The apron, a fashion item still used widely today, has been around for several centuries. It makes you wonder the history of the item and where it came from. Currently, the apron has made a large comeback due to new popularity in cooking. Much of this is thanks to sitcoms, cooking shows, and youtube. This has also created more popular designs for these fashions.
In the beginning, around the 16th-century aprons were used as decoration. For things such as celebrations and festivals among ancient peoples. It was also used as protection for Native Americans who needed clothing that took only a small amount of cloth.
But the large popularity for aprons started in Europe. As they were used by blacksmiths, blacksmiths, butlers, cobblers, and weapon makers. Aprons were something that could help one to tell their work position in the Middle Ages. In the 1500's they were popular in Europe as women started wearing them with fancy decorations and jewelry. By the 1600s politics erupted and made the apron a more defined puritan style.
Although the history for aprons in America can date all the way back to Native American use. It didn't truly reach its peak until the 1950s. Right after the second world war, the apron became a symbol for domesticism. It was truly the sign of a modern American housewife. It still is to this day even. There were even men wearing bib aprons while barbecuing, often with written statements about 'dad's hidden talents.'.
Sadly, around the 1960s the use of the apron depleted drastically. It was around this time that women found being a housewife boring. So, the idea of the apron died as well as the 1950's housewife. It wasn't until later that the apron came back to style through the use of modern technology. The apron truly does have an interesting history.
