The womens traditional chef''s hat, or toque blanche, is what is most distinguishing coats and recognizable of the uniform, and also the component which often causes the most debate. Chefs as far back as womens the are said to have worn toques. During that period artisans of all types (including chefs) were often imprisoned, or even executed, because of their coats and womens freethinking. To alleviate persecution, some chefs sought refuge and hid There coats they wore the same clothes as the womens priests-including their tall hats and long robes-with the exception of one deviating trait: the chef''s coats clothes were gray It wasn''t until the middle that chef redesigned the uniforms. thought the color white more appropriate, that it denoted cleanliness in the kitchen; it was also at this time that he and his staff began to wear double-breasted jackets. also thought that the hats should be different sizes, to distinguish the cooks from the chefs. The chefs wore the tall hats and the younger cooks wore shorter hats, more like a cap. himself supposedly wore a hat womens that was 18 inches tall! The folded pleats of coats a toque, which later became an established characteristic of the chef''s hat, were first said to have been added womens to indicate the more than 100 ways in which a chef can cook an egg.

It coats eventually assumed the shape of the small, round, close-fitting womens band or "crown" coats of cloth without a projecting brim but encompassing a gathering of material covering the top womens of the head. coats Sometimes of gatherings were pleated. By the end of the the height, shape and stiffness of the gathered material varied from country to country. womens It ranged from coats the flattened beret style of the French to the formally pleated middle height of the Italians to the tall, softly-gathered style favored Illustrations womens in cookbooks of these periods show male cooks wearing a variety of headgear, including floppy berets, tall toques gathered coats in to topknots, skull caps and stocking caps resembling pointed nightcaps.