Thrown down by working women of the world decades ago, CARYN ROUSSEAU finds that the apron is making a domestic comeback in this asap video.
Apron from the 1950s. (AP Photo/HO/Courtesy of EllynAnne Geisel)
Consider it an update to 1950s housewife chic -- aprons are making a comeback.
Years after women untied the symbols of domestic armor, threw them down and marched into the workplace, trendy shops and Web sites are stocking kitschy hostess aprons, retro-patterned bib aprons and brightly colored half aprons.
The chain stop Anthropologie has more than three dozen aprons for sale on its Web site. Claire Steele, who named her boutique Jessie Steele after her apron-wearing grandmother, says she sells her vintage-inspired apron designs to women of all ages.
Aprons: Making a domestic comeback
"You don't have to throw away your apron," Steele says. "It doesn't have to be that dramatic. It's defining what it means for you. This is a natural thing in life. We're not supposed to be slaves to the kitchen. It's not where we belong, but it's something where we all need to eat and why don't we enjoy it and look good while we do it."
EllynAnne Geisel, author of "The Apron Book," says it's no surprise aprons are finding their way back into homes.
"Aprons got a bad rap for holding us back," Geisel says. But really, "aprons are this connector from one generation of women to the next."
___
Watch a history of the apron in this asap video..
___
Caryn Rousseau is asap writer based in Chicago.
___
Want to comment? Sound off at soundoffasap@ap.org .
©2007 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. Learn more about our Privacy Policy.
