Newsletter & Blog
Apron Strings & Things
 | S P A C E R | Here you can find out what's new at Dorothy's. Be sure to keep checking back with us as we are always adding new apron styles, and ready made aprons. If you're interested in the force behind Dorothy's Aprons, or gluten free life, visit our personal blog at Ordinary Pilgrim. |
Dear friends,
After much thought, I am retiring the Classic Dorothy pattern. I've been thinking about it for awhile, because it is our flagship apron, and it was a difficult decision to make.
However, the funny story behind it is, it was the first vintage "type" apron pattern I found, and the first one I learned to make, and also the first I offered for sale.
The "funny" part is, that the Classic Dorothy pattern it is easily one of the most difficult, time consuming and complex ones in my selection to put together. It has 13 pieces and there is just no simple way or shortcuts to assemble it, in a quality and long lasting way. I do miles of top stitching and reinforcements and the inset ruffle in the skirt is an exercise that might even have put Job in a tense mood.
Given that, and given my desire to offer only true, original vintage patterns before 1940, I have decided to retire the pattern.
Today, I just sewed my last custom Classic Dorothy Apron. So, with a little tear in my eye, I am sharing this news with all of you.
Although the apron style may be retired, her namesake and her memory certainly hasn't! Grandma Dorothy and my love for her and her memory are still in every apron I sew.
June
Dear Friends:
I was going to start this post talking about how much aprons get used in the summer! With gardening, canning, cleaning produce, summer home maintenance, etc!
But then I realized, there really isn't a time of year when aprons aren't useful. In the fall there will be more preserving and putting up, the baking will increase as we head toward the holidays, and spring is the time of spring cleaning top to bottom, and heading back toward our gardening with seed starting, in the wonderful, endless cycle of nature and the changes of season that I look forward to so much every year.
I'm afraid I am such a die hard East- coaster, that when I did live in more temperate climates without dramatic changes in seasons and temperature, I was quite depressed and feeling like something was just "wrong."
The wonderful thing about constantly changing weather and seasons is, that by the time one season rolls around, I am excited at it's coming, and glad to see the one prior move on.
On that note, in between all of your summer chores, keep visiting us and our shop as we head toward the holidays! (You will hardly believe how quickly they come upon us!)
Sincerely,
June
Why are we so different?
Invariably, it almost always comes up in conversation, when I meet people or talk with them about my apron business.
People want to know, what is it that makes my aprons stand apart?
It's probably easiest to understand what my philosophy on aprons is all about, and what our aprons are all about, by understanding what they are not about.
I remember a few years back coming upon this article from the Wall Street Journal. I've highlighted some of my counterpoints to the article that I'd like to make about our aprons. You can read the full article below.
#1 Although you can wear one of our aprons as an accessory and never do a lick of gardening, cooking, cleaning or work in it, it is not meant to be an accessory. It's meant to be used!
#2. I'm not saying our aprons won't be described as beautiful, feminine, dainty or even attractive to the opposite gender. However, I'm a bit old fashioned in this department, and what our aprons are meant to be, are not "body huggers," and definitely not garments that have little or nothing to do with sweating over a hot stove.
Our aprons are made precisely for that task. Our aprons were meant to be worn to do exactly those tasks that get your clothes dirty, AND be comfortable enough to do it in, while still being beautiful to look at.
#3. You can look fabulous in our aprons, but you probably won't be invited to step down the runway. I suppose it depends on what your definition of fabulous is. Our aprons will never be confused with short skirts, halter dresses, mini-skirts, and definitely not hot-pants.
#4. Yes, your apron will likely cost more than $50, and you can and should wipe your hands on it, over and over again. It costs more than mass produced aprons precisely because it is handmade, one-a-kind and meant to be passed down. Imagine how few "collectible" vintage aprons there would be if they were massed produced of the cheapest materials and not cared for? There would hardly be as many around today if that were the case.
Most importantly, we seek to go back even farther than June Cleaver, her heels and the t.v. dinners she was serving on Bridge night. It's about more than entertaining.
Yes, our grandmother's and great-grandmothers had to work hard, used their aprons to keep their clothes clean, and did many of the tasks they did because they had to. However, there was a lot of things they didn't have to do, like take pride in their home, in their families, in making meals that were not only stomach-fillers to stave off starvation, but meals that were nutritious, attractive to the eye and taste-buds and budget conscious. They had to be jacks-of-all-trades and masters of all trades as well.
They also didn't have to plant roses in their gardens, make curtains for their windows that were attractive as well as functional or make complicated quilts or embroidery patterns, or bring fresh flowers in to the dinner table. They also didn't have to make aprons that were feminine and beautiful along with functional. But they did!
So, Dorothy's may not be invited to all the most fashionable apron events and fashion runway parties.
When we say "Capture the Mood of Simpler Times...." we mean simpler times, not so much in the load of work, but in the joy and pride of doing it. It's about the times when the questions we had to ask of ourselves and of the world were just a little more clear-cut, and hard work was synonymous with high quality, reliability and success as measured by the outcome.
It is that mission, that I believe sets us apart from the fashionistas. In that respect, our aprons are truly "one-of-a-kind."
Aprons, which fell largely out of favor with the rise of the women's movement in the 1960s, are enjoying a renaissance as a retro-chic fashion accessory.
Once seen as a symbol of women's domestic drudgery, marketers are pitching a new kind of apron -- one that hugs the body to show off curves, with colorful, vampy designs that have little to do with sweating over a hot stove.
To host a recent dinner party at her home in Sacramento, Calif., Sue Randall donned a racy apron with sweetheart neckline and black lace trim -- even though caterers did all the work. "I wear them almost every night," said the 51-year-old Ms. Randall, who has purchased several new styles. "They're very sexy. I wear them to the mailbox and people honk at me."
The latest, hottest-selling feminine designs represent women's new embrace of domesticity on their own terms, combining practicality and sex appeal. "They're about looking fabulous," says Anna Wang, who designs a line of aprons known as Kitsch'n Glam even though she never cooks. "I'm a microwaver," she says.
Ms. Wang's aprons resemble skirts and halter-dresses more than gear that protects against splatters. Priced from $42 to $62, the collection ranges from sophisticated prints to kitschy black-and-white French maid styles and are available in more than 100 boutiques in the U.S. -- including at Anthropologie stores, known for selling books and offbeat accessories amid trendy women's clothing.
Apron chic taps into a rising interest in home entertaining and gourmet cooking -- the same trends that have spurred more people into staying at home to catch the spate of new cooking programs hosted by beautiful people such as Nigella Lawson and Jamie Oliver.
Though designers of fashion aprons say they haven't broken into mainstream department stores yet -- most sell their products mainly through clothing and gift boutiques, specialty cooking stores, or their own Web sites -- sales are solid and growing.
Sur La Table, a Seattle-based national gourmet cookware chain and catalog, expects to sell 15 percent to 20 percent more aprons this coming holiday season than it did during last year's, and has seen apron sales rising steadily the past 18 months thanks in part to new pink gingham and polka-dot styles sold with matching oven mitts. Even longtime apron wholesaler Now Designs Inc., which did $8 million in apron business last year, says the old-fashioned barbecue apron is burning up. Total apron sales are up 30 percent in the last three years after being nearly flat for a decade.
Aprons have a long history. They've been used by tradespeople through the ages to protect clothing and provide handy pockets. But the garment is perhaps best known as an icon of the 1950s housewife, with sitcom wives like June Cleaver baking cookies in a frilly apron and high heels. That version of the apron was a "mark of pride" for the professional homemaker, says Joyce Cheney, who in 1996 started a traveling exhibit of her collection of vintage aprons. She believes her exhibit helped spur a trend of collecting vintage aprons that paved the way for the newer apron fashions that have surfaced in the past few years.
The updated styles come with updated prices. Stylish aprons average around $35 but climb as high as $200. That's the retail price on aprons featured in high-end designer Stephen Burrows's Spring 2005 collection. Models in his runway show wore yellow and orange satin, red satin and Ultrasuede designs, which from the front look a lot like miniskirts with an apron-style pocket, over hot pants. Mr. Burrows was inspired by his own use of aprons to tote around his tools and tape measure, says the designer's managing director, John Robert Miller. "We decided it would be a great little accessory to bring back on the runway," says Mr. Miller, who describes the the teeny aprons as a "luxury utilitarian" look.
The newer apron-makers say younger women are their best customers, though in some cases daughters are inspiring their mothers to try the new styles. Candida Bell, a 25-year-old newlywed in Phoenix, bought a $45 leopard print apron and matching oven mitts from online retailers Kitchen Catwalk just before her wedding. The vampy style was a hit when she wore it at a family gathering. "It was really great to see my mom and my mother-in-law's expressions when I walked in," said Ms. Bell. "My mom was like, 'Do you think your father would like me in one of these?'"
Apron chic doesn't discriminate. Styles that suit men are getting spruced up too. Italian housewares company Covo targets men with a unisex $170 navy blue Prada-esque apron with blue adjustable belts and flashy red zippers. The apron has been popular in Europe, and is beginning to catch on in the U.S., says a company spokesman. The Covo apron was featured in the June "Cooking With Fire" issue of Gourmet Magazine, which pictured a man wearing the waist-to-ankle apron and holding tongs from a $9,000 Gucci barbecue set.
Apron distributor Jessie Steele, which sells mostly ultrafeminine models with floral patterns and ribbons and bows, also offers two more formal-looking black-and-white striped men's aprons with deep square pockets. "Men also like to take stock in their appearance and cook for women," says Claire Steele, who with her mother, Helena, started the Jessie Steele apron business in San Rafael, Calif., three years ago and now distributes to more than 300 stores.
The higher cost, though, is sometimes keeping the most fashionable styles out of the kitchen entirely. EllynAnne Geisel, a 57-year-old mother of two in Pueblo, Colo., who started collecting vintage aprons in 1999, says she still wears her old ones to bake a cake. "Something that cost me $50, I'm not wiping my hands on that," she says.
Ms. Geisel has developed her own line of aprons based on vintage styles, but she's well aware of the appeal of the new, more daring updates. One of her best sellers: a $45 black apron called "Smoochie" printed with red lipstick-kisses that she promises will get "even the most sports-besotted mate to turn off the TV."
I've been in business now for nearly four years, on again, off again with the ebb and flow of pregnancy, child-rearing, illness, life, etc.
Well, I'm finally getting back to business on a regular basis (you know, in my "spare time,") and I know just scads of you apron lovers are dying to see the "behind the scenes view" of
All kidding aside, I love my "job." Over the weekend I was working on a pattern from 1931 and as per working with vintage items, someone along the lines had cut a second pattern to fit from an old newspaper. It was a gem.
I love knowing each of them was used by someone at some point, and try to imagine what they were like, and how their aprons turned out, and all the memories associated with them.
I learned a LOT along the way. I learned I didn't really want or have to do EVERYTHING and offer EVERYTHING, and that I couldn't realistically do EVERYTHING. I finally narrowed it down to the niche I loved and which I believed isn't currently being filled out there. Aprons that are one-of-kind, practical in their coverage, and all from patterns dated BEFORE 1950. I have some patterns that are crumbling as they near their 100th birthdays.
It is just so much fun to piece them together and watch a lovely piece of attire come from a flat, unimpressive piece of woven cotton threads. (The same reason I love KNITTING!)
They take a surprising amount of time. Each one takes me anywhere from 4-12 hours to make from beginning to end and I don't leave out any details or skimp. I started the business with a longing to reconnect to my grandmother, and my childhood, everything that was good about "back then."
So, for all of you apron lovers out there, the excitement begins....the first item on my list before I even crack open the sewing machine, is the theme music. I have an "Apron Mix" of big band, and music from the 20s, 30s and 40s. I personally don't think I can sew aprons without it.
Patterns All in a Row
Serger & spare sewing machine...just in case.
My beloved Elna Heirloom Machine
From a distance....yes it does look like chaos...but is organized chaos!
The current apron in the works
Grandma Dorothy
Still Our Number One Inspiration
Dear Friends:
I don't know if it was spring fever, or all the spring cleaning I've been doing at home, but I decided it was time to give dear old Dorothy's a face-lift!
It's hard to believe but this November it will be 4 years since I've opened our doors!
So much has changed both on the internet, in the availability and creativity of web stores, as well as here at the business as well.
Some styles I've offered have come and gone. Not because of sales, but because of styles. I have found my niche and earlier this year I decided to only offer patterns from before 1950. There are so many people out there offering lovely, "Lucy-style" aprons.
I also wanted to stick to my original reason for the business which was to create aprons that were practical, easily cared for, wearable and extremely comfortable. Our aprons may not be winning on the haute couture circuit, but you will find no others that are better made, are really, truly practical, AND are one-of-a-kind.
It was and still is my business plan to offer aprons that our grandmothers, great-grandmothers and even great-great grandmother's wore, with patterns dating back to the early 1900s. The patterns and styles are rare, original and hopefully filled with nostalgia for you, the wearer.
I hope you enjoy our new look, the new website format, and our new style offerings. More aprons are coming each week. I am officially "back to business."
Stay with us!
Sincerely,
June