Hospitality uniforms

Suit up: how apparel can boost

image and staff demeanour

By Marni Andrews and Chris McGregor
Contributing editors

Colour has made its way into the kitchen and front of the house. The uniforms in the two photos above come from Town and Country.

Uniforms, even in the finest of foodservice establishments are getting more casual, and the days of formal suits, ties and dress shoes are long gone. Will the classic white chef jacket be the next to go?

Michael Blackie, executive chef at the National Arts Centre in Ottawa, has his staff switching over to black chef jackets, which he has sported since 2009.

“It started off slowly, but it has just spread around the city (of Ottawa). Once you go black you never go back,” he says. “The classic white coat has had its day.”

Blackie wears a high-end jacket from French company Clément Design.

“They are the slickest design from the back of the house to the front of the house. The most popular thing is having snap free buttons,” he says.

Staff at the National Arts Centre are also converts to clogs from Dansko, a Pennsylvania-based company, as half the kitchen employees are now wearing the company’s shoes.

Traditional tall paper hats, ties and flags reflecting the chef’s home country are also disappearing, according to Blackie.

“There’s absolutely a lot of venting going on, not just eyelets in the arm pits. I’ve seen ones where the entire back is vented mesh. A tie has no place in a restaurant for a server. It dips into the food and just gets in the way,” he says.

Other things to keep in mind when putting together a uniform are black socks and aprons that end at the ankle.

“It’s a catch between functionality, practicality and cost effectiveness,” Blackie says. “Because of my background, I am a purist when it comes to uniforms.”

Trend spotting

Janna Rider, senior visual and brand merchandising manager for American Dairy Queen Corporation, says uniform styles in the quick-service industry take cues from sports apparel. Rider sees “simple designs, accent panels, and 100 per cent breathable fabric, which also happens to be incredible as far as colour retention and wear goes. At DQ, we also use an antimicrobial treatment to help counteract the adverse odour that sports apparel can have.”

Keeping up with the styles is an effective part of overall brand management, as well as keeping staff happy, comfortable and safe.

“We spend a lot of time addressing what we think crew members will want to wear, or in the least what they will not hate to wear. Cost and durability is something we take into consideration as well,” says Rider.

To stay ahead of the trends, DQ changes its team uniforms every three to four years. The current uniforms are in neutral colours, which Rider says are trendy for younger staff members and flattering for more mature staff.

“A uniform is no good if you can’t get anyone to wear it,” says Rider. “Keeping them current is another way to keep the brand relevant. I think current fashion trends are the biggest driver.”

Cintas is in the news for its expanded eco-apparel collection that includes options for bellmen, doormen and other front door professionals. The new sustainable garments (Tailored Signature Jacket, Cobra Jacket and the Carnaby Shirt-Collar Jacket) are made out of recycled material created from plastic water bottles that were diverted from landfills. Each piece can be home laundered, eliminating the need for professional dry cleaning and exposure to the harmful toxins and chemicals used in the process.

Michelle Dortch, senior product designer for Cintas, is seeing narrower lapels and collars for two-button single-breasted men’s blazers. She says customers are asking for a more relaxed corporate look such as suit jackets worn with casual pants or sweater dressing with a tailored pant. This makes a corporate look more approachable.

Fairmont Algonquin lets kids dress up

A different sort of guest benefit targets kids at the historic Fairmont Algonquin Hotel in St. Andrews by-the-Sea, NB. Food and beverage director Ryan Dunne says a program called “Junior Bellman” lets kids dress up like a hotel bellman and shadow him. Dunne says kids “go nuts” for the uniform.

The Algonquin features different types of uniforms throughout the resort, all of which are “functional, comfortable and in tune with the surroundings,” according to Dunne. Some operational departments, such as the golf course change their uniforms yearly to keep up with current styles or to help promote products sold in the pro shop. All uniforms are cleaned and replaced by the hotel.

A server in the Fairmont Algonquin dining room.

Dunne has noticed that as more women have entered the culinary industry, there is a much wider range of chef jackets and pants available. Also, with the economic downturn, hotels purchasing uniforms are electing to focus more on quality, colour and details such as fabrics, buttons, trims and logos.

Fashion and comfort have become a major part of culinary uniforms, says Cliff Klein, director of sales, Chef Works Canada Inc., which was one of the first companies to design an Egyptian cotton chef jacket. He is seeing more stretch in uniforms and more women-focused designs. Chef Works’ line of women’s jackets and pants has been very well received.

With more open kitchens in restaurants and banquet stations in the view of the public, chef wear has also gotten edgier, says Klein, who offers red, green, tan, denim and black chef jackets paired with cargo pants or designer patterned trousers for these settings. The denim chef jackets are also popular in resorts and golf courses.

That being said, Chef Works’ most popular culinary look remains the decades-old standard of a white chef jacket with either a solid black pant or a small check pant.

Donna Roxburgh, marketing director, Town & Country Uniforms, says that although black is still very much in demand for uniforms, splashes of colour are finding their way into new designs.  

“Many restaurants now have open concept kitchens, where the chef can be seen by customers and so they are able to jazz it up a bit,” she says.

She adds that aprons with stripes as well as solid dress shirts are timeless looks that people want no matter what time of year.

As for fabric, “although cotton is very comfortable, it is a natural fibre and therefore wears with time. Cotton/polyester blends are the most common in the uniform business for the maintenance aspect of it. Polyester holds colour and shape much better,” says Roxburgh.

“Uniforms make a staff feel like a team, they provide a neat and clean look to customers, which in turn usually is the basis for if they return or not. A customer might return just based on the look of the staff and the service they received, even though the food might have been just OK,” says Roxburgh.

The current trend is for uniforms that are less baggy and more fitted. “Over the past 20 years, the uniforms industry has continued to blur the lines between traditional uniforms and retail, both in appearance and fabrics,” says Scott Way, major account manager for Imagewear, a division of Mark’s Work Wearhouse.

Uniforms and morale are related

“Uniforms are a key element for every property,” says Klein of Chef Works Canada.

He tells the story of an interior designer who stayed at a hotel that he supplies. She took the time to compliment the food and beverage manager because she was so impressed by the non-standard banquet staff uniforms of patterned vest, patterned bow tie, tuxedo shirt and black pants/skirts.

“Eco-friendly garment options boost employee morale, which benefits the guest experience,” says Dortch of Cintas.

 “First impressions count,” says Way of Imagewear. He suggests that successful uniforms provide functionality for the employee and brand recognition for the hotel.

“It takes integrated corporate logo apparel programs that cover people from head to toe, with everything from work uniforms to custom T-shirts to pants to branded headwear,” he says.

“We cannot underestimate the importance of a uniform,” says Paul Gardian, executive director of brand operations for the 46-property Delta Hotels and Resorts, where uniforms are chosen by each hotel to reflect their location and the style of the property.

“We’re a people industry and if we want our guests to be treated like number one, then we need to look at how we dress our employees to look and feel good.”

Gardian says it’s a mistake to forget to budget funds for uniforms when undertaking a renovation. “If they’re not replaced, it can be a huge detractor from a great renovation.”

Delta Hotels and Resorts staff in their uniforms.

He says the company’s team members also place a high value on the appearance of their uniform.

“If they look and feel good, that translates into a great guest experience. We all tend to smile more and demonstrate higher levels of confidence when we like what we’re wearing and it fits well,” he says. “Gone are the days of beige polyester, and we’re now seeing smart styles that make it easy for employees to clean rooms and have them look good as well. In many cases, having team members as part of the decision process can generate excitement.”

“Uniforms impact so many areas of our operation—they motivate employees to perform their best, and they send a message to guests that they have chosen the right hotel because the team looks just as stylish and professional (as the property),” says Gardian.

 “As you can tell, I’m a big fan of great uniforms!”

Tracking system reduces theft and loss

Fallsview Casino Resort has 3,500 staff with a UHF-RFID sensors in their uniforms.

NIAGARA FALLS—Keeping track of uniforms and linens is a major job for hotels and resorts with hundreds of staff and hundreds of rooms. An inventory of everything from bed sheets, towels, pillow cases and uniforms helps in preventing theft at the Fallsview Casino Resort, which has 3,500 staff and an equal number of uniforms.

Stitched into every uniform and linen is a UHF-RFID sensor that tracks each item as it leaves the storage room and when it is returned for cleaning. When they report for their shift, staff present their hotel ID card and the system dispenses a clean uniform in less than a minute.

As the uniform passes the scanner, the system records which uniform was issued. As well, if a cart full of towels is removed, the scanner knows how many and which individual towels are in use. If any item is thrown out, the inventory is updated in case more items need to be ordered.

The GIMS system from InvoTech Systems in Los Angeles makes management of uniforms and linens more effective, reduces theft and missing inventory and reduces labour costs.  The scanner also tracks the movement of linens from storage to the laundry room.

The label reader.

The label that helps keep hotel property in the hotel.