Editing Apron (section)

===Early American aprons===
Native American wore aprons for both practical and ceremonial purposes.<ref name="Food 52">{{cite web|url=https://food52.com/blog/12554-modern-apron-design-a-visual-history|title=The History of Making a Mess and Staying Clean|date=26 March 2015|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161221000733/https://food52.com/blog/12554-modern-apron-design-a-visual-history|archive-date=21 December 2016}}</ref> Early female settlers wore plain, long white aprons. Later, [[Quaker]] women wore long and colorful silk aprons.<ref name="The Aprons.com">{{cite web|url=http://blog.aprons.com/apron/long-illustrious-history-apron/|title=The Long and Illustrious History of the Apron – The Aprons.com Blog|website=blog.aprons.com|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161220172431/http://blog.aprons.com/apron/long-illustrious-history-apron/|archive-date=20 December 2016}}</ref><ref name="miller">{{Cite web|last=Miller|first=Marla|date=January 2006|title=Part I: Chapter 1, Clothing and Consumers in Rural New England, 1760–1810|url=https://scholarworks.umass.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1002&context=umpress_tne}}</ref>

As cities in [[New England]] grew, more elaborate options began to appear. Upscale American women in the 18th century wore embroidered aprons that sometimes dipped at the front of the waist (so as to not obscure the bodice of a gown).<ref name="Food 52" /> 
[[File:CottonApron.jpg|thumb|White Cotton Apron with Lace 1890–1915, Historic Clothing Collection, Smith College, Northampton, MA. 2011.8.125.]]
[[File:Plaid Silk Apron 1840.jpg|thumb|Plaid Silk Apron 1840, Historic Clothing Collection, Smith College, Northampton, MA. 1979.7.45.]]