Clothing Definitions — definitions of garments and clothing terms from Apparel Search
A bib apron is an apron whose bib-like covering slips over the neck and ties at the back, giving full coverage of the front of the body. Its humble beginnings lay in people using scraps of fabric to make a bib-like covering, and its intuitive design and full coverage have made it a popular apron for tradesmen and working people since the 1880s, and perhaps earlier. This page explains the style — also known as the French chefs apron or the barbecue apron — how it became the most-used apron of all, and how to choose among its many modern variations.
Their are many different types of aprons. The bib apron is a French chefs apron.
The bib apron's humble beginnings began when people used scraps of fabric to make a bib-like covering that slipped over the neck and tied at the back.
The bib apron's intuitive design and full coverage have made it a popular apron for tradesmen and people in low-economic classes since the 1880s—and maybe even earlier. In the 1960s—when women no longer wanted an apron that symbolized domestic ideals—the bib apron became the most-used apron and is now offered in a multitude of variations, colors, detailing and fabrications.
The bib apron (also known as the “French chefs apron” or a “barbecue apron”) has been worn for centuries.
Learn more about aprons.
The bib apron's dominance is a design story. A waist apron protects the lap and legs but leaves the chest — exactly where splashes land when a pot is carried, a pan is lifted or a task is done standing at a bench — uncovered. Adding the bib, a panel rising from the waist to a loop or strap over the neck, closes that gap with one extra piece of cloth and no complicated construction. That is why the design could begin in scraps of fabric and still be the professional standard: the French chefs apron is a bib apron because a cook's whites need the full-coverage protection, and the same logic serves tradesmen, barbecue cooks and anyone whose work throws material upward as well as down.
Modern bib aprons come in a multitude of variations, colors, detailing and fabrications, so choose by the work. Fabric weight should match the exposure: hard-wearing cotton and denim for daily kitchen and workshop use, lighter weaves for serving and front-of-house wear. The neck arrangement matters over a long shift — a simple loop is the classic form, while adjustable straps spread the load better. Ties should be long enough to bring around and knot at the front if the wearer prefers, and pockets, where fitted, should sit where the hands naturally fall. Coverage is the point of the style, so check in a mirror that the bib sits high enough to protect the chest without the strap pulling at the neck.
A bib apron is a working garment and should be washed like one: promptly, at the temperature its fabric allows, and as often as its job demands, since its whole purpose is to take the soil that would otherwise reach the clothing beneath. Check the neck strap and waist ties for fraying, because on a garment held up by two fastenings, either one's failure puts it out of service. Kept that way, a bib apron is among the longest-lived and most useful garments in a kitchen or workshop — which is precisely the reputation it has carried since the 1880s.
On the line, the bib apron works as part of a system: the chef uniform, explained covers how it combines with the coat, toque and checkered pants, and how the waist and cross-back styles divide the work.
A bib apron is an apron with a bib front: a covering that slips over the neck and ties at the back, protecting the chest as well as the waist and legs. It is also known as the French chefs apron or as a barbecue apron, and it has been worn for centuries.
The bib apron's humble beginnings began when people used scraps of fabric to make a bib-like covering that slipped over the neck and tied at the back. Its intuitive design and full coverage made it popular with tradesmen and people in low-economic classes since the 1880s, and maybe even earlier.
In the 1960s, when women no longer wanted an apron that symbolized domestic ideals, the bib apron's identity as a working and trades garment carried it through. It became the most-used apron and is now offered in a multitude of variations, colors, detailing and fabrications.