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Tuesday, May 17, 2005

The Apron Society

I read recently in a magazine that aprons are making a comeback. Apparently even some of the most popular clothing stores are selling them. This got me to thinking about the women in my family.

I am two generations removed from regular apron use. My own mother certainly never wore an apron. I think I remember my grandmother wearing aprons, but I can’t say for sure. Most of my memories are directly linked to photographs and I can’t think of any pictures of her with one on. But I have evidence that she must have used them at one time.

My fiancé and I are living in her house because she is in a nursing home. During the cleaning process after we moved in, I found two aprons in a drawer in the china cabinet. One was plain, made of dark paisley material, and the other was fancy, with yellow organza trim.

I have trouble imagining an apron society. Did the ladies wear aprons outside of the home? Why would you need different classes of aprons? It intrigues me.

So I tied on the plain apron over my jeans one afternoon while doing housework. When my fiancĂ© got home from work he deemed it “cute.” Plus, the pocket allows for keeping tissues and my cell phone handy.