thought the chefapparel cleanliness of the cook''s uniform was very important, and that it promoted professionalism. His staff was required to maintain clean and complete uniforms while on the job, and were also encouraged to wear coats and ties while not at work. To this day cooks and chefs around the world wear the same attire that has traceable origins back to more than 400 years. Along with the other conveniences brought, paper toques were invented to look like cloth but could be disposed of once they were soiled. The traditional chef''s uniform chefapparel may be the standard for our profession, but it''s definitely chefapparel and chefapparel not the law. Since the a legion of chefs and cooks have begun to wear non-traditional "fun" chef''s attire. These nouveau uniforms run the gamut from pinstriped baggy pants and denim jackets to full blown wildly patterned chefapparel outfits with chili peppers, flowers, and even the logo. While some chefs chefapparel may nay-say these new-style uniforms as non-professional, others retaliate that they are more comfortable and give chefapparel chefs an opportunity to express their individuality through their clothes as well as their food.

cooks of the generally wore the "casque a meche" or stocking cap, the colors of which varied according to rank. is credited with introducing white as the standard color when he insisted for sanitary reasons that his cooks wear white caps. During this period, cooks wore berets of white wool or ticking; wore pointed hats with a decorative tassel; the wore starched caps and black skull caps sometimes referred to as librarians'' caps. In addition to stocking caps, cooks, especially pastry cooks, wore a bank of linen or ticking with a central mound of the same fabric pleated on the edge. By the end of the century, it was full, heavily starched and held in the middle with a circular whalebone, producing the effect of a halo.

As the twentieth century comes to a close, these nouveau style uniforms have their place in certain establishments; restaurants today, after chefapparel all, are considered a form of theater. As with anything, the chef''s uniform continues to evolve, who knows what the future has to hold? One thing is certain though, the image of a chef, in a pristine white jacket and toque, is recognized the world over as a professional, and we have our predecessors to thank for this. Chefs, for the most part, wear their uniforms almost every day of their working lives, replete with toque, checked pants and double-breasted chefapparel jacket. Though these uniforms are ubiquitous in the foodservice industry worldwide, chefapparel they are often taken for granted and worn without much thought. However, many may find that the origin and reasons behind traditional chef''s attire are as interesting as it looks.