Dear Lace History Buffs, To understand why lace might be used on European wedding aprons, it is interesting to study the attire of women on that continent for centuries - going back 20,000 years or so. First, there were the string skirts - not skirts as we know them, but panels of string (tiny, and shaped like aprons) that were tied around the woman so they covered the center part of her backside. Makes no sense to us that they would cover the back and not the front, but that is apparently what they did. (In time, more materials were used to cover more of her.) These string "skirts" can be seen on small carved figures of women in museum collections.
It is difficult to summarize the evolution of these garments into wedding aprons, but I will briefly attempt to give you an impression of what appears to have happened through the centuries. Skip quite a few thousand years to the beginning of weaving, and the archeologists claim that flat (ungathered) aprons were worn - covering the backside (implying a connection to the string "skirt"). There was a connection to fertility, and an apron ceremony when a teenaged girl contemplated marriage. During a female's fertile years, she wore this garment. In time, women wore aprons also in the front - to protect organs that were connected with fertility. By then, they were weaving patterns that had symbolic meanings, adding fringes and tassels and other objects to deflect the evil eye. In more time, embroidery was added. Every element of that embroidery had a symbolic meaning. More centuries, and lace developed. At first, not allowed for any women but the most royal personages. Eventually, it was added by many people to ceremonial clothing - used for christenings, weddings, etc. If you look at the design elements in laces of Eastern Europe, you can "connect" them to the embroidered design elements. These fascinating and talented people, with centuries of historic influence behind them, still wear the costumes of their regions, and can tell by looking at a woman in costume exactly where she is from. In many cases, the meanings of various costume parts are not known by contemporary women - they are simply attributed to "tradition". An important piece of attire is still the wedding apron. So - the apron is not first thought of in the same way as Western women have for many years - as an inexpensive garment to protect a more expensive and more difficult-to-clean one. Back in May 2003, I recommended, and still do: "Folk Dress in Europe and Anatolia - Beliefs about Protection and Fertility" edited by Linda Welters, published by Berg Oxford/New York, ISBN 1-85973-287-0 (paper) 1999, cost $20 U.S. The textbook style may be too serious for your current research, but I think it is nice to have books written by fine scholars. Copies of 4 chapters in this book are winging their way to Devon for her research on this subject, because I think that she will have a lot of lace lore to add to the Wedding Apron research. The Lace Fairy has just arrived for a visit. Must go and have some fun with her. We think we'll fly around the orchard and admire the wildflowers! Jeri Ames in Maine USA Lace and Embroidery Resource Center - To unsubscribe send email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] containing the line: unsubscribe lace [EMAIL PROTECTED] For help, write to [EMAIL PROTECTED]
