Every type of commerce and service in one place — 7 chapters, Kitchen and culinary, Front of house, Hotel and accommodation and the rest, with the plates and an inventory to download.
This is the family where the uniform's audience is a customer, and that changes everything about how it is cut. Nothing here needs to be legible at three hundred yards or to survive a fire. It needs to be read across a counter, at conversational distance, by someone deciding in a second or two how to treat the person wearing it.
So the design work happens above the waist and it is almost entirely about status — whose status, and relative to whom. A footman's livery advertised his employer's wealth rather than his own. A waiter's black-and-white is deliberately close to what the diner is wearing and deliberately not the same. A name badge, arriving in the 1980s, put a first name on a chest and called it friendliness.
Seven chapters. The contents are public; the plates and the inventory are for subscribers.
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You are viewing a free sample. The full collection contains 2,000 images of 7 uniform subtypes and an inventory spreadsheet with metadata. Free for personal and commercial use. No attribution required. Share individual images, never the whole collection.
Up to five plates from each of the 7 chapters, in full, free to anyone. Every one is credited to the collection that holds it and links back to the record.
Kitchen and culinary
Chef Norman Musa Wikimedia Commons · 16006068 · 2011-05-21 · Andysprac · CC BY-SA 3.0Chef Khaled at work - Flickr - Al Jazeera English Chef Khaled at work · 17501077 · 2010-03-09 12:47 · Omar Chatriwala of Al Jazeera English · CC BY-SA 2.0Chef Kevin Doherty Wikimedia Commons · 8942353 · 09/09/08 · Rouxdaddy · CC0Joe Barza Wikimedia Commons · 15031129 · 2009-10-12 · Rifo8545 · CC0"YOU'RE THE DOCTOR, CHEF." - NARA - 516289 U.S. National Archives and Records Administration · 17206519 · between 1941 and 1945date QS:P571,+1941-00-00T00:00:00Z/8,P1319,+1941-00-00T00:00:00Z/9,P1326,+1945-00-00T00:00:00Z/9 · creator not recorded · Public domain
Front of house
A Rose wine bring by waiter hand Wikimedia Commons · 106427098 · 2021-06-09 19:18:56 · Peachyeung316 · CC BY-SA 4.0HK CWB 銅鑼灣 Causeway Bay 記利佐治街 Great George Street 翡翠明珠廣場 JP Plaza mall shop 上海姥姥 Shanghai Lao Lao Restaurant waiter uniform November 2021 SS2 001 Wikimedia Commons · 112874935 · 2021-11-27 13:38:22 · Simiaxmhwua 00 · CC BY-SA 4.0Beer, restaurant, drinking, waiter Fortepan 18469 Wikimedia Commons · 49560204 · 1937 · FOTO:Fortepan — ID 18469: Adományozó/Donor: Unknown. archive copy at the Wayback Machine · Public domainHK Restaurant Uniform 食肆White shirt 白制服Flip-flop人字拖鞋 Shorts三個骨褲Martini Bike腳踏單車Box rice 盒飯盒Outdoor waiter 交送貨 Wikimedia Commons · 6100683 · 2009-03-05 13:00:30 · MK707NG · CC BY-SA 3.0Wedstrijd wijn vaardigheid voor kellners, NL-HlmNHA 5400465051 Wikimedia Commons · 78074108 · 1953 · Boer, Cees de (1918-1985) · CC0
Hotel and accommodation
HK Sai Ying Pun Des Voeux Road West Ramada HK Hotel ballboy service Wikimedia Commons · 10571978 · 2010-06-06 12:17:05 · Vinnyauria · CC BY-SA 3.0Kuala Lumpur Malaysia Hotel-Porter-of-Renaissance-Hotel-01 Wikimedia Commons · 34241204 · 2014-01-16 · CEphoto, Uwe Aranas · CC BY-SA 3.0Raphael-Resort Bellman Raphael-Resort Bellman · 3916425 · 2007-02-12 12:48 · eternalconceptspr · CC BY 2.0Berea College Bellboy-034 (20553627728) Bellboy-034 · 58297844 · 2009-04-24 16:14 · IMCBerea College · CC BY 2.0HK Disney's Hollywood Hotel Bellboy porter n Green Taxi Wikimedia Commons · 8274653 · 2009-10-24 13:53:20 · Bvld11 · CC BY-SA 3.0
Retail
Employee Name Badge Wikimedia Commons · 124263347 · 2022-10-16 · Batidei · CC BY-SA 4.0Several law enforcement explorers wearing name tags U.S. Marshals Office of Public Affairs · 46707224 · 2013-07-10 06:32:57 · Shane T. McCoy · Public domainUS Navy 070728-N-9928E-021 Aviation Ordnanceman 3rd Class Mark Rushing from the Nimitz-class aircraft carrier USS John C. Stennis (CVN 74) helps makes a name tag for a student at an elementary school in Hong Kong Wikimedia Commons · 8215298 · Taken on 28 July 2007 · U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist Seaman Josue L. Escobosa · Public domainWhite House Conference Badge Worn By Ethel L. Payne Anacostia Community Museum · ACM-1991_0076_0114-r1 · 1965 · creator not recorded · CC0White House Conference Badge Worn By Ethel L. Payne Anacostia Community Museum · ACM-1991_0076_0114-r2 · 1965 · creator not recorded · CC0
Domestic service and livery
A Mexican "criada" house servant All the work about native households is performed by such women A Personal postcard collection · 194595432 · circa 1915date QS:P,+1915-00-00T00:00:00Z/9,P1480,Q5727902 · creator not recorded · Public domainIndoor Servants at Bessborough House (8124267819) Indoor Servants at Bessborough House · 24251976 · 1908-09-28 · National Library of Ireland on The Commons · No restrictionsMrs. Seely's cook book; a manual of French and American cookery, with chapters on domestic servants, their rights and duties and many other details of household management (1902) (14767335855) Wikimedia Commons · 44009049 · 1902 · Internet Archive Book Images · No restrictionsMaid servant dress with cap 1885 Historical Museum Frankfurt · 73134621 · 2018-06-26 14:38:59 · Foto by Horst Ziegenfusz The copyright of the foto is with the Historical Museum Frankfurt who decided to release these media files under cc-by-sa license during GLAM on Tour Frankfurt 2018. · CC BY-SA 4.0Livery trimming Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum · CHSDM-31DC5F18F8AD2-000001 · 18th century · creator not recorded · CC0
Personal care and grooming
Peddling. Barber Shop WDL10750 Wikimedia Commons · 31370831 · between 1865 and 1872date QS:P571,+1850-00-00T00:00:00Z/7,P1319,+1865-00-00T00:00:00Z/9,P1326,+1872-00-00T00:00:00Z/9 · Kun, Aleksandr L., 1840-1888 · Public domainTexasRichardson barberShop Wikimedia Commons · 4515972 · circa 1920date QS:P,+1920-00-00T00:00:00Z/9,P1480,Q5727902 · Photographer not credited · Public domainUSS John C. Stennis barbershop United States Navy image US NAVY · 5233331 · 2008-11-10 · U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist 3rd Class Josue L. Escobosa · Public domainHair cut in the street Wikimedia Commons · 5668257 · 2008-12-04 · Stougard · CC BY-SA 3.0Istanbul barbers San Francisco Call, January 6, 1907 · 7980608 · 1907-01-06 · Francis · Public domain
Funerary
Connelly-Mckinley Undertakers (7618740196) Connelly-Mckinley Undertakers · 100040508 · 2012-07-19 12:11 · Kurt Bauschardt from Edmonton, Canada · CC BY-SA 2.0Pompe funeble Umuco de Rumonge Wikimedia Commons · 116551609 · 2022-03-23 17:18:45 · Arthur Nkunzimana · CC BY-SA 4.0
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Hedda Maartens — MA in fashion design, then eleven years in the industry designing for people who had no say in what they wore. Now writes about prescribed dress: how a garment was made to work, and what it was made to make a person into.
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