Figure 1.--This brother and sister are wearing coordinated, but not identical tartan outfits dresses. The image looks to have been taken in the 1870s.
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Figure 1.--This brother and sister are wearing coordinated, but not identical tartan outfits dresses. The image looks to have been taken in the 1870s. |
Generations of mothers dressed their children, in some cases both sons and daughters, identically or in similar outfits--convinced this was a charming fashion. This was a simple matter in the 18th and much of the 19th Century. As little boys wore dresses just like their sisters, it was easy to ooutfit the boys and girls in identical. At the time it ws considered in appropriate to outfit girls in boys clothes. As distinctive dress styles for little boys developed in the late 19th Century and the fashion of dressing little boys in dresses disappeared after World War I (1914-19), this became more difficult. Many nothers, however, still wanted to dress their children similarly. Thus styles outfits with girls dresses and coordinate boys outfits were developed.
Dressing children alike varied from family to famibly and was affected by the number, relationship, and age of the children.
Twins most commonly have been dressed alike. Usually this style was for twin brothers or twin sisters. However, in many cases fraternal brother and sister twins were dressed alike. This appears to have been a popular fashion dating back to earliest available photographic images. Dressing twins alike is still a common fashion today, although sometimes as they get older they like to dress differently.
Mothers also liked to dress brothers alike, even if they were not twins. This sometimes created complications, especially if the boys were not about the same age. The older brother may have objected as many mothers did not want to dress little boys in big boy clothes. Thus the outfits chosen were often the ones suitable for the youngest brother--to the displeasure of the older boy. Often mothers would choose the same basic outfit, but make minor changes to recognize the age of the older boy. Other mothers insisted on dressing all the boys exactly alike.
Sometimes mothers chose to dress all of the children in the family identically, even children of different ages and genders. Some mothers in the late
19th and early 20th century had quite large families and all of the children in identical or similar outfits was quite a striking site.
This practice was most common in the late 19th century. Some mothers would actually choose identical or similar outfits. More common was some clothing differences based on gender or age, but having the children wear pinafores and often for boys--smocks. This gave the entire family, both the boys and girls alike, a common look. This allowed mothers to given the children a common look--even though the boys and girls wore different clothes under their smocks.
Figure 2.--This brother and sister are wearing identical white dresses with long black stockings. Notice the boys short hair in contrast to the dress he is still wearing. The only other difference is the girl's perky hair bow. |
Another fashionable combination which some mothers elected was to dress brothers and sisters alike. Usually this was done with an older sister and younger brother-but not always. But in some cases the outfit of an older brother was coordinated with that of his younger sister. There has been a major shift in this style. At first it involved dressing the boy anf girl in similar girls clothes: dresses, frocks, and smocks. It has rarely meant dressing them in similar boys clothes, but in more recent years the outfits have been coordinated in many ways.
I am not sure when the idea of dressing the children in a family identically first began. Preumabky it may be anient in origin. GHB has noted that dressung the children alike was a opular fashion in the raly 19th century. Brothers and sisters in the early 19th Century, especially if close in age, were very commonly dressed alike in identical dresses.
This would have continued until the boy was breeched. I have, however, few images to substantiate this. Many mothers in the late 19th and early 20th century elected to dress their sons and faughters in identical outfits. At the time, some boys were
still being outfitted in dresses. Specialized boy dresses had become available by the late 19th Century, but some boys still wore the friller styles made for girls. Sometimes the age of breeching the children may be affected by the desire to dress children identically. Many early 19th century portraits, for example, show brothers in matching skeleton suits (Westwood). After World War I (1914-18) it became less common for little boys to wear dresses, but some mothers still like the idea of dressing their children at least similarly. As a result, clothing sets with similar styling was developed.
Figure 3.--This anonamous portrait by an American primitive shows the Congdon brothers in identical skeleton suits about 1830. Large ruffled collars for boys disappeared and were no generally worn by boys again until late in the 19th century. |
The style of dressing the children in a family identally was popular in many different countries. I have no details yet on the relative
popularity of this practice or distinctive styles in specific countries.
No information available yet.
No information available yet.
A reader writes, "My Granny brought my sister and I matching brother and sister outfits. My outfits was blue shorts and a fancy white middy blouse. Her outfit was a blue dress with a boddice matching my middy blouse. We both wore white kneesocks with our outfits. I'm not sure about material of the shorts, but I remember wearing a blue belt with them. We both wore matching sandals. Her dress was sky blue, the same colour as my shorts. It was the early 1980s. We lived outside Dublin, Ireland. We were a relatively wealthy family. My sister was about a year and a half older than me. At the time, I dodn't remember minding the matching outfit. I don't recall my sister objecting to it either. Our parents dressed us up good deal as they were active socially. So we were used to dressing up. My parents must have liked the idea of dressing us alike as they later brought us another brother-sister outfit. I rember visting family and my parents' friends. I also remembering wearing the suits on my 9th birthday. I didn't really wear short pant suits that often but my parents did dress my sister and I up a lot. I remember owning at least two sailor suits and a few knee pants suits as well as little tuxedos. When my parents had dinner parties we would always be dressed up as well as the other kids. I have to say I always enjoyed dressing up."
No information available yet.
One of the best known example of brothers and sisters dressed alike is Ernest Hemmingway in the early 1900s. His mother Grace loved to dress him and his older sister in identical frocks. At the time it was not unusual for
sometimes quite big boys to wear dresses. Often the dresses worn by boys would have some boyish touches, perhaps the color or plainer style to identify the boy's gender. Grace Hemmingway, however, dressed Earnest and his sister in absolutely identical outfits. This fashion was passing, however, and Earnest's younger brother Leister, named after his uncle, was not outfitted in dresses.
Figure 4.--This brother and sister wear coordinated sailor suit outfits for formal occasions. It is a good example as to how outfits can be coordinated. |
Brothers and sisters have been dressed alike or at leasted dressed in coordinated fashion in several different garments and styles. Some garments are more common than others. The most common has been smocks and sailor suits, but many other identical styles have been worn by the children in a family. In the 19th Century some mothers outfitted their children in identical dresses, at least when the boys were younger. The age for boys wearing dresses, however, varied widely from family to family. Most boys were breeched at about 5 years of age. Some boys, however, were breeched earalier and others kept in dresses longer. Some boys still
wore dresses at 10 years or even on rare occasions older. Thus there were some families that had several children wearing identical or similar dresses. We have noted some mothers outfitted their children, at leat the younger ones in pinafores. Smocks were widely worn on the continent, but less so in England and America. They were a ueful style for mother wishingbto dress the children alike, a least for informal home wear. They were also widely used in orphanages and work houses for dressing all the children alike. Families in the late 19th Century were often quite large. Mothers enamored with the Fauntleroy style had the decission to make of how to dress all of the children. The mothers of the day adopted all sorts of alternatives from identical or coordinated outfits for all children to completely different outfits for each child.
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