The 9 Very Best Aprons

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Style:Adjustable neck strap, waist tie |Material:Cotton canvas

Hedley & Bennett revolutionized the apron market when they came on the scene in 2012. The brand started because founder Ellen Marie Bennett, who came up in professional kitchens, felt there was a dearth of comfortable and attractive aprons that were durable enough to stand up on the line. Ever since, I’ve seen her aprons in countless restaurants across the country, in the test kitchens on Food Network television shows, and on recipe developers’ YouTube videos. But she also has a big hold on the home cook market. “They really launched an entire wave of fashionable aprons,”Masiendafounder Jorge Gaviria says.

I have one at home and find it comfortable to wear. The fabric is strong and sturdy, especially compared to the linen cross-back option I also keep in rotation, but still soft. (It takes a few washes to get to this point. It’s a bit stiff coming out of the package.) The straps are wide and adjustable, so they don’t pull at my neck. Coverage is good, but even as a pretty petite person, I don’t feel like I’m drowning in it. I have a basic navy, but I also like that there aredozens of colors and patternsto choose from, plus akids’ version(and though no one explicitly recommended these, there’s alsocross-backandsmockstyles).

Colin Wyatt, executive chef ofTwelvein Portland, ME, uses them in his restaurant kitchen and says they have held up to hard use. He notes that they have useful features — three pockets, plus a band to hold a kitchen towel — without looking or feeling cluttered. “They really thought about how chefs work and added the details they knew would be useful,” he says. Georgia Macon, executive pastry chef at Twelve, expresses a similar sentiment: “The pockets are abundant and deep,” she says. Akshay Bhardwai, executive chef at New York’sJunoonis another fan. “The fit is great. It has an extra long rope so you can tie it comfortably around your waist,” he says. “I have four or five but I’ve had my first one since about 2015 and it’s in very good condition.” Though there are a few less expensive options below, I named Hedley & Bennett as our top pick because they’re still the most ubiquitous and most-recommended after more than a decade on the market.

Style:Adjustable neck strap, waist tie| Material:Cotton

Bragard is an even longer-standing industry favorite. (ChefsEric Ripert,Jacques Torres, and anunnamed but equally famed third proall can’t live without the brand’s chef’s jackets.) As Christophe Bellanca, owner and chef of New York’sEssential by Christophe, put it, “Bragard is the same thing asStaub” — meaning a tried-and-true heritage company. As such, “they’re very solid and high quality,” he says. “They last for a long time, cover the body well (not too short), and I like the feel of the material.” Charlie Pennes, founder ofWhite Bark Workwear(whose own apron I recommend, below), says, “If you ask any chef what they always remember as their first ‘nicer apron,’ it’s probably this. The blue color hides a lot of stains and has an association with classic French workwear.” Anna Polonsky, founder of the food-focused strategy-and-design consultancyPolonsky & Friends, echoes this same sentiment. “They never disappoint,” she says, “and I think they’re made of the best-quality cotton on the market by far. Most bistros in Paris still use them. A classic.”

Style:Non-adjustable neck strap, waist tie| Material:Polyblend

Gaviria has 12 of these very affordable aprons on rotation. He’s been using them for years with extremely regular washing and says aside from some very minimal pilling, they’ve held up well. “I literally will use one, let it get dirty, and then just throw it in the hamper at the end of the day,” he says. “I just like things to be really clean. It feels better mentally, especially with kids.” He doesn’t mind that they’re no frills, saying that the strap fits his frame even though it’s non-adjustable (he’s five-feet-eleven, for reference) and the fit is comfortably flow-y overall, with a tie that allows you to secure it at the waist with “plenty of slack for a comfortable fit,” he says. One note: The brand doesn’t list the material definitively, but a polyester blend is Gaviria’s best guess.

Style:Cross-back, waist tie| Material:Hemp

I have a White Bark apron in rotation. Though the company is a few years newer than Hedley & Bennett, it seems to have filled a similar niche of catering to both professionals and home cooks (last holiday season, pastry chefTanya Bushtold us the aprons were “the most coveted item in her group chat of professional Brooklyn-based bakers” and I see them in restaurants and test kitchens frequently too).

I love the material, which has gotten softer over the couple of years I’ve been wearing mine (the founder, Charlie Pennes, told me that he took inspiration fromhis favorite Japanese apronwhen designing, partially because hemp is “the most sustainable natural fiber that exists”). It drapes nicely on my body but gives fuller coverage and more structure than the linen one I own (more on that below). And while I do grab the linen more often for quick tasks, I turn to this one when suiting up for longer cooking sessions or if I go outside to grill. A cross-back is also imperative for me. I’m always bothered when there’s a tie on my neck, and this one sits comfortably on my shoulders with the weight evenly distributed. And one more bonus: There are a myriad of pretty washed colors to choose from.

Style:Cross-back, no tie| Material:Linen

Recipe developer and food writerGrace Elkuswas anti-apron (“I just didn’t like anything constricting when I was cooking, and I’d rather get my clothes dirty than feel uncomfortable,” she says) until she found this super-flow-y cross-back one on a photo shoot several years ago. It goes straight over her head, rests lightly on her shoulders, and doesn’t flap noticeably at her knees. “It’s breezy,” she says. Still, it comes in petite, regular, and large, so you can do a bit of tailoring to your body type.

I have a very similar style from a different brand: theLinge Particulier Japanese-Style Linen Apron. It’s the one I pull on most often because it’s so supremely easy to get in and out of. I love the linen; I use it constantly to dry or wipe my hands off, and it’s soft to the touch. It’s incredibly lightweight — so much so that I often forget it’s even on my body — but it still provides good coverage all over. And I think it’s especially cute, too; the material reads as sophisticated and laid-back at the same time, and the black checks are a subtle but stylish design that doesn’t compete with the clothes I’m wearing underneath.

Style:Adjustable neck strap, waist tie| Material:Denim

Meherwan Irani, owner ofChai Paniin Asheville, North Carolina, and founder ofSpicewalla, has many different styles of BlueCut aprons, including this one made from selvage denim. “It’s soft,” he says. “It feels like it’s been worn in, even before you wear it in.” Still, it’s on the heavier side, which he prefers for the way it feels on, he says, as well as for the added protection: “I often grab a hot pan with the end of my apron, so I like something that has some heft to it.” (He notes that thecanvas apron, another favorite, is also on the heavier side and good for the same reason. And recipe developerTara O’Bradyhas one in canvas, too, and also says she likes the “heavy fabric.”)

Irani also likes the way the denim looks. “It feels as much like a clothing accessory as it does a utilitarian accessory,” he says. “There’s a little flair, a little style, which is nice if you’re gonna wear an apron.”

Style:Adjustable neck strap, waist tie| Material:Waxed cotton

Tilit’s waxed cotton apron came up a couple of times as a favorite of pro cooks. Recipe developer and cookbook authorAlexis deBoschneksays the coating “wicks grime right off of you” — but it’s still “not super-thick and heavy.” As such, she can wear it every day for a month before washing. “Other ones get disgusting,” she says. “This fabric doesn’t absorb liquid or splatters or stains in the same way as others. If you’re cooking a lot, that’s a really attractive quality.” O’Brady uses the same apron for heavy-duty cooking too, like preserving and frying — tasks where there’s a lot of water, sticky residue, and grease. She says that unlike others, this one doesn’t get your clothes wet through it and you can easily wipe gunk away. And deBoscnek notes a couple of other pluses: She says she likes the wide bib coverage (others have left her sides more exposed) and the pockets, which lay flat to the surface so they don’t feel bulky.

Style:Adjustable neck strap, waist tie| Material:Cotton

Alexandra Wight, owner and chef ofCrown Jewelin Great Diamond Island, Maine, is only five feet tall, with a petite frame, and this apron fits her better than any other she’s tried. You simply adjust the buttons on the neck to be higher up or lower down. “Longer aprons trap heat around my legs and make me claustrophobic. I like to have the air flow around my shins,” she says. She also appreciates the supersoft waffle weave, which she says feels like wearing a towel — soft, absorbent, and perfect for wiping down her hands as she works. “It even gets softer the more you wash it, too,” she says.

Style:Skirt| Material:Polyblend

“You need anentertainingapron, I think,” says chefCamille Becerra. For her, that’s this Casa Velasquez skirt that ties around the waist, lays flat, and provides “a good amount of coverage,” she notes. “The half is fine for most things. If I have a big day of cooking where I’m doing more work, I’ll wear a bib apron like Hedley & Bennett or Tilit.” But she appreciates the ability to throw this one on at the last minute when she’s been consumed with prepping all day and making sure everything is ready on time. Whether overjeansand aT-shirtor pretty dress, “it elevates your look,” she says.