Pinafores and sailor suits: the history of children’s fashion

In times past, there was no specific fashion for children. The boys and girls, from the moment they could walk, dressed like their fathers and mothers.

Children’s clothing corresponded exactly to the world of adult fashion, down to the smallest detail. Until the beginning of the 18th century, children were dressed according to their position in life, looking like miniatures of their parents.

Oil paintings from that time show richer families dressed in their best outfits. The sons wore elegant velvet gowns with lace collars, and the daughters wore elaborate dresses layer upon layer of elegant silk. The richer you were, the silkier you wanted to look. People from poorer situations wore simpler clothing of rougher fabric, including wool, cotton, and linen, or worn-out used clothing.

With the dawn of the industrial revolution, the production of abundant affordable cotton arrived and clothing became more spacious and comfortable. This applies to both adults and children. Finally, people could move more easily while doing their daily tasks. Boys and girls could run and play much more freely. They were no longer weighed down by heavy, rough fabrics. Society and fashion were becoming much more relaxed.

In Regency, Victorian and Edwardian eras, long before the advent of washing machines, girls wore aprons and aprons to protect their dresses from dirt. An outfit to attend a party, a religious service or a wedding, required a highly decorated apron, with lace and embroidery. Everyday aprons were plain and lacking in decoration. Boys can dress in a sailor suit with a large collar.

Even though clothing and fabrics were becoming less restrictive, young ladies and gentlemen still wore styles that evoked adult fashion. The girls wore dresses made of white calico, dotted Swiss, muslin, and a yellow fabric called Nankeen that was imported from China. The Empire line was all the rage, with high-cut bodices worn with slippers. Usually made from muslin, this style is joined with a sash or ribbon, just below the chest.

In the romantic era, the waist began to drop again. The dresses sported fur trim, ruffles and ruffles. This new look was completed with elaborately decorated hats and caps. Still, the young ladies were dressed to look like mini-adults, while their siblings might find them wearing the infamous Little Lord Fauntleroy outfit.

All women and girls wore long dresses, but in the early 1800s, younger women began to shorten their skirts. If you were seventeen or eighteen, you were considered a young lady and your skirts came down to the floor. A sixteen-year-old boy’s skirt would reach up to the ankles, while a fourteen-year-old’s skirt would touch the calf. A twelve-year-old girl enjoyed the freedom of a dress cut just below the knee. The children ran in shorts or panties until they reached adulthood and the companions long pants.

In the 1840s, all women, regardless of their age, wore crinoline-style shirts, pushed to the limit with stiffly starched petticoats, reinforced with horsehair. Some time later, lighter underwire cage crinolines made of wire became all the rage.

Because a sudden breeze could inflate a skirt and, horror or horror, reveal a leg, pants were invented. These roomy, long-legged pants, made from linen or cotton, worked. Very soon they became a fashion statement in their own right, embellished as they were with ruffled white lace. This was the beginning of underwear that was made to be seen.

Little by little, the crinoline and petticoat began to migrate from the front to the back, evolving into the adult bustle. Around this time, little girl fashion began to take on a style of its own. Young ladies preferred long-waisted dresses that hung over a faux pleated skirt.

In the early 1880s, girls wore much slimmer styles, with dresses that bulged over a deeply drooping sash that was tied around the waist. This style was a precursor to the distinctive styles of pocket blouses that came with the Edwardian era.

Little by little the children’s clothes took on a life of their own. More and more people began to travel, and this fact had a great influence on fashion. Tartan became extremely popular as a useful and attractive fabric, especially for kilts and school uniforms.

As more and more families migrated to the seashore for their annual summer vacations, nautical styles gained popularity. Both girls ‘and boys’ clothing sported large sailor collars with rows of braided trim. These styles continued into late Edwardian and Victorian times. Quartermaster jackets with a dicky created a faux front that required no shirt underneath.

These early trends in children’s fashion have been continually gaining momentum. Today, our children and grandchildren can dress to suit their whims. From the moment they are born, parents and friends lavish the latest designs on them. As they progress through the lower grades and high school, children are bombarded with shows, movies, and commercials, starring children their own age, whom they desperately want to emulate.

The way trends come and go these days, parents are left struggling just to keep up. The latest outfits can be expensive, and if you have two or three children, it can be a real kick in the wallet. One solution is to get away from shopping malls and specialty stores and shop online. There are many wholesale clothing online sites that specialize in wholesale children’s clothing and designer brand clothing. You are sure to find unique designer fashion that will please both your child and your pocketbook.