Figure 1.--These two unidentified American colonial children pained by a naive artistb are believed to be a boy on the left with a squirrel and probably a girl on the right, holding a teething coral and wearing a bonnet. The ages are difficult to estimate, but about 2-5 years old seems probable. Both children wear dresses with low necklines, but note the use of buttons in the boy's dress and the different shoes the children are wearing. Note that the skirt of the boy's dress is cut open and he seems to wearing pantalettes in the same color as the dress. The painting is believed to have been done about 1755-1760. The artist was Joseph Badger from Boston, Masschusetts. He painted another boy in the same dress, suggesting thsat these are his children or grandchildren.

We believe that American mothers followed the same basic chronology of outfitting boys in dresses as was the case in Europe, especially Britain. This was the common pattern for several centuries in Europe, although we are unsure just how this played out in colonial America. We know that clothing styles were set in Europe, primarily Britain aznd France. Fashions would have come largely Britain, but French fashions influenced British fashions--especially dresses and other women's dresses. This would have been the styles worn in the towns and cities. There were, however, not very many cities. Most Americans lived on farms in rural areas. And practical farm clothes did not equate with European fashions. Affluence is an interesting question. Americans compared to Europeans were relatively well off. When measured in practical terms like diet and land ownership, ASmericans were bettr off than English people. Income disparities were not as great as in England. But this meant that there were fewer people that had the wealth to give great attention to fashion. We have portraits painted of affluent residents of the major cities and we see essentially European-styled dresses. What we do not yet know is how the great masjority of boys were dressed who lived on farms or small towns in rural America.

Created: 5:04 AM 1/14/2007
Last updated: 12:38 AM 4/8/2010