Apron Dress Up | Mode

The apron, the simplest piece of clothing, is a unisex workhorse. Its primary purpose is protection—be it from hot iron poker or a splash of sauce—but it’s not aggressive, nor does it have the military connotations of the dumbbells that have been making the rounds of late. This is useful; one could collect and store items in their folds, and they could be class or trade identifiers.

An apron easily adds a touch of rustic or rustic charm, but can also suggest darker desires. The provocative version of Latex has appeared in several collections this season, and the saucy French waitress is a familiar stereotypical trope.

Fashion adopted aprons long ago. They were very popular in the 1940s; when materials are scarce, a small piece of fabric can add interest to the outfit. Decades later, the simplicity of the ’60s-style “cookie-cutter” dresses mirrored the style of the apron; in the ’70s these covers were sometimes borrowed from work wear, especially the top lipped overalls.

It is interesting that the apron should emerge again as the world begins to tentatively return to the post-lockdown office, because above all aprons are associated with the workforce of the present. You wear an apron when involved with work in progress, big or small. As one punster put it: “an apron is just a cloak on the back.”

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