Figure 1.--Many 19th Century mothers did not conceive of the modern concept of play clothes. Childern were often expected to be neat and tidy at all times. |
The idea of play clothes is a relatively modern concept. Affluent mothers dressed boys through much of the 19th Century in rather elaborate dressy clothes and expected to stay neat and pesentable. Less affluent
boys would be likely to wear their fathers hand down clothes, often for work as poorer children had to enter the workforce at a very early age. Protective clothes like
pinafores and
smocks served the purpose of modern play clothes, protecting a child's clothes.
Many mothers and especially fathers in the Victorian era thought it was their duty to prevent children from behaving like children. Often religious mandates were part of this parental philosophy. Mothers and nannies sought to keep children inactive to keep them from
soiling their beautiful and often expensive clothes. Many parents, even in the lare 19th Century still clung to the idea that play was a frivolous, wasteful activity from which the child should be disuaded. Some nanies were instructed to guide the child in more appropriate activity and to discourage play.
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