Sunday, February 26, 2012

Start your deliciously wonderful APRON collection ...


Ruffled Sheer vintage apron  
The nostalgic charm of a VINTAGE APRON ... offers a huge connection to the past for anyone who ever ran home from school and straight to the kitchen to see what smelled so good all the way from the front gate. This fast-growing  collecting trend is part of the popular draw to all things kitschy and a fine example of the ‘tacky’ to some, ‘treasures’ to others collectibles popping up in vintage shops everywhere. Antique linens in general, including vintage aprons, are just one of the many ‘hot’ items tugging at the apron-strings of collectors hearts everywhere.
The item always home made with love and featured fabrics, colours and styles as varied as the women who stitched them. The most popular collectible style being the near new or never worn examples sporting lovely hand work, embroidery, exquisite sheer fabric and heritage laces and worn only on the best of occasions for the finest of entertaining. The less than refined examples are no less of a draw and the trims of bright contrasting colourful fifties-era trims and rick-rack zigzag bring a charm to the simple utilitarian item. Another popular style is the reversible aprons sporting a bright floral and matching plain trimmed pocket on one side and when flipped over offer the opposite in a plain apron with the bright floral featured in the pocket. This style offered the style conscious hostess a quick turn-around to a fresh look after cooking but just before serving the meal.
Round & Red Ric-Rak fun 
Mother size aprons with a matching young daughter-size twins are a special treasure as are the Christmas themed aprons often holding their original starching too special to even wear. The bridge playing set had a look all to itself with lovely handwork featuring black and red aces, spades, hearts and diamond are another hot commodity.  The keen eyed collector may even find the apron matching hand-worked linen napkins and card table cloth with tie-down corners to complete the well-heeled hostesses’ afternoon luncheonette and weekly card game.
Smocked Sweet Vintage 
The gingham aprons are always a crowd pleaser and boast popular hand cross-stitched borders and waistbands and pockets trimmed in a contrasting colour. Many also feature lovely full round hems and smocking delicately stitched into the cinched waistbands.
Most women have a draw to the aprons, not only because they grew up always entering a cooking underway kitchen wearing one style or another, but also fondly remember their first school sewing project and making their own personal apron touting their handwork talents.
Festive Holiday Glitter
As a collector one might still find these gems in thrift shops, although as the popularity increases, they are getting harder and harder to find. In the vintage and antique shops expect to pay from $10. to as high as $60. or even $80 dollars for a prime example of hand work and finery. Once a collection is started it rarely stops at one or two as each style, each print, each trim, brings back a fond memory of an era when the kitchen always smelled wonderful and the apron of the day always reflected the occasions, the season or the talents of the cook. Vintage aprons are a deliciously appealing item to collect. 

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