Ever wondered if the cook's in your favorite restaurant wear jeans or corduroys to work? Well, maybe it's never actually crossed your mind, but if you're interested in becoming a chef, you may wonder what kind of chef pants you'll be required to wear - particularly if you are uncomfortable in business like slacks or dressy clothing that's often restricting. After all, if you're going to be a cook you must look the part! The answer to the question of what chef's wear is really based on the restaurant that the chef works in. Some cook's wear uniform style, cotton baggies, (similar to the pants nurses and doctors wear- called scrubs) others are required to dress up in nice chinos or slacks, while others can just stroll into the kitchen in their blue jeans or shorts!
Most cooks enjoy working in the cotton baggies that restaurants often provide as the standard uniform for their chef pants. They come in many colors, from the traditional white or black, to printed designs that feature little pizzas, or chili peppers; to wild patterns that resemble the prints seen on many of the popular cotton pajama pants! Baggies are extremely comfortable to wear; they give your skin the ability to breathe and keep cool even when you're standing in the hot kitchen for many hours. In fact, chef pants are often so comfortable that people are buying them to order to wear them as pajamas or lounge wear at home! Most restaurants that use baggies as their chef pants uniform do so for their line cooks and entry level chefs. The head chef would typically be wearing slacks, trousers, or chinos to portray a classier image than that displayed by the cotton baggies.
Some restaurants, typically those that are considered "fancy" or "upscale", require all of their cooks to wear a more elegant style of pants, and may even provide uniform slacks, corduroys or chinos for their employees to cook in. In some cases though, the restaurant will make the employees purchase their own uniform pants, as long as they meet the style and color required by the restaurant owner. Chef pants can be purchased from many different vendors, both online and offline, and if you are required to get your own you may want to start by performing a search online for "chef's baggies" or "cook's slacks", depending on what your restaurant's required uniform is. However, if it's your first time purchasing chef pants and coats, you may want to look for a local store that you can actually go in and try the clothing on to get a feel for how they fit. This will give you an idea of how the sizes run for each style of chef pants and shirts, whether or not you will be comfortable wearing them for long periods of time, and then once you've done this research, you can make the right choices when buying online if you find the prices are more preferable in the online stores than those from your local store.
