I agree to wear what others are wearing in general.
Just a rant, but I sort of think the Patagonia/other brand jacket thing is overblown/overdone. It doesn't look professional (to me) and it makes docs look more like "tech bros."
My patients prefer I wear a white coat (I do inpatient rehab, so my patients skew 50 and over). A number of studies have shown patients prefer physicians in professional attire with a white coat, or scrubs with a white coat.
I know folks like to complain that everyone wears white coats these days, but patients in the hospital are so inundated with new faces they are extremely unlikely to know/remember you're a physician unless you're wearing a white coat, or you remind them constantly that you're a physician. I took care of a well-regarded local doc and he had no idea my partner saw him on my off day because my partner does the Patagonia thing.
For outpatient PCPs/pediatricians/many other specialties, I think wearing the coat mostly irrelevant. Patients typically know who they're scheduled to see. And those docs don't need pockets as they have drawers and cabinets.
With that said, I didn't like the short white coat. It looks silly. But it did help build camaraderie--you knew if you saw someone else with a short coat, there was a 95% chance they were a med student as well, and it was easy to strike up a conversation/relate to them.
We all want to be comfortable. But remember our hospitalized patients are all in vulnerable positions. They're afraid. If dressing more "like a doctor" helps put my patients at ease, I'm all for it. Kind of like how sitting makes patients think you spent more time with them, I'm generally all in favor of whatever free bonus points I can get.