To create your kitchen chef picture. Chef and Eggs dress of the day 209. Make a DIY white concertina paper chef's hat.

 


Props
We boiled up the egg, the small chicken's egg, for the small egg cup.

I looked around the living room and saw a giant ostrich egg, souvenir of South Africa. Just thing for an impact in a photo and on zoom for a speech about cooking eggs. 

Clothes and Hat
The Apron 
 I had the chef's apron in wide blue and narrow white stripes. I bought it for my husband who felt and looked silly in my girl aprons decorated with flowers. It is waterproof and handy for protecting clothes from water, juice and coffee, more often than for cooking.

 How To Make The DIY Paper Chef's Hat

You can buy chef's hat from cookware suppliers. But I needed one instantly. For a speech about cooking eggs I thought I would switch my baseball hat to something else. What? 

I had no chef's hat. But I did have a pillbox hat. So I took White A4 paper from the printer, or the pile of discarded paper, or the waste bin. I folded parallel strips using a ruler.  Then I folded  them back the other way, alternating. I ended with a concertina of white paper. 

I tried pinning it on with paperclips. Coloured ones were too obvious. Si I tried white paperclips. But needed more than two to keep the paper in place. 

So I used see-though invisible sticky tape. The front part is over the white paper. The back part is behind the hat brim so won't leave a visible mark.

So, if you want to make a chef's hat, find either a pillbox hat, or a hat whose brim you can cut off, or a baseball cap with the brim at the back.  Having got the idea, you could cover the base with white cotton from an old unwanted white pillow case. The stiffer the better to hold the folds. Or staple it, but mind that the staples are away from your skin.

The White Outfit
My pink caftan didn't do. I wanted a plain white blouse. The top should ideally have a high neck. Alternatively just a white tee-shirt, round neck not v-neck. No plain tee-shirt? Take a printed one and turn it back to front, or inside out.

For the lower half, ideally white, but failing that black skirt or trousers. Yesterday's skirt made from trousers fitted the part.

Finally, I looked down at my shoes. Chef's shoes are big clmpy things. Firstly, you don't want to wobble about on high heels when you are carrying a tureen of hot soup or a kettle or even a cup of tea. 

Secondly you want to protect your toes. From what? Sliding on grease and bumbing into walls. Dropping a sharp or pointed knife. Dropping a heavy tureen.  In a hotel kitchen nobody else is seeing your shoes, except other chefs wearing sensible shoes health and safety are paramount. Important. Above all else. More impofrant than looks. 

Chef's Shoes
My beach shoes are Crocs. Not quite the look. If I had unlimited time and money I would invest in proper chef shoes for a photo or working in the kitchen. But they are hot. And the Crocs could be hidden behind the table in the picture.

My shoes are yellow. They match the trimming line of my Waveline swimsuit. White looks better for a chef's outfit.

I was pleased with the result. I hope you like it. Maybe you will find a useful idea to copy, or just be inspired to photograph yourself or another chef in the kitchen or hotel.

My experience of chefs in hotels is that only 1 in ten is so shy that they don't want to be in a photo. Most of them are pleased at the novelty. Sometimes they call all their fellow chefs to join in a bit line-up.

Useful Websites
Also from Amazon.






About the Author

Angela Lansbury teacher of English (advanced and English as a Second Language or English as a Foreign Language, French and other languages, aspiring polyglot.

Angela Lansbury, travel writer and photographer, author and speaker. Member of many toastmasters  speaker training clubs and speaking contest judge.

Angela Lansbury, the author of 20 books including Wedding Speeches & Toasts, and Quick Quotations, has lived in the USA, Spain and Singapore. 
She  has several blogs and writes daily on at least two of the following:
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