8 Awesome Restaurant Uniforms of Yore

These days it's uncommon to see a restaurant worker wearing much of a uniform. Black aprons, pants and sneakers are fairly standard, and depending on the place, a polo or t-shirt might be in the mix, but modern dining establishments don't tend to make clothes a big part of their brand. That wasn't always the case, however. These photos from L.A. over the years show restaurant workers sporting some serious finery -- the headgear tends to be particularly amazing. And who knew theme restaurants dated all the way back to 1920?

At the Jail Café on Sunset in 1920, customers gave their orders to waiters dressed as prisoners.

Van de Kamp's waitresses dressed in keeping with the chain's Dutch heritage in 1921.

Westwood's Talk of the Town Restaurant, shown here in 1924, had its servers don gingham-lined aprons and headwraps for extra flair.

The uniform of this 1920s waitress shows a bit of flapper influence.

This Buffington's waitress sported the restaurant's trademark military-striped sleeves in 1942.

A soda fountain waitress rocking a fresh headband serves a customer a banana split in 1949.

A waitress from Hody's Restaurant models her 1962 uniform for the camera, crisp white tennies and all.

Waitresses in their polka-dotted uniforms picket outside Jan's on Beverly in 1984.