Your specific bakery uniform will depend on your place of work, but since baking is a hot job, typically most bakers wear clothing that is light, easy to move in, and well-ventilated. That being said, let’s not forget footwear! Bakers often wear clogs or other spill-proof, slip-resistant footwear that’s comfortable to wear all day long, durable, and safe.
So for the average baker, what do bakers wear? Well, we have 7 uniform essentials you’ll need to get the job done.
Trousers
Often chefs wear check trousers to hide stains for when they have to look presentable in the dining room, and head chefs often distinguish themselves with black trousers. Many bakers choose to wear white or grey trousers, and most choose cotton fabric as it’s breathable, durable, comfortable, and lightweight. The colour of your trousers will depend on where you work. Some uniforms have their bakers wearing all black, but the most traditional baker’s uniform is all white.
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Examples of the Different Chef/Baker Trousers Available
What you have to wear will depend on your workplace's uniform. Most baker trousers will have an elasticated waist with some styles having a button waist.
- White generic chef trousers
- Black head chef trousers
- Large check trousers, black and white
- Small check trousers, blue and white
- Small check trousers, black and white
Chef Coat or Shirt
A chef’s white coat is reversible, durable, breathable, and allows for free movement. A good chef jacket is made of a heavy cotton fabric with knotted buttons that will help the wearer avoid burns and keep cool; some chef jackets are made of poly-cotton with plastic buttons and should be avoided for the professional baker.
Chef coats are often long sleeved because the heavy cotton protects the wearer’s arms when they are reaching over hot pans and around ovens. Heavy cotton is absorbent and breathable, but if there are any hot spills, bakers and chefs need to remove their coat to avoid burns - as the fabric will soak the liquid up. This fact is especially important for bakers working with hot sugar, butter, or oil.
White cotton coats are also perfect for laundering as white cotton can be bleached and laundered to remove stains. Other bakers may choose simply to wear a shirt, but long sleeved cotton is best, as it’s something that’s easy to remove in case of spills. A chef's coat is highly recommended for its features, plus nothing can beat the reversible style! Always keep a spare in the kitchen too.
Traditional chef/baker jacket made of 100% Egyptian cotton with knotted buttons.
These jackets are available with short or long sleeves.
Apron
Since bakers work with messy ingredients, many bakers wear black aprons. You can either choose an apron that covers your chef jacket or shirt front, but many simply wear a half apron to cover the trousers. Depending on where you work, your apron may have to be a specific colour, but black is more traditional.
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Chef/baker aprons can have full bibs with easy ties at the back, or be short. Most bakers choose white aprons, but a multitude of colours are available.
Chef Hat or Headwear
For baking, when you’re giving your biceps a workout creaming the butter and the sugar by hand for over five minutes, you may work up a sweat. It’s best to wear some sort of headgear to prevent sweat from being the mystery ingredient in your baked goods. Hair and face sweat is common in hot environments and a chef hat or hairnet will absorb most of it. Whether your bakery requires a traditional chef hat, a close fitting hat, or hairnet, depends on the place, but most chefs do wear some kind of head covering - just make sure it doesn’t hinder your work (i.e. it fits your head well).
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Chefs and bakers often either wear the traditional torque hat (there are many variations on height and look of the pleats), or a smaller skull cap. Skull caps can come in black, check, or other colours as well. What you wear will depend on your specific uniform, comfort, and preference.
Spare Tea Towel
A specialty tip that many bakers use is to attach a spare tea towel to their apron. This apron can be used for wiping your clean hands on - or messy hands - or used as a sweat towel (just as long as it’s not used for all three purposes, though). Having a spare towel always comes in handy in the bakery - just make sure you replace it often with a clean towel for different purposes.
Bakery-Safe Footwear
Traditional chef uniform dictates bakers wear white shoes in the bakery kitchen. There are many shoes that are especially designed for chefs, but it’s important to choose something that has water resistance or water proofing, yet is slip-resistant. A buttery, eggy, sugary floor can be a major slip hazard - although, it’s best those floors are cleaned regularly (but even a mopped floor can be a hazard). Clean or dirty floor alike, you don’t want to slip in the kitchen so if you can find a shoe that’s comfortable with as many safety features packed in, you’ll be in good hands (or, erm feet?). Again, depending on where you work, your workplace may allow you to wear black shoes, but most places choose either black or white, so, sorry, no neon bakery shoes this week!
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Get Your Hands Messy
Okay, so this last tip isn’t so much part of your uniform, but don’t be afraid to dig in there. Nothing can get cookie dough off your industrial mixer like your fingers - nope, not even that fancy spatula. When you’re a baker, get your hands in there, and live, breathe, and enjoy every moment of creating delicious breads, pies, and confectionary for the public to enjoy.
Need safe footwear for your baking career? Find out what we have available.
We have footwear designed especially for bakers. We’ve added five new technologies this year alone in order to continue getting bakers home safely. Find out all about our new safety features by downloading our New Tech Guide below. It’s completely FREE.