Figure 1.--Here we see a small (2x3 in) tin-type portrait of two unidentified siblings, we think in the 1870s. The children look to be about 2-5 years old. They are wearing outfits coordinated with the same plaid material. We at first thought they were dresses, but the boy is wearing a kilt suit. It was unusual because plaid jackets were not common with kilt suits, making the outfit look more like a dress. We think little sister is probably wearing a dress.

These identical material brother sister outfits were mostly coordinated rather than identical outfits becuse of thev strong gender conventions in fashion.. Plaid seems to be the most common materail used, but we do see other patterns--none nearly as important as plaid. We see some examples of both boys and girls wearing dresses in the 19th century, but they are not very common and they are usually only yonger boys--but they do exist. And there are some with done n children close in age. Some in the 19th century are identical dresses, but others are clearly boy dresses--dresses with destinctive styling to differentiate them from the dresses their sisters are wearing. We at fuirst thoughtbthat thev imaheherev was one, but under closer examination the boy here is wearing a kilt suit (figure 1). Most commonly these outfits were dresses for the girls and various short pants outfits for the boys. Most commonly these outfits were dresses for the girls and outfits for the boys, especially tunic suits. After World War I by the 1920s we commonly see short pants outfits for these brother sister outfits. The Dutch example on the previous page is a good examople.

Created: 2:41 PM 4/6/2024
Last updated: 2:41 PM 4/6/2024