Why are chefs hats so tall?

[worldmachine]

I have often wondered why traditional chefs hats are shaped the way they are, i have heard various different explanations for this. One story is that the hat originated in Greek orthodox monasteries where chefs would take refuge during the middle ages and wanted to distinguish themselves from the monks.

Another story is that the height of the hat is to dissipate heat from the head. Does anyone know any other stories about the origin of these hats?

 

[GadgetGuy]

I'm more a believer of the 2nd story over the first one.

Food service kitchens CAN be & ARE excessively hot at times, what with all those major commercial cooking appliances, and then you have the long dishmachine, which also produces heat from the extremely hot water used to wash & sanitize the dishes!!

 

[Berties]

loads of different stories but the height,number of pleats,and even colour can determine experience or rank,some say that you should all wear a forge hat not the traditional torques as it is the junior or commis chef apparel, and as we are still all learning we should all wear the same
the same goes for the length of apron the longer was given to the more senior members