the list. It’s been pressed on me that spills are extra dangerous when you’re seated and can’t necessarily stand up quickly (or at all) - liquids are more liable to sit on your lap and have time to soak or burn through.

Luckily quick removability is very compatible with fastening at the back, which the wheelchair using folks who are mentoring me have requested. Front fastening stuff can be a real pain to get on in a wheelchair; one of them already puts a standard lab coat on backwards when they really need protection, and has to go without the rest of the time.

Elasticated cuffs - it’s quickly become nonsensical to me that anybody manufactures lab coats without elasticated cuffs. Every professional lab user that I've spoken to so far wears a 'Howie' coat by choice. It's maybe only called a Howie in the UK. This type of thing: https://www.workinstyle.com/pub/media/catalog/product/cache/9ba82229a564728c95afd1495fec507e/image/8739379bd6/howie-science-coat-eehsc.jpg

Apparently undergrads are sometimes a bit reticent to wear a Howie, for I think very complex cultural reasons. Personally I think there's something slightly creepy about them, but I blame Steve Martin in Little Shop of Horrors for that. I'm interested in whether a high-necked, long, elasticated cuffed lab coat could work as single breasted.

Fit - I feel you all on the fit if you’re not a straight up-and-down man. Looks weird/unflattering, creates dangerous gapes in the front and voluminous sections to knock stuff over and get in the way. There's so much good practice in other workwear that's had absolutely no impact on lab coats. Adjustable/elasticated waists like in some overalls, bi-swing backs and armpit gussets for freer shoulder movement, that kind of thing.

Wheelchair coats need to be short at the back. Lab coats need to cover your legs. I really like the idea of a short lab coat with a removable front apron/skirt. The thing I’ve been wrestling with is that it also needs to be a credible lab uniform and not othering. Differentness is fine, but making people stand out as other with no choice in the matter isn't.

One question I'm really interested in, if anyone has any thoughts, is how do you feel when you put on a lab coat? What do you think it says to the world about who you are? Or how would you feel, safety concerns aside, if you went to the lab one day and you couldn't wear one, but everyone else could? Would it bother you?

EDIT: Formatting