1 Apron, 2 Apron, 3 Apron

Today, I feel like talking about aprons. Lately I find myself in one a lot. A whole lot. Always the same one, long, white, full-bodied, comfortable, tied in the front, really doing its job seamlessly. Dull though. It doesn’t add anything in terms of charm, style, or even fun. But I don’t believe that “apron” and “glamour” are on opposite sides, just the opposite!  Maybe I’m a fashion victim of Mad Men (Don’s wife) or Sex and the City (Charlotte), or perhaps the cup cake craze has spiked my interest along with my blood-sugar. Ever since I lost the use of my favorite delantal, which was packed away in a box months ago to await further instructions, I have become obsessed with other people’s pretty protectors: frilled, with bows, ribbons and rounded edges. Mine is a classic animal print, somewhere between a leopard and an ocelot (this is not an over 40s thing, I’ve loved Cruella’s glamour since I was a mean little child). 

The thing of it is, we -speaking collectively- use aprons for all kinds of tasks: cooking, cleaning, gardening, painting. It is a tool. Sometimes it ends up a hybrid between a smock, a bathrobe and/or a dressing gown, so why not get a nice one, or even a few, to fit the mood and occasion?

"They're just about ready!"

In addition to cooks and their chef bosses, aprons are used by many professionals: waiters, flight stewards, sommeliers, carpenters and welders, grocers, fishmongers, bakers, hairdressers and cleaners, pharmacists, fishermen, doctors, nurses, butchers and vets. In Spain, aprons form an important part of most regional costumes as a necessary component of the women’s outfit, as in other parts of Europe (picture Julie Andrews in The Sound of Music). Even little girls’ formal dresses integrate them, very cutely in fact.

Not only have Spanish aprons never disappeared from the kitchen, unlike in other more “progressive” countries they were never kept in the closet (or pantry), not even during the liberating 70’s. It may be that we just have to have our “fritanga” (the art of deep frying everything), for which those aprons really come in handy. Between our never-ending meals and the running of all family affairs around a well provisioned table, we deserve the reputation of being a Mediterranean country still immersed in its old fashioned ways. The fact is, we like our cuisine and eat well - even as I write this, El Celler de Can Roca has just been named world’s best restaurant by London’s respected Restaurant magazine, de-throning the Danish stalwart Noma- so the apron is omnipresent in most households.  And which style do we like to wear? In a previous post I mentioned Almodovar’s women and their aprons, but there are others archetypes: the souvenir, á la I love Benidorm. The witty graphic. The tasteless pattern. The promotional logo. The Christmas theme. The rubberized. Personalized. Neck-tied. Waste-tied. Waist length. The huge pocket in the front. The permanent knot in the back.

Check out the hair doo of the loving housewife

I’ve conducted a little survey among my friends and it’s a surprisingly passionate topic. Almost everybody would like to find a useful but really flattering, sexy one. Why not lets have a look around, see what we can find. While some may accuse us of going Stepford, isn’t it equally constraining always being so very smart, educated and liberated?