Full aprons

Historically aprons were associated with cooking, cleaning and serving and in wealthy households, the domain of the servant. The aprons were long and flowing and always white.

After the First World War, when the use of servants declined, every housewife without help donned an apron of some description. Many were full aprons with a bib and a skirt.

By the 1940s some of them were virtually overalls, whilst others adopted a cross-over design that tied at the front. Some 1950s designs replicated the style of the housemaid or nippy with a frill around the entire apron.

By the 1960s, some people had adopted tabards, before the functionality of the butchers' apron took over in the 1970s. Taunton Vale produced a variety of butchers' aprons and floor-length maxi aprons in their various ranges.

By the 1970s, butchers' apron became more popular and inevitably unisex.