Hospitality workwear: front of house and kitchen

A seated customer has time to read an apron. What passes on a building site — a logo a little too large, a film a little too shiny — gets noticed here. Front of house calls for fabrics that hang well, sober colours that can carry a stain until the end of service, and discreet marking: the name of the house on the chest or on the apron bib, rather than a large design on the back.

In front of a stove or a fryer, it is hot and things splash. A chef jacket is double-breasted for two practical reasons: two layers at the front, and a panel you swap over when the first is stained. Press-stud models open in one movement if a scalding liquid soaks through the fabric. All of it is washed hot, often: a chef jacket is chosen first of all by its care label.

Food hygiene rules require clean, suitable clothing, put on to work and not to travel to work. In practice: enough pieces per person to change every day, and light colours in the kitchen, which show dirt instead of hiding it. That leaves staff turnover — extras, seasonal workers, students: you need to be able to reorder a single piece, in the right size, identical to the previous ones.