Figure 1.--This cabinet portrait is posed at a stone gate. His name was Will. We believe he was related to a family in Bonham , Texas. (The cabinent card was part iof an estate sale there.) He looks to be about 4 years old. We wears a plain white dress with a slightly low defined waistline, below the natural waistline. We do notice any other design ekements, but as the dress is white, few details are captured by the photograph. The portrait is undated, but the collar bow and black stockings suggest to us that it was taken in the early-1890s. The portrait was taken at the R.L Chatmers studios in Dallas, Texas.

Many dresses worn by American boys and girls had defined waistlines. Defined waist dresses were the most common type. Often their was an afixed waistband at the front that became detached strands at the back that were tied into a bow. This was primarily done with the waist lebel sesign. Presunably mother tied the bow, but we guess older girls learned to do this. Perhaps some of our readers can provide some information here. Boys wearing dresses were probably too young to do this. A defined waist was the more common approach to the waist in dress design. The waistline treatment varied over time and thus can be useful in dating old photographs. High waislines were an element in the empire dresses popular in the early 19th century. We notice quite a few low waistlines in the late-19th century and very early-20th century. A good example is Bert Cross anout 1905. Medium waistlines or those set near the natural waist were most common in the 20th century, especially after World War I. These trends comtmonly spanded national borders, in part because France or other large countries significantly affected fashion trends. The waistline treatment was done in a variety of ways. One factor was placement. Of course it would be commonly be placed at the waistline. But here placement varied stylistically. We have noted dresses with waistlines both below and above the child's actual waistline. We note high, medium (meaning near the natural waistline), and low waistline placement. The popularity of these various approaches varied in popularity over time. Unfortunately, the phographic record for the mot part only hivds a a look at the front of these different altermative placements.

Above the Waist Placement

High waislines were an importnt element in the Empire dresses popular in the early-19th century. High waists were strongly associates with Empire styling. We have some paintings, but unfortunately the numbers of such images are limited by heir very natuture, It was only with the invention of photography (1839) that we begin to see really large numbers of images to assess. By this time the Empire style era had passed. And even then, the posing conventions for early photographic formats (Dags and Ambros) were sitting down. Thiswas necessary because of the slow speed of emulsions. It mean that by sitting the subjectscdown we lose many features of dresses--esecially the waistine element. That does not mean that there was no longer any high waistlines, but the major era that high waistlines were a dominant element of dress design was the early-19th century.

Natural Waist Placement

Defined waist dresses were the most common dress type and the most common alternative was waist styling near the natural waist. Here we mean at the naturl waist or only slightly above and below. And of course there is a futher complication that girls may out grow dreses before mother sews or purchases a new on. Natural waistlines were by far the predominant element alternative selected for most dresses. This followed the basic fashion trend for women's dresses. Of course there was a basic difference with children who essentially had no prominent waistline. This was a body feature which only developed with adolesence. The choice of natural waistlines on dressess includes both the dresses for girls and the younger boys. Often their was an afixed waistband at the front to emphasize the waistline. This became detached strands at the back that were tied into a bow, ometimes quite prominant. This seems most commonly done with the waist level design. Presumably mother tied the bow, but we guess older girls learned to do this. Perhaps some of our readers can . As might be expected, medium waistlines or those set near the natural waist were most common in the 20th century, especially after World War I. These trends commonly spanded national borders, in part because France or other large countries significantly affected fashion trends.

Below the Waist Placement

We notice quite a few low waistlines in the late-19th century and very early-20th century. They were done with different styles. We do not yet archived enough dated images to adequately date these below-the-waist designd, but are working in it. have enough image good example is Bert Cross anout 1905. This included both actual waistlines as well as dresses designed to give the look of a low waistline. As with the other alternatives, we see a range of different dress styles being done with low waistines. Here we have a fairly good coverage because by the time it was most popular, photography was well estanished, although the fact that many portraits are undated complicates estblishing a time line here. We are hoping that other sources such as paintings or catalog will help to establish a basic time line. Catalogs become much more important at the end of the century along with lithogrphy and the quality of printed images.

Created: 12:41 AM 6/24/2011
Last updated: 12:58 PM 3/6/2016