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                      BERNARD CHAUS, INC. AND SUBSIDIARIES

                                                                    EXHIBIT 31.1

               CERTIFICATION PURSUANT TO RULE 13A-14(A)/15D-14(A)

I, Josephine Chaus, certify that:

     1.   I have reviewed this Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q of Bernard Chaus,
          Inc. for the three months ended September 30, 2004;

     2.   Based on my knowledge, this report does not contain any untrue
          statement of a material fact or omit to state a material fact
          necessary in order to make the statements made, in light of the
          circumstances under which such statements were made, not misleading
          with respect to the period covered by this report;

     3.   Based on my knowledge, the consolidated financial statements, and
          other financial information included in this report, fairly present in
          all material respects the financial condition, results of operations
          and cash flows of the registrant as of, and for, the periods presented
          in this report;

     4.   The registrant's other certifying officers and I are responsible for
          establishing and maintaining disclosure controls and procedures (as
          defined in Exchange Act Rules 13a-15(e) and 15d-15(e)) for the
          registrant and we have:

          (a)  designed such disclosure controls and procedures, or caused such
               disclosure controls and procedures to be designed under our
               supervision, to ensure that material information relating to the
               registrant, including its consolidated subsidiaries, is made
               known to us by others within those entities, particularly during
               the period in which this report is being prepared;

          (b)  evaluated the effectiveness of the registrant's disclosure
               controls and procedures and presented in this report our
               conclusions about the effectiveness of the disclosure controls
               and procedures, as of the end of the period covered by this
               report based on such evaluation; and

          (c)  disclosed in this report any change in the registrant's internal
               control over financial reporting that occurred during the
               registrant's most recent fiscal quarter that has materially
               affected, or is reasonably likely to materially affect, the
               registrant's internal control over financial reporting; and

     5.   The registrant's other certifying officers and I have disclosed, based
          on our most recent evaluation of internal control over financial
          reporting, to the registrant's auditors and the audit committee of the
          registrant's board of directors (or persons performing the equivalent
          functions):

          (a)  all significant deficiencies and material weaknesses in the
               design or operation of internal control over financial reporting
               which are reasonably likely to adversely affect the registrant's
               ability to record, process, summarize, and report financial
               information; and

          (b)  any fraud, whether or not material, that involves management or
               other employees who have a significant role in the registrant's
               internal control over financial reporting.

November 12, 2004
                             /s/ Josephine Chaus
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                             Josephine Chaus
                             Chairwoman of the Board and Chief Executive Officer
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