Grandma and even Mom wore kitchen aprons some of the time. This accessory is used today to keep your clothes clean of the stains from cooking and cleaning. That’s the same reason it was used in the past by the lady of the house, but in days gone by, it was a real necessity.

Back in Mom’s time and Grandma’s time, doing laundry was a much bigger chore than it is today. Besides Grandma didn’t have the huge wardrobe that you have and keeping that dress clean meant she couldn’t go without an apron. Wealthy women didn’t have to wear aprons, because they had maids and servants. The maids wore aprons! The lower and middle class women saved their small wardrobes and donned a kitchen apron.

Nothing was ever wasted in the lower and middle class lives of days gone by. Aprons were fashioned from feed sack and didn’t have a lot of styling, but were practical. Little pieces of rick rack and buttons and brightly colored fabrics were making a statement in the’20s and’30s. The waistless long frocks covered all but a few inches of hemline. The kitchen apron buttoned down the back.

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’60s 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.

Before the doctors’ white coats they were wearing aprons. Nuns’ habits were, and in some cases still are, protected by aprons. Nurses wore aprons as well as hospital technicians who did certain lab work. Children use their dad’s old shirts are aprons for finger painting and other art projects. Carpenters were aprons to hold tools and some short aprons to hold the tools are referred to as tool belts, but kitchen aprons are here to stay and are used once again in the modern kitchen as well as the professional kitchen.

When you were a little girl, you probably wanted to use mom’s neat new sewing machine and you learned to make your first apron. You were able to make the apron and begin your sewing skills. By junior high, you may have made another apron in home economics class as a quick project to learn more sewing techniques.

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!

Kitchen Aprons at Kitchen Aprons and Retro Kitchen Aprons