APRONS AGAIN IN FAVOUR.

New Zealand Graphic, Volume XIX, Issue XXI, 13 November 1897, Page 654

APRONS AGAIN IN FAVOUR.

Aprons, for so many years regarded as the distinguishing mark of serving woman, promise to be the rage in the smart set in London. The apron of the future, however, will differ from that of the past which our grandmothers used to wear. In the days gone by it was a sombre affair of black silk or alpaca, sometimes set off by a few dainty tucks or rows of herring-bone stitching and a little very fine lace. Now the very cheapest aprons are made of the finest white linens and muslins and batistes, and are puffed and frilled with lace and trimmed with ribbons until the old ladies of a hundred years ago would never dream that they were aprons. The finest aprons are made of real lace, and are well worth passing down from generation to generation. An English woman recently ordered an apron that cost £lOO. It is made of Brussels rose point in an exquisite floral scroll design, and has a border of roses. She didn't get it to wear when doing up the kitchen work, but she dons it when serving afternoon tea or doing a dainty piece of fancy work. Some of the lace aprons have pastoral pictures in which figures are introduced, and are very quaint-look-ing with their floral borders. Still others are embellished with butterflies. birds and blossoms. Men like aprons, so it is pretty safe to say that the fashion of wearing them will soon take hold here. Some of the shops are already importing them, and the managers say they will go like hot cakes when chafing dish time comes round again. Nothing domesticates a woman in appearance like an apron, and a very frivolous girl can sometimes deeoy a clever bachelor with one if she only knows how to wear it. or at least that is what some of the clever bachelors say themselves. There is a great deal in' knowing how to wear an apron. The most costly apron ever made was worn by the Duehess of Queensberry in the last century. It was made entirely of point lace, and was valued at £6OO.