Vintage Apron of the Day

Some of the favourites from Vintage Apron of the Day

Mavis, Bill & family circa 1944

I have been collecting vintage aprons for quite a few years now and for the last year and a half I have been celebrating – Vintage Apron ofthe Day every Friday that I work in the shop.

Each week I choose a different one from the collection and celebrate it for the day. There is something so very practical about aprons but it is the fabrics and trims and various pocket combinations that particularly tickle my fancy.

I love thinking about the person who made them and whether they were given as a gift, made by the wearer or bought from a store. Often they have been loved but sometimes they are starched and brand new as if they were kept for good. It’s funny to think of such a practical everyday item being kept for good. Perhaps the owners had lots of aprons some of which got more wear than others.

Often people ask me where the things I have in my collections or have in the shop come from. Increasingly I tell them that ‘they find me’. By that I mean that I seem to have an uncanny knack for treasures presenting themselves to me in my travels at op shops, garage sales, auctions, antique shops and trash & treasure type markets. But more often than not these days I meet people in the shop or at a market who strike up a conversation with me about what I love and then offer to give me things that they in turn have inherited or no longer want. Of course I always say – yes please!

Mavis' apron

This week though was slightly different…this week I inherited a lifetime of sewing bits & bobs and various treasures from Mavis. Mavis - affectionately known as GG (Great Grandma) is the mother of my Mother-in-law and will be 95 this year (Born 1 Dec 1918).

Whenever I see her GG loves to tell me a story about her younger years. She was many things, amongst them all a seamstress. She was also of the mindset that everything should be saved – because you never know when you might need it. You can imagine than what treasures she had stashed away for a rainy day, particularly too, as she had lived in the same house for 60 years.

Amongst the boxes I came across a gorgeous apron and thought how appropriate it would be to wear for this week’s vintage apron of the day. I would guess that she has made this herself in the 1940s/50s.

I also asked her a couple of questions –

What is your favourite colour – Red (great minds think alike)

Favourite decade for fashion - the forties when she was married (1940)

Dish she most liked to make – Sweet & Sour chicken (Yum)

Thank you GG for your generosity and kind heart. This vintage apron of the week is dedicated to you!

Mavis and Bill circa 1939