** pinafore national trends -- England chronology








English Pinafores Trends: Chronology


Figure 1.--The older children here are a boy and girl. Only the girl wears a pinafor despite the fact that both are playing. We are unsure, however, if the younger child is a boy or girl. This English photograph is undated, but we would guess it was taken in the 1890s because of the children's clothing. .

We do not yet have sufficent information and images to prepare a chronology on English pinafores. Photograph is our primary source. Our English archive is much smaller than our American archive, especialy for the 19th century. They seem to have been a very common garment in the 19th century. Both boys and girls wore them, althouh they were much more common for girls. Only younger boys wore them. We believe that they were widely worn in the early-19th century, but we fo not yet have any suppotng information as photography was not yet invented. We note pinafores in the photographic record, but do not yet have images for the mid-19th century. Photography wa much more limited in England than in America at mid-century. We do have images showing pinafores in the late-19th century. We believe that pinafores were much more common than suggested by the photographic record. The pinafore was a utilitarian, protecrive garment. And thus not usually worn for studio portaits because beause people tnded to dress up. We do have a few examples. The drugery of laundry was one reason pinafores as well as the cost of clothes were such a popular and widely worn garment. They were very common for younger children, but not very common for boys after they began school. We are not entirely sure about the age conventions. School portaits are some of our best indicatots concerning the popularity of pinafores. We note school images at the turn-of the 20th cetury with just about all of the girls wearin pinafores. Girls continued commonly wearing pinafores in the early-20th century, but they became much less common for boys. We are not sure how the characterustics of pinafors such as color and style varied over time. Because pinafores were a protective garment, the popularity declined after World War I when labor saving advances were made in laundry. The declining relative cost of clothing was another facor. School portaits claerly show the very sharp chang in the popualrity of pinafores.

The 19th Century

We do not yet have sufficent information and images to prepare a chronology on English pinafores. Photograph is our primary source. Our English archive is much smaller than our American archive, especialy for the 19th century. They seem to have been a very common garment in the 19th century. Both boys and girls wore them, althouh they were much more common for girls. Only younger boys wore them. We believe that they were widely worn in the early-19th century, but we fo not yet have any suppotng information as photography was not yet invented. We note pinafores in the photographic record, but do not yet have images for the mid-19th century. Photography wa much more limited in England than in America at mid-century. We do have images showing pinafores in the late-19th century. We believe that pinafores were much more common than suggested by the photographic record. The pinafore was a utilitarian, protecrive garment. And thus not usually worn for studio portaits because beause people tended to dress up. School portaits which began to become more common in the late-19th century are a better indivator. We do have a few examples. The drugery of laundry was one reason pinafores as well as the cost of clothes were such a popular and widely worn garment. They were very common for younger children, but not very common for boys after they began school. We are not entirely sure about the age conventions.

The 20th Century

Pinafores were still commonly worn at the turn-of-the 20th century. School portaits are some of our best indicators concerning the popularity of pinafores, at least for girls. And unlike studio portaits, the children do not seem to have dressed up especially for the portraits. We note school images at the turn-of the 20th century with just about all of the girls wearing pinafores. Girls continued commonly wearing pinafores in the early-20th century, at least through the world war I era. Pinafors became much less common for boys which was more a matter of homewear. This is difficult to follow as pinafores in most cases were not worn to the studios, but we have a few images. Mothers wanted to dress up the children for portraits. We are not sure how the characterustics of pinafores such as color and style varied over time. Because pinafores were a protective garment, the popularity declined after World War I. We believe that when labor saving advances made in laundry were an importnt factor hre. The declining relative cost of clothing was probably another factor. School portaits claerly show the very sharp change in the popualrity of pinafores after World War I.








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Created: 4:34 AM 1/25/2006
Last updated: 5:18 AM 7/24/2014