The girl Figure 1.--Here Smith depicrs two children play Noah's Ark. The girl wears a very plain greyish dress or smock wth a bright red hair bow. Hair bows were very popula in the early-20th centuy. The boy wears a blue smock, probably with a tunic sit. Note the smocking. Smocks we not very commo in Americ, especially for boys.

Smith mostly focused on children, mostly from the early-20th century. She was highly prolific and her illustrations did not always provide details on their clothing. Rather her focus was on childhood itself. it was on childhood, but inevitably there are many garments illustrated. Many detail clothing, but quite a number did not. Her illustrations are not the best for HBC's purposes. The photographic record suggests the prevalence of some garments that are rarely seen in Smith's rather idealized renderings. We do not mean to be critical of her work. Many of her illustrations are little masterpieces, just as always a perfect representation of period clothing. . Her draftsmanship is superb, especially of the children themselves. The clothing is, however, often are not an important part of her drawing, more of a necessary after thought. Her illustrations often do not involve a detailed drawing of the children's clothes. Rather the child's may almost be hidden in a forest of bushes are under the covers. Her illustrations were so numerous and widely disseminated as well as immensely appealing that that they undoubtedly more than depicted children and children's clothes. One historian reports, "She painted the universal child, but the dresses and play suits they wore helped shape the dressing habits of a generation of children." 【Plant】 In particular her illustrations in Good Housekeeping because they were so widely circulated, must have been very influential. Her images They tend to focus on younger, pre-school children and seem to be children from well-to-do or t least families in comfortable families. They also tend to be styles that empathize youth an innocence. Some of the garments and styles depicted are recognizable from the photographic records. Some were garments that were not very common like smocks.

Sources

Plant, Bud. "Jessie Wilcox Smith," Illustrated Books website accessed (July 25, 2002).

Navigate the Boys' Historical Clothing Web Site:
[About Us]
[Introduction] [Activities] [Biographies] [Chronology] [Clothing styles] [Countries] [Literary]
[Bibliographies] [Contributions] [FAQs] [Glossaries] [Images] [Registration] [Tools]
[Boys' Clothing Home]

Created: 5:24 AM 5/29/2025
Last updated: 5:24 AM 5/29/2025