Cooking classes here require you to bring an apron, and I didn't have one so R and I went to the 100 yen store yesterday and bought one. The picture above is R modeling it in his pajamas.
How does everyone feel about aprons? I had never seen a person in real life wear an apron (even on fingerpainting day at school we wore smocks, not aprons) until I came to Japan. None of my female relatives wore them, and even if they did I'm sure they wouldn't wear one in public. But in Japan housewives wear them a lot...to the supermarket, to the bus stop to drop off their kids in the morning...etc. It seems to be one of the many "uniforms" Japan has. A lot of women in my office wear them all day at work, though I honestly have no idea why...the dirtiest things people in our office handle are their computer keyboards.
I grew up viewing an apron as nothing more than a symbol of female oppresion and outdated gender roles. But the lack of negative connotations associated with the apron here in Japan has forced me to reexamine that. I will never wear one every day, but I am no longer against wearing one when cooking something messy or when cleaning. I do think, however, that aprons should not be limited to women only, which is why we bought an apron that is unisex enough for R to wear, too. :-)
6 comments:
i have worn aprons back home, but usually only during the holidays when making lots of food. i think we only had one.
here in japan i have four or five, two of which my mom has sent me! lol i don't use so much chlorine bleach these days, but i used to and the apron has saved several shirts and pants! i should also use one more often when washing dishes....
I have to wear an apron everyday. But then again, I am kind of glad I do because otherwise all my good clothes would get filthy from the kids at the day care centre! LOL
I don't wear an apron at home at all though... Maybe I should sometimes, especially when I'm cooking!
I love aprons!!! : )
Growing up, you know, my family never really wore them daily or anything either. I mean my mom, my grams, and my aunties wore them while preparing for holiday meals for sure. I can picture it now in fact! Ha ha ha.
Or if we all got together to cook for like Sunday dinners we'd wear aprons. But for daily stuff? Not really.
When I moved to Japan, I realized how popular they were. I didn't buy any. Then year after year, they sorta wore on me. I do like them now. Granted I don't go cruising around town with them. Though I don't mind the ladies in my town who do, I sorta think they look cute! : )
For yochien...2 years ago, I think, I volunteered during the summer festival it was required I show up with one. So, I bought a Laura Ashley one. Now, I really have gotten into them since last December. The ladies on Desperate Housewives wear cute ones!!! I forget who makes them, although I have their website bookmarked, ha ha. : )
I don't wear them for daily use but I wear them when I bake pizza or bake cookies or pie. I only own the nicer apron and a cheap one I got at a Basia superstore, lol. The Basia one I use for home stuff, the nicer one I save for school stuff. I'd like to get 1 or 2 from that maker who the ladies on Desperate Housewives wear.
I like that you got a unisex one for you and the hubby, Deenster!!! : )
Illahee: I hadn't really thought about aprons protecting clothes from beach...that's a good idea! Definitely something I should do when using bleach!
Nay: Thanks for commenting! Yes, if I worked at a day care center I think I would wear an apron, too...with all of those little hands around you don't know what could get on you!
Gina: Yes, I have seen the aprons on Desperate Housewives, and they are adorable!! I hadn't thought to look into who makes them. If you remember the name of the place, please let me know! It would be fun to have a non-unisex apron for just me, too. :-)
Sure no problem : )....Jessie Steele are the aprons featured on Desperate Housewives.
http://www.jessiesteele.com/index.php
they also sell them online at Ebay and on a few sites in Japan. : )
I work in a museum and when we spend any amount of time in the archival storage space we're supposed to wear aprons - both to protect our clothes from dust but more importantly to protect the objects from snagging on buttons and anything else that might be on our clothes.
I didn't think twice about donning an apron but the reaction I got from a couple of (single) guys I work with the first time they saw me in it made me realize that a basic apron from the 100 yen shop may not be all that far from a french maid costume!
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