We have the Traditional & then we have some Modern Ideas ....that's how it is with most things....... this is professional Chefs we are talking about....all of them are mature enough to decide what they want.......then Why does everything have to be Boys vs Girls ?
Professional kitchens are not about how you look, they are about safety for the cooks and the customers. A pastry chef may get away with short sleeves, but the woman standing at the stove in the photo is courting disaster with her skin-tight leggings and T-shirt. Baggy pants protect you in case of a spill, where tight ones will result in 2nd degree burns. Same with sleeves. And I don't want to see these women's loose hair fall in the food, nor is any jewelry except a simple wedding band allowed under Health Department code. And don't even talk to me about coveralls on women chefs or fancy aprons, that is just plain silly. You don't have to wear a starched jacket designed for a guy twice your size, but you should wear protective clothing. Focus on cooking, no one cares how you look if you do a good job.
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@Laurence Hauben
I have always performed best in chef whites. I currently work in a kitchen where it is required that I do not wear chef whites and let me tell you, it affects my flow. Thinking about what I'm wearing is the LAST thing I want to do. My focus should be on the food; worrying about my decorative apron being too heavy is NOT helping.
I think the real issue with chefs whites is not about the classical style and male history but about the discomfort. Chef whites say chef-- men and women.
Chef Lisa
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@Laurence Hauben Absolutely correct.
Please read the popular bestseller entitled: Aprons: A Tale of Tradition by talented Florida Author, Ida Tomshinsky within History of Kitchen Attire Series.
You will find the complete story of chef's uniform and a full history of the kitchen aprons. In modern time, there is a Renaissance in aprons' development and the entire modern kitchen attire.
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I started cooking in restaurant kitchens 23 years ago. Mostly wore dishwasher shirts and white drawstring aprons with no problem--boobs and all. Finding the right pants however were a nightmare. I hoarded the petite checkered pants that came in with the linen services. I had no interest in looking cute but back then the kitchen was out of sight. I kept a clean chef's coat just to put in on if I went to the dining room to keep up appearances for guests.
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I am a home cook,it is my passion.One of the best presents I have ever received from my husband was a white double breasted chef's coat.I had always worn aprons,all of my shirts stained on the sleeves with spatter,especially when sautéing.The coat washes up beautifully,and is 100% cotton.
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@ Nora New England
Permit me to recommend to your husband two next gifts for you:
1) a white chef's toque;
2) a belt with a sharpening steel and big knife inserted in it.
Have fun!
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Aprons with a single strap around the back of the neck are not comfortable.
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Well, I only worked front of the house. As a waitress my clothes got trashed too. In most restaurants the 'uniform' was just anything black and white. I was quite fashionable and a budding clothing designer. I was already making most of my own clothes. I made a some black skirts and pants, and for the white tops I made a bunch of great jackets, blouses, and wraps; as well as aprons. The customers loved them! I got compliments all the time. And I looked great, not like a shlubb.
I am glad to see female kitchen staff getting some options! I only wish I had thought of it as a business idea way back when :(
Unisex sizing in all types of clothes are made for men. Unisex is not a joke, it’s a lie.
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I don't work in a restaurant. I am merely a home cook.
However, I bought heavy white denim and took to a dressmaker, who made 5 aprons to my specifications. These will last me the rest of my life, and I was tired of more cheaply made, ill-fitting, expensive aprons.
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@Madeline
And yes, grease and sauces will ruin your good clothes. I can't imagine what professional cooks must deal with. Most of my burns are on hands and wrists, but the most serious one I had was when I sloshed boiling water onto my feet. Had to go to the burn clinic for that one.
This is not "Modern Kitchen Style";
It is Modern Restaurant Uniform Kitchen Style.
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Whatever you wind up wearing in the kitchen, pretty please, at all costs, avoid the cold shoulder clothing items.
Absolutely the all-time worst trend ever.
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As a former cook, and a small person, I know full well what it is like to wear baggie, oversized pants and chefs jackets that never fit properly. For over ten years, my work clothes, supplied by a kitchen uniform service, hung on me like large flour sacks. Once when I was in the kitchen in street clothes, I was asked if I had recently lost weight. No. I was just wearing clothing that fit correctly, revealing my slender form.
Women get used to trying to fit into a man's world without making complaint. Kudos to those who understand that not one size fits all. And I'm not talking just about clothing.
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What a great article..so nice to read something not involving Politics...reminds me of the time in our country ...pre T...when life was more Peaceful ! Ah the memories of those ... Halcyon days !!
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I fondly remember my mother having a drawer full of aprons. I use aprons but seems most home cooks don’t these days. Not sure why.
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One more point: overalls (mentioned by Sara Kramer) and mechanic-style coveralls such as worn in the photo by Ms. Bennett might work for a woman who can leave the kitchen for an extended bathroom break. But if you've got to go and then get back to your station as fast as possible, they just don't work. AND they are unsanitary, as they can end up on the floor of the restroom.
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$85-$100 for work aprons! Does the author have any idea what cooks and chefs actually earn?
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@ Eric Toledo
As a reader, I would like to know "what cooks and chefs actually earn?"
I imagine the amounts are greatly variable in the US, Japan, and France, but I cannot guess them even to the nearest order of magnitude.
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@Tuvw Xyz
In California the pay ranges from $12-$14 an hour for dishwashers, to around $20 for line cooks. Definitely not enough to spend $85 on an apron when you can buy them for $10 at Smart & Final.
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@Eric
Now THIS is something worth writing about. What do line cooks and chefs earn? Where's the buying power?
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When I started cooking professionally nearly 50 years ago the uniforms were supplied to the restaurant by a linen company and we cooks battled amongst ourselves to locate (and sometimes hide) the pants or coats that fit us best.
Although those uniforms were rarely flattering, they were always protective and I truly appreciated them whenever I would have to work in a restaurant where uniforms (mostly pants) were not provided. Asking real cooks to work in their own clothing is asking them to destroy their clothing. Anyone who works a sautée or grill station in a busy house trashes every item of clothing they wear.
I appreciated the advent of ChefWear and ChefWorks in the 90's for providing chef's clothing that could fit anyone, but then we were back to wearing our own clothing and subsequently destroying it. Restaurants were happy to lose the cost of providing uniforms. Additionally, attempting to launder worked-in cook's clothes at home is a joke.
In these last days of my career I work in dishwasher shirts and shorts. I try to be faster than the grease. It is my suspicion that designer chef's clothing works best for cooks who are in positions where don't get dirty or those who are "Chefs" in their own kitchens.
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As a former cook, I agree that kitchen shirts are more comfortable than traditional chef coats. However, if you are a line cook, there is a reason for long sleeves. Hot oil and burns are common hazards of working in a commercial kitchen.
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Great idea for housewives but the designs, buckels and ties as well as the fabrics are unsuitable for serious cooking or a professional kitchen.
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Transvaal in Barcelona makes excellent aprons (and more) for everyone.
The women who work there are great and super helpful.
Now, you have a great excuse to visit Barcelona.
We loved this store and bought multiple aprons.
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@davebarnes, I looked up "Transvaal in Barcelona" on the internet. Couldn't find what you're talking about. Does this company have a website?
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"But why did the shift away from formal, uncomfortable whites not occur, say, two decades ago?"
That's a very good question, since there were companies like Chefwear and Chef Works making uniforms that fit women. Of course, if we wanted to wear those, we'd have to buy and care for them ourselves, because what management was supplying (through rental companies) was the basic standard male-sized clothing. (I once picked a coat from the pile that had the name Rocco DiSpirito on it, from his fat days.)
And Chef B is correct about the reasons for the chef coat as it is. Safety and cleanliness above all. I'd have a lot more scars on my arms if I'd worn dishwasher shirts when I was working sauté and grill.
Finally: no, it is NOT true that "technically anyone could be a chef," and never has been. To say so is an insult to those who have worked and studied (formally or not) to merit that title. "Chef" refers to the head of the kitchen. Maybe nowadays anyone might call themselves "chef" or be called chef by civilians who don't know any better, but that too is insulting and ignorant.
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I have nothing against women chefs and kitchen workers wearing clothes that suit the female anatomy and physiology. OK even if they no longer carry the symbols of the chef of old -- a big knife and sharpening steel for hacking asunder the carcasses of beef, deer and wild boar.
But I do not like street clothes, uncovered heads, and bare arms and hands in the kitchen.
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You can bemoan the male dominated nature of chef uniforms but the fact is that it is functional to keep the Culinarian safe.
The long sleeves that are designed to be folded up one are like that to catch any hot soups or sauce accidentally spilled on the cook and so prevent burns.
The jacket is double breasted for two reasons .
One is so the cook is once again protected from hot spills and also so that if the chef needs to go out into the dining room to address a diner he or she can reverse it to hide any gravy stains.
It’s white because a clean chef engenders confidence from the diners (Right or wrong)
Buying these clothes from a good manufacturer like Bragard will result in the chef wearing Egyptian cotton, not polyester.
People showing up to work wearing dishwasher shirts don’t make sense to me because it violates my idea of professionalism.
I work in a trade that began several hundred years ago and I still think certain protocols apply.
But people can tatted up and wear all the goofy clothes to work that they want.
Whatever.
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@Chef B
I am a classically trained female chef and I have been proud to wear my chef whites. It's a right of passage of the kitchen. And as you said-- a trade that began hundreds of years ago... is something to embrace-- for safety reasons and for a sense of history.
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