Gordene MacKenzie vividly remembers the first thing she made in her 1960s junior-high home economics class: an apron.
"Women were channeled at that time to become homemakers," said MacKenzie, director of the women's studies department at Merrimack College. "Aprons were like harnesses on women."
Banished from American kitchens for 40 years, swishy aprons have re-emerged as must-have kitchen couture for today's at-home hostess. Women are searching for stylish aprons to match their decorative pillows and cocktail napkins at local home stores like Culinary Concepts in Andover, North Coast in Manchester-by-the-Sea, Pamplemousse in Salem, Mass., and Souffles in Newburyport. And some women are buying too-cute aprons at clothing retailers, like Anthropologie, to wear over jeans even when they're not in the kitchen.
"It's not, 'Why aprons?' It's 'Why not?'" said Swampscott apron designer Lynne Rutkowski. "Women have become more comfortable with themselves. There's no stigma with wearing an apron now. And if you can make something pretty, women are more likely to put it on. It all comes back to quality: if you're serving Beef Wellington, why wear a $3.95 apron?"
The apron dates as far back as the Garden of Eden, as referenced in Genesis from the Old Testament.
"Once Adam and Eve took a bite of the apple, they realized that they were naked and covered up. They took fig leaves and fashioned themselves aprons," said EllynAnne Geisel, apron designer and author of "The Apron Book: Making, Wearing, and Sharing a Bit of Cloth and Comfort."
The image of this little piece of protective fabric changed from purely utilitarian to highly stylized over the years. Many aprons were rich in decorative detail from the 1930s through the 1950s when they were considered a status symbol, noted apron designer Janice Baldes.
"They looked to the apron as the zenith (of expressing) creativity," Geisel, 58, said of the 1950s housewives. "But in the '60s, aprons stood for what held us back as females. I just didn't think it had to do with people clamoring to be in the working world, but some people felt that those ties really did represent strangulation."
But aprons are regaining popularity among contemporary women comfortable with their own personal pluralism.
"Just because I make a six-figure income doesn't mean I can't be a gracious hostess," said apron designer Elizabeth Scokin. "I'm in my 40s and I grew up during women's lib - that was my mother's era. I lived through that and I am very empowered by my femininity. Don't let society tell you that you're less of a woman or subservient because you cook or wear an apron. Any woman that's confident would answer the door in an apron and Manolo Blahniks. It's all about embracing your inner-glam."
Scokin envisions young city-dwelling working women entertaining in "Give Me Sugar" aprons, which cost $100. However, the original inspiration for the line was Scokin's Southern grandmother, who owned an exact replica of the modern line.
"My grandmother would answer the door in her black sheath dress, pearl necklace and apron. She used it truly as a hostess apron: never to cook in, just to look sassy at the door. My grandmother didn't cook, she fluffed the table," Scokin said. "That's what women are doing today. This is really the year of the hostess; entertaining in the home is big again."
This is also the year of the crafts movement, the year of the celebrity chef, and the year of nesting, according to apron designer Carrie Sommer.
"We work so hard, and we are so busy that when we come home we want to stay home," said Sommer, 43. "I had one customer at an event this year tell me that as soon as she comes home from work, the first thing she does is take off her shoes and then she puts on an apron. For her, that one act signifies that her workday is over and it is time to relax and spend time with her family. We've become homebodies, but we aren't frumpy. We still want to be in style and stay fashionable."
Designing independence
Aprons once were a symbol of gender inequality. But aprons are a symbol of independence for several female designers. These apron makers are their own bosses, running their own businesses. Some are going for gold, while others are claiming a small bit of authority just for themselves.
"I do have another job, but I'm in charge of this. It's my own little product and I'm the sales person, the president and the designer," said Newbury resident Jane Boyer of Stylin' in the Kitchen.
Modest about her talents - "I make them on my sewing machine and I'm as slow as slow can be" - Boyer's production level is low. She sews and experiments with different fabrics and paints when she can. She's made roughly 50 aprons of varying styles - which sell for $35 at Souffles and Russell Orchards in Ipswich - since she launched her business roughly a year ago.
"Some of them are a little flirty. A niece of mine has a flirty one and she likes entertaining in it," Boyer said. "I think a lot of fashion is fun. Particularly with younger women; they have a sense of fun in dressing with different layers."
Swampscott resident Lynne Rutkowski, who launched her business last June (www.lynneswhims.com), is ramping up for a bigger operation by acquiring additional sewing and sales help. Several stores, like Pamplemousse, carry her $39.95 aprons and other businesses, like Souffles, have incorporated the aprons in their employee uniforms.
Rutkowski's focus was on raising her three children - ages 14, 15, and 16 - until this past spring. The director of her daughter's play at the Marblehead Little Theater asked Rutkowski to sew 50 matching dresses for all the actresses. She realized if she had time to do all that work, she had time to start up a business.
Rutkowski's own mother noted there was a hole in the market for cute aprons and the Swampscott resident decided to fill it. She gets a thrill out of bargaining at New York City fabric stores and can whip of an apron in 30 minutes flat.
"They are made to be worn and get dirty. I look for durable fabric that you can wash," Rutkowski said. "That's the best part: buying the fabric."
Today's trendy apron designers
Apron Memories, Smoochie, $45, www.apronmemories.com
EllynAnne Geisel of Pueblo, Colo., is at the forefront of the apron movement. Despite staying home for 24 years to raise her two sons, Geisel donned an apron for the first time in 1999. From there, the 58-year-old went on to spend four years collecting people's memories associated with aprons for her traveling apron exhibit and corresponding book, "Apron Chronicles: A Patchwork of American Recollections." What followed was a slew of public appearances, another book and her own line of vintage-style aprons.
"Bree (on 'Desperate Housewives') wore two of my aprons this past season and in the apron world, that is very big news," Geisel said. "Tying on an apron now represents the creation of an oasis from chaos of what life has become in the everyday world. When you open the door to your abode, you should be entering a zone of conversation and not confrontation."
Bagolitas, Holiday '06 Apron, $38, www.bagolitas.com
Janice Baldes was a bored graphic designer looking for a new creative venture when she dug out her old sewing machine. From there, a handbag business was born. The 33-year-old mother from Iowa added aprons to her repertoire last fall, as well as a staff of more than 60 other mothers looking for "something more," just as she was.
"I think that aprons are returning to fashion due to a return in family values: we're getting back in our kitchens and bringing families together, starting at the dinner table," Baldes said. "My grandmother handed down a very basic blue gingham apron to me with some cross-stitch that I will treasure always. It is so powerful to think that maybe someday one of mine will be handed down and filled with memories as well."
BellaPamella, Eunice Apron in Polka White Fabric, $40, www.bellapamella.com
For years, Pam Mariutto of Minneapolis worked 12-hour days as an art director for an ad agency while raising her three children. When the 49-year-old later got downsized out of her job, she decided to fill the void of fashionable aprons. Mariutto believes that the disappearance of the apron was a necessary one in order for it to be accepted again.
"We went through a time where women struggled so much to be a respected and viable part of the executive world, they needed to reject the trappings that put them in another place," Mariutto said. "Since we didn't struggle to prove what our moms did, we don't reject the apron, but have a curiosity about it. And actually enjoy reading up on the way things are supposed to be done as determined by generations of housekeeping experts."
Everyday Chic, Fishy Full Apron, $32.95 and Blue Floral Hostess Apron, $24.95, www.everydaychicdesigns.com
Belmont native Alison Dallon recently moved from Washington, D.C., to Coralville, Iowa, where her husband attends medical school. The 29-year-old decided to start up a handbag and apron company, as she could run the business out of her home.
"I was used to getting dressed up and looking stylish for work each day. It made me feel good about myself. As a stay-at-home mom, I still wanted to feel good in my own skin," Dallon said. "Today's woman wants to feel good about herself no matter where she is - from the large corporate office to her tiny kitchen at home."
Haute Hostess Aprons, Glam It Up Luxe, $300, www.elizabethscokinproductions.com
Celebs like P. Diddy, Rachael Ray and Kelly Preston love the luxury aprons made by Nashville, Tenn., designer Elizabeth Scokin, a former couture model and divorced mother of four. Scokin made only 75 of these handmade, black-on-black ribbon applique aprons, which are dry-clean only.
"I can spend days getting ready for a party," Scokin said. "But there are lots of time when I run out of time ... and I'm in the kitchen with my robe on. I would think, 'How great would it be to have an apron that looks like my favorite cocktail dress to throw on over jeans and a T-shirt?' We women don't always have time to make ourselves look beautiful. I don't care who you are, you do want to look as beautiful as the house and food."
Jessie Steele, Half Eva Pink Paris, $35.09, Bib Ava Cherries Red, $37.29, and Half Carmen Red Floral, $32.89, www.jessiesteele.com
Helena Steele and her daughter, Claire, launched this well-known California apron company in 2002. Their colors are bright and their styles flirty. The company's name honors Helena's apron-clad grandmother, Jessie. The hostess aprons are sold in more than 800 stores and featured on television shows like "Oprah" and "Desperate Housewives."
Kitchen Catwalk, Catwalk Vixen apron, $45, www.kitchencatwalk.com
This machine-washable apron is bringing sexy back to the kitchen. Phoenix designer Mitzie Lewis-Warner decided in 2004 to create her own line of "cookture" aprons after she bought a perfect party-hosting apron from a vintage boutique in Philadelphia.
"I think aprons are hot because of 'Desperate Housewives' and because they're fun to have," Lewis-Warner said. "I can feel cute when cooking or doing chores around the house in my leopard apron. It's fun that you can find adorable aprons that you can feel good in."
Kitsch'n Glam, Jubilee hostess apron, $41.80 and Mademoiselle full apron, $61.60, www.kitschnglam.com
Anna Michelle Wang's reversible creations should be worn with hip jeans and stilettos while entertaining friends or just heating leftovers. Wang, 30, launched her line in December 2004, after working as a photographer, make-up artist and stylist. She believes the country's obsession with celebrity chefs and the industry has renewed interests in home entertaining.
Sommer Designs, Cardinal Dot and Marmalade hostess aprons, $36, www.sommerdesigns.com
Carrie Sommer, a California mother of three, created her apron line last spring for women who liked her bright fabric combinations but didn't want to drop $72 on her handbags. Smart move, as her hostess aprons accounted for 45 percent of sales in 2006.
"The same women who are buying aprons are the ones who are interested in home entertaining, cocktail parties and cooking," Sommer, 43, said. "We can also thank the increase in all the fun cooking programs that feature beautiful people like Ina Garten, Nigella Lawson, and Rachael Ray. I believe women want to be like them, and they want to bring glamour into the kitchen."
