Anne Burrell Always Wore Skirts: Here's Why

Chef Anne Burrell, for much of her career, was known as much for her quirky fashion sense as she was for her culinary skills. In addition to her signature short, blond cut and bold, vibrant makeup, Burrell was also famous for rocking skirts more often than not. In the wake of her tragic death, which took place on June 17, 2025, fellow chef Carla Hall honored Burrell's love of skirts in a statement about her passing. "I absolutely loved working with Anne on Worst Cooks in America," wrote Hall (via TV Insider). "She was a fierce chef and instructor — rocking her custom skirts, mismatched socks, and that unforgettable big smile."

Prior to Burrell's passing (and last heartbreaking Instagram post), she spent ample time talking about her love of skirts. In April 2019, for example, Burrell took to Instagram to show off her impressive, colorful haul. Alongside a photo of a rack of brightly colored, patterned skirts, Burrell wrote: "A whole rack of cooking skirts makes me VERY happy!!!!" She also included the hashtags "#setlife #worstcooks #luckygirl and #ilovewhatido." One month earlier, Burrell showed off another one of her favorite cooking skirts on Facebook. "Today's cooking skirt!!! I just keep on trucking.... yeah I know- that was bad..." she captioned a photo of a trucker-themed skirt set atop a bold red background.

Basically? Skirts were an essential part of Burrell's wardrobe — here's why.

The world of professional chefs is largely thought of as a boys' club, but chef Anne Burrell didn't use her wardrobe as a means of fitting in. "This is also the reason why I wear skirts in the kitchen," Burrell shared during Rachael Ray's "I'll Sleep When I'm Dead" podcast. "It was a way always to sort of maintain my femininity. Yeah. I'm a badass girl chef — and I own that, and I love that — but I'm also a woman." Expanding on how she disliked being put in a box, she said, "I think that it's kind of funny that because you're a tough, strong woman, that you can't be kind and nice at the same time or feminine. ... She's either tough, or she's nice, or she's feminine. Like, why can't it just be all of those things? And why does it have to feel like a novel concept to have a woman that is all of those kind of things?"

Interestingly, that's not the only reason that Burrell, who was married to her husband, Stuart Claxton, for five years, gravitated to skirts over pants and other items of clothing. During a December 2007 interview with Restaurant Girl, Burrell revealed that her skirts had given her an unlikely boost early in her career. "The cowgirl skirts are a good luck charm when we do Iron Chef," she said. "I wore a kitty skirt one time and we lost, never again! I do wear a skirt everyday in the kitchen. I figure if all the old ladies in Italy wear dresses in the kitchen, why can't I wear a skirt in NYC? I have been doing it for so long now that I don't think I could go back to pants."

Anyone who followed chef Anne Burrell for any length of time knows that her affinity for skirts dated back several years. In 2015, Burrell even took a little break from filming "Worst Cooks in America" to show off more of her very colorful, and dare we say, impressive, collection of skirts. "Soooo many red skirts...... #worstcooks," she captioned a Facebook photo of a rack of all-red skirts and matching chef tops. Of course, her fans approved of her collection, with one admirer writing, "Love the red skirts! And you can rock them like no one can!!!! Go red team," in the comment section.

Therefore, it's not surprising that Burrell's fans were equally perplexed when she popped up wearing pants in 2016. In a Facebook ad for Nancy Boots, she donned a casual streetwear look, of which the star of the outfit was blue jeans. And though Burrell looked amazing in her 'fit, fans couldn't help but point out the obvious." I don't think I have ever seen you in pants! Always dresses and skirts," wrote one commenter. "You always look good no matter what though." A second wrote, "Look at you. This is a first. I have never seen you in [pants] or jeans except at Christmas on Bobby's special when you had on pj's. Looking good."