Everyone makes fun of me wearing an apron all day. Then I happened to think...other than a butcher apron to b-b-q, I don't recall seeing anyone in an apron any more? Do any of you wear an apron? I have to make mine (or wear a butcher apron) because I haven't seen an apron in the stores in years. Wonder why everyone has gotten away from it? Or is it that other folks just aren't as messy at cooking and cleaning as I am?

-- Karen (mountains_mama2@hotmail.com), March 31, 2002

Answers

I don't. Guess I just never got in the habit of it. Most of the clothes I wear around the house are old ones anyways!

-- Melissa in SE Ohio (me@home.net), March 31, 2002.

Since I tend to get INTO my cooking, an apron is a must! I think some days, I wear more flour than gets into the bread! I prefer the butcher apron, but also have the "regular" type as well, for company.

-- Judi (ddecaro@snet.net), March 31, 2002.

Hello Karen! I'm so glad to hear that someone else lives in her aprons. They are my "trademark". I have old heavy cotton ones from a military kitchen for working outside in, and a few for regular housework. Then, I have my "goin to town" aprons, and my egg selling aprons. You can find them on ebay. I have bought a few of them at very good prices. I also make someand an apron isn't an apron without good sized pockets!

-- Toni (mothergoosefarm@hotmail.com), March 31, 2002.

I make my own aprons since the store bought are so skimpy. And, with big pockets. I don't wear them all the time...just when I have "good" clothes on. My everyday clothes are pretty ratty. I've seen ladies working at the deli section of the big grocery stores wearing aprons.

-- Ardie/WI (ardie54965@hotmail.com), March 31, 2002.

only when Im extracting honey

-- Stan (sopal@net-pert.com), March 31, 2002.

Wear one all day 5 days a week in my automotive machine shop. BTW -- wife makes 'em for me.

-- Wayne in nw AL (wtap@starband.net), March 31, 2002.

Only when I cook.

-- Terri (hooperterri@prodigy.net), March 31, 2002.

Folks don't actually laugh at me but they do smile when they see me coming. I wear an apron everyday. I make my own too cause I'm fluffy and most store boughten ones are right skimpy. I wear dresses all the time and it keeps them from gettin worn out lookin so fast. My favorite one is made from a Daisy Kingdom pattern. It wraps all the way around me. I have one in denim with a huge pocket that Iwear to milk in. While we are talking about garments that make folks smile. Does anybody wear bonnets. I wear one to do yard work because they shade my face so much better than a hat or cap and they dont blow off in the wind. I ordered a straw bonnet off the internet that I wear to the store. I'll be 53 next month and figure I've earned the right to be comfortable. Let'm smile. Blessings Peggy

-- peggy (peggyan2@msn.com), March 31, 2002.

Yes, my mother used to make them for me now I make them for her. My current favorite one was made by a friend from a panel(heavy & nice looking). I've had friends come over and they always comment about the apron. I think I started wearing them because I'd start dinner w/o taking off work clothes...I always change later.

-- DW (djwallace@sotc.net), March 31, 2002.

Yes, I wear an apron a lot. Not only when I'm cooking, but even when I work outside, although it does look a little strange with shorts. I am messy and it really keeps my clothes clean. I am amazed when I see all the dirt on my apron that is not on my clothes.

I think it is a habit, but it is a good habit to get into IMHO. I wear a chef-type apron with a bib. Only have one everyday and one "dress". So I wash it often. Need to make somemore, but just haven't gotten arount to it.

-- connie in nm (karrelandconnie@msn.com), March 31, 2002.

Oh Peggy, I feel like I've found a bit of a kindred spirit in you! My birthday is also next month, and my aprons truely do make me smile. I'll be 47 and I also feel I have earned the right to be comfortable! Would love to hear more about thoe bonnets! Toni

-- Toni (mothergoosefarm@hotmail.com), March 31, 2002.

Karen------I have bought aprons at auctions for years---& I have aprons for all occasions----most have meaning to me--as I probably once knew the older woman who made the apron & wore it--

So I have a fancy red net apron I wear at Christams---I have all sorts & all colors---& many with smocking----some with chicken scratch stitching--some with all types of fancy work-----

Each apron has a story behind it---& a memory---sometimes I think if I wear the apron from the women I knew who were such good cooks maybe it will even help my cooking! ha!

I have given some to my daughter who also likes them & appreciates the menories that come with them----& all the facny work put into them----

So I wear aprons on special occasions-----but don't wear a work apron all the time---

I love old aprons---I love to find them at auctions & garage sales--- & know the story about the woman who owned them-----yesterday I bought a box of old aprons at an auction---& since we have not unloaded the truck yet---I haven't had a chance to look at them closely yet----can't wait---I know some were made out of checked material with chicken scratch stiching on them--- I know the lady who owned them died this past month--I also bought a crazy quilt she had made--& some other double knit quilts she had made---some of the double knit ones could win the "UGLIEST QUILT AWARD"---I love those kind---kind of like I adopt them & give them a home---cause no one else sees their beauty!!! ha!!

Can't wait to get the truck unloaded from the auction & check out my goodies----

Hubby & I buy at auctions/etc/ & then resale to dealers----well I think most of what I bought yesterday--has already found it's home!!!

Also found a box filled with buttons---I love buttons!!!!! But so does my daughter----so I promised this box to her---some really nice old ones-in it!

I will share my box of aprons with my daughter also--

-- Sonda (sgbruce@birch.net), March 31, 2002.

I make my own aprons with big pockets. When I bought the fabric for the one I'm wearing, the lady that cut it asked what I'd be making. When I told her, she looked at me really funny, like she couldn't believe people actually wore aprons anymore, or that people only buy fabric to make curtains or quilts.

I love aprons. I think they began to go out of style when more women began to work out of the home. I would not know what to do without an apron. Not being able to find a pattern I liked, I cut up an old one of my grandmother's and use that as a pattern. I make the pockets bigger and the apron longer.

Reasons for wearing an apron:

A ready towel when nothing else is handy.

A pocket for all the little things I pick up that need to go somewhere...Legos, buttons, pins, etc. that I find lying around.

A pocket for eggs, clothespins, a handful of fresh peas.

Dip a corner in some water to cool my face on a hot day, or to wash a child's face.

Dry a child's tears when he has gotten hurt in some way.

To keep my clothes clean--I don't have many, and I need them to stay respectable-looking for a quick trip to town. Aprons will be a must this summer especially, since I gave away all my maternity clothes a year ago (a sure way to guarantee a "surprise").

I am all for aprons, and I don't care if I'm different from other people in this respect. Actually, some women have looked a little envious at my "freedom".

-- Cathy N. (eastern Ontario) (homekeeper86@sympatico.ca), March 31, 2002.

I always wear aprons while in the kitchen and am just getting ready to make a couple of longer ones with pockets for wearing outside (gardening and such).

Peggy, I wear a bonnet too - not only shade the face better but shades the back of the neck very well also. I'm 45 and feel the same way about being comfortable now. When we first moved to this area, my husband and I went to an auction in Michigan. The ground was frozen that day but if it had thawed any at all we would have been up to our knees in mud at this place. There were a lot of Amish there and most of the women had on big, black mud boots with their dresses. I told my husband "these are my kind of women!!" - ha ha.

-- Terry - NW Ohio (aunt_tm@hotmail.com), March 31, 2002.

Always. If I don't it's all over me and ruins my clothes. I even made some realy nice ones I can take with me for different occations. I am very messy so I want my clothes to stay nice. I have never bought one, but I have never looked for one either. I have quite a few, and I don't care if anyone makes fun of me, because in the end I am the one that is clean and they have stains on their nice clothes!!!

-- Micheale from SE Kansas (mbfrye@totelcsi.net), March 31, 2002.

I put mine on first thing in the morning and it is not hung up until I am getting ready for bed. I heartily agree with Cathy N. reasons. Aprons to me have always been a symbol of a mother, her kitchen, warm and loving memories. Something that I wanted to give my family. Many young mothers do not wear them, but when one does come to visit, I like to send them home with an apron to just try out. Again, a symbol of encouragement.

-- Marie in Central WA (Mamafila@aol.com), March 31, 2002.

Hi Karen,

I am so sad to hear about all of you , ALL my aprons are packed in the stupid storage, so I am stuck like a plucked chicken. As for bonnets, I am making some for my girls and me to wear this year. They wore bonnets as toddlers ( from birth to age 3) when ever they were outside, so they both love hats, and are begging for little house on the prairie outfits... not your typical twentith century girls...LOL

-- Kristean Thompson (pigalena_babe@yahoo.com), March 31, 2002.

A long, long time ago I wore aprons--the fancy little things that didn't do anything. Even made fancy aprons for kids' Sunday school teachers. A few years ago I began to wear practical aprons in the kitchen. My mom made one for me (my favorite) from an old bleached flour sack. It fits just right, so I am using it as a pattern to make more. A year ago I found printed panels for aprons, gingerbread recipe, etc. on the panel--and made for myself, mom, and the sisters- in-law, daughter, and a friend. I love aprons for when I cook. It does look rather odd wearing an apron over jeans!

-- GibsonGirl in s.e.Illinois (bobtravous@email.com), March 31, 2002.

Yes, I were both, and yes for all the reasons you guys have listed! In His Grace, sissy

-- Sissy (iblong2Him@ilovejesus.net), April 01, 2002.

We wear aprons whenever we are baking or cooking. I have even made aprons for all the children (several in fact). When it is baking time the little ones all go to the cupboard to get their aprons on.

They look so cute!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Marsha in PA--wife to my sweetie Loren--Mamma to 12 blessings!!!!!!

-- Marsha (Thankful4Jesus@excite.com), April 01, 2002.

I don't wear an apron, but I should, as I usually end up drying my hands on my t-shirt tail! I'm making a nice one for my mother-in-law to go in her new (remodeled) kitchen, and then I'm going to hunt for a nice soft cotton and make myself one.

I have to comment on the bonnets, also. While we were cleaning out my mother's house last fall, I brought home with me two things - A suit from the 1940's, and a green flowered bonnet. They were given to me by my neighbor (in her 80s when I was in high school, she and husband now both deceased) to use in a school play, and she didn't want them back (suit didn't fit Russell anymore, had lots of bonnets). I had kept them because they were hers, and was planning on keeping them still, but we decided that her grandson (in his 40s now) who had been wonderful helping out after daddy died, would enjoy them. I carried his grandfather's suit and his grandmother's bonnet to him, and he just loved them. He said he would have to guard them closely, or his mother would take them! As much as I miss her bonnet, I am so happy knowing that her family treasures it also.

-- Christine in OK (cljford@mmcable.com), April 02, 2002.

My mother always wantes us girls to wear aprons to protect our clothes. If we forgot to put them on, mother would be upset and spank us with a wooden spoon.

Anyway, I got into the habit of wearing aprons as a child and I have continued since.

-- Martha Smith (Martha@hotmail.com), June 13, 2002.

I am a middle aged guy and have worn a ladies style apron all my life, I was made to wear one as a boy by my mother and I guess it has sort of stuck. I wear one all the time and would feel undressed without one now. I have long got over sneers and strange looks and am convinced that a lot of men would would love to wear pretty aprons if they had the nerve. I am lucky in as far as I have an Aunt who makes mine and sends me one every Birthday and Christmas without fail. Robert

-- Robert Lloyd (robbylloyd4@yahoo.com), August 11, 2002.

I am a bib/waist apron-wearing guy, because I love to wear them. It protects me and looks sharp. All men should cook &/or clean in one regularly for their ladies....:))

-- Jeff in NJ (jscotlenrd@comcast.net), August 15, 2002.

i am amish mennonite and wear an apron daily for cleanly ness and for modesty.......i alao make and sell aprons in all styles.....donna

-- donna j. (theamishplace@yahoo.com), August 16, 2002.