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Our information on pinafores in the United States is very limited. We have no personal accounts about American boys wearing pinafores yet. Available photographic images show that some boys did wear them in the late 19th century. I'm less sure about the early 19th century. We do not believe it was very common after the tirn of the 20th century. We believe that this would primarily be boys from wealthy northeastern families. Presumably this would have been a garment worn at home to prevent their clothes from getting soiled. Most children were dressed up for photographic portraits. As a result ythe proportion of boys photographed in pinafores is not a good indicator of the number that avtually wore pinafores. It is not entirely clear to us why a mother would have had her son photographed in a pinafore rather than his best clothes. We note boys wearing pinafores both before and after breeching, but believe it was more common before breeching. We are not sure if there were differences between the pinafores worn by boys and girls. We do not have enough impages of pinafores to know much about the colors or styles. Note the shoulder ruffles on the pinafore the boy here is wearing (figure 1).
Our information on pinafores in the United States is very limited. We have no personal accounts about American boys wearing pinafores yet.
We do not hsave a complere chronology of pinafores. We know that they were commonly worn in the 19th century, primarily because clothing was very expensive and important go protect and laundrey was so laborious. How commonly boys wire them we are not sure. Most of ythe photographs we have found showing pinafores have girls wearing them. Available photographic images show that some boys did wear them in the late 19th century. I'm less sure about the early 19th century. We do not believe it was very common after the tirn of the 20th century.
Our archive of American children wearing pinafores is limited, thus our assessment concerning social class is only preliminary. We believe that American boys wearing pinafores would primarily be boys from wealthy northeastern families. We think that they were much more widely worn among girls across social class. Modest income families would have been especially interested in ensuring that the children protect their clothing. We say thisprimarily based on the number of girls wearing pinafores to school. around the tuun of the 20th century. Readers may want o look at the HBC individual school sections for the 1890s, 1900s and 1910s. These school portraits are some of the best indicators of the popularity of varous garments and fashions. We suspect that the style of the pinafore may at least in part been influenced by scoal class. At least in the 19th century, more affluent children would have been more likely to wear white pinafores.
The pinafore was a garment worn at home or to school to prevent their clothes from getting soiled. They were proibably more widely worn in rural than urban areas as farm girls wee more likely to soil their garments with chores they were assigned. Clothes were much more expensive in the 19th century in relative terms than the 20th century. Here we are talking about cost in terms of the percebntage of disposable income that had to be spent. Another reason pinafors were popular was the drugery and labor involved in doing laundry.
Most children were dressed up for photographic portraits. As a result, the proportion of boys or girls for that matter photographed in pinafores is probably not a good indicator of the number that may have actually wore pinafores. It is not entirely clear to us why a mother would have had her son photographed in a pinafore rather than his best clothes.
Most boys wearing pinafores wore them over dresses. We note boys wearing pinafores both before and after breeching, but believe it was more common before breeching.
We are not sure if there were differences between the pinafores worn by boys and girls. We do not have enough impages of pinafores to know much about the colors or styles. Note the shoulder ruffles on the pinafore the boy here is wearing (figure 1).
The pinafore is generally seen as a girls' garment. This seems especially in America. And while some younger boys might wear them, American girls of all ages very commonly wore them. Perhaps American girls did not wear them as commonly as in Europe, but quite a number of girls did wear them. We don not see them very commonly in studio portraits. We do see some. The Smith girls about 1895 are good examples. But such portraits are not very common. We think that most mothers wanted their daughters dressed more formally for studio portraits. Probably a better indicator as to how common pinafores were for American girls is school photography.
About the image here, a reader asks, "Are you absolutely sure that this is a boy? From time to time there were also girls with short hair as we noticed. And a boy with a necklace seems strange?" Well the only way to be absolutely sure is for the portrait to be identified and this image is not. It is true that some girls did have short hair, but a girl with hair this short would be very unusual, especially in a family in comfortable circumstances. I have seen quite a few images of boys (before breeching) wearing
neclaces. A good example is Percy, a British boy in the 1880s. Also note that the boy here is wearing a locket more than a necklace. We believe that lockets were very common for younger children, both boys and girls. We are reasonably certain the child here is a boy. Another reader writes, "I think fewer girls had short hair than is indicated by the photographic record. Often what looks like short hair is hair that is pinned up in the back."
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