Retro Kitchen Aprons - A Very Brief History

Before your grandmother started wearing kitchen aprons, wearing an apron was more a necessity than a fashion statement. The kitchen apron was originally a very important essential wardrobe item. Up in the morning, get dressed and put your apron on! It was a way of life.

Women of the middle class did all their own work and in order to keep their clothes clean, they wore their kitchen aprons all day long. Lower class women may have owned only two dresses and keeping one as clean as possible was very important as well as having one as a backup. Women who had servants did not ever wear aprons. They didn’t have a need, but the servants wore aprons.

The first aprons were made of feed sacks and were not very stylish. They were decorated with simple rick rack and buttons if those items were available and either tied at the back or buttoned down the back. The aprons showed just a few inches of hemline in the 1920s and 1930’s. Wasting was not a practice during these hard times so kitchen aprons were made from any fabrics available.

But the fifties showed that the kitchen apron was a real fashion statement. The half apron became a popular style and tied tightly at the waist. Magazines showed the hostess wearing a cute little apron at the dinner parties as did the TV shows of the times. The magazines showed more women wearing aprons than not wearing them. Vintage clothing shops and Ebay display dozens of these aprons of the past.

In the 1960s the full length apron came back and captured the heart of the slogan industry. Smart, cute little sayings were written on the kitchen apron and you were even invited to “Kiss the Cook”. Even dad cashed in on these as the Sunday backyard bar-b-ques continued to grow in popularity. The kitchen apron went to the yard, but still never to the stores or down the street.

Technicians, nurses, old time doctors, nuns, school children and carpenters have had their turn with aprons. Some will continue, but some will not, the cook at home or in the professional kitchen will still find that the kitchen apron serves a useful purpose.

You may have made aprons in the past. Patterns are still available, but your first project at home was a simple cutout and a chance to use your mom’s sewing machine. Vintage patterns are available. Do they still teach sewing in home economics? Learning to make a kitchen apron is a simple project that can incorporate a few sewing techniques for the beginner.

Practical, nostalgic, cute and fun, the kitchen apron will never go out of style, regardless of which style you choose. White tops are saved from spaghetti sauce when you keep the kitchen apron covering your decent clothes. Laundry day is less challenging when you don’t have to get food stains from grease splatter out of your blouse. The kitchen apron is here and probably always will be!