I am a Sugar Artist, and knew that what I wore to competitions and demonstrations was almost as important as the sugar pieces I created. I hated the boxy white chef coats worn by pastry chefs and others in the restaurant business…. that just wasn’t the look for me. As a woman and a slim person, I swam in those chef coats and always had people telling me I looked too thin or ill. In despair, I gave up the chef jackets and just wore my street clothes at events, but I knew that my professional image was suffering because of this.

One day I was watching a Food Network challenge and I saw some of the competitors wearing multi-colored chef jackets. I decided that if I could find a colorful women’s chef jacket that fit me right, perhaps that would be my answer. I did an Internet search for colored women’s chef coats and one of the search results led to a wonderful site by Marcie Stetler. She profiled her amazing collection of women’s chef jackets and the remarkable company that makes them, Crooked Brook. A link on her site took me to the Crooked Brook website, and that was all it took for me! When I found out that I could design my own chef coats, and once I saw the selection of styles, fabric, piping, buttons, custom embroidery and most importantly of all, the fit, I knew I was going to be buying a Crooked Brook women’s chef coat.

I called Crooked Brook to place my order and spoke with Veronica [who was a delight to work with]. She suggested that since their entire line of chef jackets are made to order, that I get one to start with. This way, after I had worn and laundered the first one a few times, if there were any fit alterations I wanted made, we could make the changes to any jackets going forward.

When my first jacket came in, I was glad I took her advice, because even though these chef coats are cut for women and I had ordered the correct size, I realized that I wanted my chef coats tapered a little more through the middle to show off more of my figure. So, I called Veronica, discussed what I wanted done and we developed a pattern for my chef coats. Three more custom chef coats followed, all made with my new pattern (the “Ruth taper”) and my image was complete.

My custom chef jackets made their debut at the nation’s largest cake decorating competition, the Oklahoma State Sugar Art Show (OSSAS) in October of 2006. By that time, three of my friends had already fallen in love with my chef coats and ordered their own.

I attended a Food Network Challenge taping and then competed in an onsite challenge the next day. Keegan Gerhard, the emcee for the challenges, pulled me aside to say that he loved how I created my own personal style with the chef coats I designed, and that I needed to submit information for performing on one of their challenge shows.

Judges at the show commented about my chef coats…. they had never seen a fit and color combinations like I had. I’ve lost track of the number of people, who after seeing me wearing my chef jackets, asked me where I got them.

At first I was worried about the expense of having custom made chef coats, but after my first coat came in, I knew I had made the right decision! There is simply no comparison to the quality of the fit, fabric, and construction. Crooked Brook chef coats aren’t mass-produced and are made with the finest of materials. Quite simply, they are like the cakes from my bakery…. you get what you pay for. You can get cheaper chef jackets and cheaper cakes, but if you want something that people will remember, invest the money in a truly amazing product.

I have spent the last year traveling throughout the country teaching, demonstrating, and participating in cake design, decoration, and sugar artistry competition. Everywhere I go, I am now received as a professional as soon as I walk into the room, and I believe a lot of the credit goes to the image I project by wearing my stylish, figure flattering, and custom made women’s chef jackets.

I am now the proud owner of twelve gorgeous custom women’s chef coats and I plan to order more. I have even sent them my own fabric and buttons for designs that no one else will ever have! Crooked Brook is a wonderful company and I am grateful that I found them. Check out their website and see what other great chef wear they offer (such as a women’s fitted bib apron). Below, are some pictures of me and some of my friends in our great Crooked Brook chef coats.