Aprons as Workwear and Fashion: Simplicity 9496
The aprons of earlier eras came out in an amazing assortment, various shapes, trims and edges. Lots of creativity was poured into designing and making them. Why? Because for most married women with children, aprons were their work wear because they were home women. Which meant they had to wear aprons everyday and who doesn’t enjoy some fashion variety? Here the variety is the color combinations and trims.
These aprons are from 1948. They all have some special feature, and the least detailed one is the one with stripes yet even then the stripes on the two pockets are cut exactly the same. No sloppy layout of the pattern pieces here. The red plaid has the most features, a pocket which matches the plaid lines of the apron, ruffles at the hem, and then baby rick rack as trimming at top, at hem, and on the pocket. They threw in the matching oven mitt padded with cotton batting and finished at the edges with double-fold bias tape. The other half apron takes a print and a solid to mix and puts the print for pockets and a band near the hemline. You can imagine a woman sorting through her box of cotton remnants looking for a nice color harmony to make this one.
Also notice how one model wears a navy dress and the other a blouse and skirt. There was no such thing as a t-shirt worn as outer clothing back then, and most women only wore pants for dirty work like gardening or painting, or for active sports. So the home woman would have been dressed in dress or skirt and blouse, and the apron would have served to keep her clean as well as cheerfully stylish.
You can find this pattern as a reissue at your local fabric store or here: https://www.simplicity.com/simplicity-storefront-catalog/patterns/brands/simplicity-sewing-pattern-s9496-misses-vintage-apron/