For Author, Every Apron Tells a Story

Karen Haram - Virginian-Pilot

If, as EllynAnne Geisel believes, every apron has a story to tell, her flocked blue-green organza polka-dot version must have an intriguing one.

Arriving for our interview in ballerina flats, pearls and a sassy short hostess apron atop a simple skirt and blouse, Geisel of Pueblo, Colo., bounds in, enthusiastically celebrating both the apron and our predecessors who wore them.

"Aprons don't hold us back, they take us back," the author of "The Apron Book" and "Apronisms" says of the accessory that she contends is taking on increased fashion importance.

"What takes me the longest in preparing to travel ... is deciding which aprons to pack and which to wear," she says.

No matter what she settles on, she never leaves "home without the first apron I purchased," a periwinkle and Mazola yellow one accented with bias-tape piping, the apron that gave her what she calls "the startle."

"It had a voice of the person who had sewn it and tied it on as daily domestic wear. Her recipes, her stories, her essence is woven into the threads of the fabric of this humble icon," she says.

Geisel bought that apron at a thrift store in 1999 at a bargain price. Its maker had an "artist's eye," she says.

"She probably laid out the piping to please her, perhaps using what she had extras of in her sewing box. It's not evenly done; she was not a seamstress of excellence but certainly one who wanted to dress up to stay home."

You can tell much about a person from the aprons she wore, Geisel says, a fact she's discovered on her nine-year journey searching for people's voices through their aprons.

"People have shared the stories of their apron. ... Everybody has a story to tell; I do a lot of listening," she says.

Not long ago, you could find an apron for "loose change," according to Geisel. "But (thrift stores) have all gotten the message that this has a price value now. To find an apron under $2- $3 dollars is a real celebration."

Geisel says people frequently ask her what their aprons are worth. If you clean it up and carefully remove stains, there is an audience for the apron, but it's not what Geisel looks for.

"For me, the stains tell a story also. Without them, it's like looking at a photo album without pictures," she says.

Geisel has any number in her collection, from full aprons that were worn for the serious chores of the house to half-aprons used for light dusting - even whimsical children's aprons.

"Aprons were worn for all household duties, not just for cooking," she says. "It was the first thing put on over your dress in the morning. When you removed it, the dress was clean. The entire purpose was to protect this garment. Washing was too big a job to so carelessly wear something once and toss it into the wash. It's a recent phenomenon that we don't rewear our clothes (but instead) leave it on floor for the mother."

The only exception? "The aprons that have absolutely no job at all except to be an accessory to an outfit. Hostess aprons are in a genre all their own. (In the '50s, when aprons were in their heyday) if you were invited to someone's home, you opened the door and they were ready. They likely had on a hostess apron and a cocktail in their hand (saying) 'You're here, I have been waiting.' "

Source: "The Apron Book" by EllynAnne Geisel

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