The Chef Jackets Remain Traditional but dons a few Stylish Twists.

Chef Jackets are meshing style, comfort and safety, creating lively new versions of the uniform chef hats apparel they've always worn.

While the most traditional of chefs still oversee their kitchens in their stiffly starched whites and towering toques, younger chefs are getting funky. Thanks to a host of new fabrics that have been invented in recent years, as well as the trend toward open kitchens -- which puts the culinary staff in full customer view -- chefs now have the option of looking stylish while maintaining comfort and safety.

Most chefs still wear white chef jackets, but even so, those jackets have taken some turns for the better. Chef Revival, for instance, now makes black-and-white chef jackets out of QCLITE[TM], an ultra-light fabric that washes easily and needs no ironing, according to Kim de la Villefromoy, general manager at the Lodi, N.J.-based supplier.

Chef Brand takes the kind of micromesh fabric usually found on sports uniforms and incorporates it into otherwise standard chef jackets. "We put a diamond-shaped piece under the armpit area and a vent across the shoulders in the back," explains Paul Moreland, president of the Toronto-based manufacturer. "The vents allow the chefs to release their extra body heat by the fabric fanning and venting the heat that builds up."

Uniform manufacturers commonly add custom cording, collars, cuffs and buttons to white chefs' coats. "We find that most people order white coats with interesting buttons," reports Peter Papageorge, president and chief executive of Chicago-based Culinary Classics. A chef might even have pants designed with chili peppers and a white jacket with chili-pepper-shaped-and colored buttons, he says. And Happy Chef Uniforms is finding success with a sophisticated-looking gray chef coat sporting black trim and now has introduced a washed denim coat with orange stitching.

"Most chefs, when push comes to shove, wear white because white is the mark of their profession," admits Sylvia Hougland, president of Dallas-based UniVogue. "But if you're doing a brand new, hip, Adam Tihany restaurant in New York City, and everything is gray, you would find a chef's jacket that is the perfect shade of gray to fit the decor."

The youngest chefs are those most drawn to color, she says. "We have some who want all denim. And when the young chefs are on a TV program, they want something colorful."

Many companies sell a significant portion of Black Chef Jackets, and khaki is gaining in popularity. And many chef jackets themselves boast the chili-pepper design.

But while they may be aiming to look good, chefs also choose jackets for practicality. Pastry chefs opt for three-quarter-length sleeves to avoid chocolate messes, says Papageorge of Culinary Classics. Others require hooks for thermometers and watches. "Chefs are starting to discriminate more about what they're wearing all day," Papageorge says. "Chefs in one kitchen might order the same style and fabric but ask for different options, depending on their jobs."

Chef Revival has added watch hooks for hygiene reasons. "Bacteria can fester and hide under watches, and we're trying to avoid cross-contamination issues," notes de la Villefromoy. "We've added watch hooks to jacket thermometer pockets so chefs can still see their watches, but the hygiene issue is gone," he maintains.

Chef Jackets also are being used to market restaurants. Republic Uniform Sales, a Los Angeles-based supplier, has begun embroidering large logos on jacket backs. "Customers can't always see the small chest or apron logos of chefs in open kitchens, but they can see large logos on the back," explains general manager Scott Dopke.

Even as jackets remain predominantly white, pants, on the other hand, have gone wild. Paired with the plain white jackets are pants made from hundreds of different fabrics, with fun-loving prints incorporating the aforementioned chili peppers as well as fish, toqued chefs and so much more. And the designs are imprinted on pants that are far more comfortable than their simple white predecessors. In addition, chefs have been wearing baggy chef pants, long in the crotch and loose in the waist, for a few years now.

Making them even more practical today are deep pockets and tong holders.

New fabrics and designs hitting the market aim to make chefs' pants even more comfortable. Chef Revival has introduced a wraparound pant that fits sizes 28 through 36. "It has Velcro, snaps and a tie; it is very martial-artsy in concept," explains de la Villefromoy, noting that creating "just the right size" for each person will benefit each wearer.

Republic Uniform Sales is making uniform chef hats apparel starting with pants of tencil, a wood pulp product that "breathes like cotton, wears like iron," according to Dopke. It washes as well as cotton, he says, and doesn't stain easily.

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