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The 19th century is the first decade for which we have extensive information. The slim-cut Empire dress with low-cut necklines were popular in the early-19th century. But this was a style popular in fashionable northeastern cities. Most Americans lived in rural areas and the dresses giels wore there are rately depicted in available paintings. Large numbers of information only becomes available in the mid-19th century because of photography. We want to develop information on dress fashion trends over time. We also want to see how girls' dress styles compared to adult women's styles, especially in the 19th century when younger boys still commonly wore dresses. This will be very useful in improving our ability to date old photographs, many of which are not dated. At mid-century we see girls wearing very full skirted dresses, in some cases with hoops. We see some novelty styles like Zouave dresses. Even though photography, especially by the 1860s, provides us a huge quantity of images, readers should bear in mind that the fancy dresses of fashionable urban Americans are over represented in the photographic record. Less apparent is what was worn in rural America. Most Americans still lived in rural America, although the cities were growing. And we begin to see more variation in hemlines, for younger girls. Then we begin to see dresses with bustles. Low necklines went out of style for children. Dresses by the end of the century could be very fancy, especially party dresses. There were plainer styles for school, such as sailor dresses. Baloon sleeve dresses were popular in the 1890s.
The slim-cut Empire dress with low-cut necklines were popular in the early-19th century. But this was a style popular in fashionable northeastern cities. Most Americans lived in rural areas and the dresses girls wore there are rarely depicted in available paintings.
The 1820s were a kind of transitional period in fashion. Empire fashions had dominated European fashion since the turn-of-the 19th century. The slim unadorned Empire silhouette with its Neoclassical origins began to give way to the more decorative Romanticism of the Antebellum era. Fashionable American women still followed European styles, especially French styles. Rather Gothic decoration began to appear on dresses and there were other borrowings from more recent past centuries. Especially notable was color. The stark white Empire dresses began to be replaced with layers of color. And the slim featureless Empire dress also disappeared to be followed by at first more emphasis on shapes and by the end of decade, exaggerated silhouette. The whale bone corset became a fashion necessity. And combined with whale oil whaling was becoming a major industry. The shift from Neoclassical plainness would remake 1820s dresses into platforms for dramatic display. And this is what occurred in girls' dresses, albeit on a more restrained level. Unlike boys who from the turn-of-the century had acquired styles specifically of their own--most notably the skeleton suit, girls still wore cut down versions of their mother's dress--with few alterations. The most important exception was skirt length. There were no distinctive styles for girls. Younger girls wore dresses, commonly without collars, but with low-cut necklines. Their dresses were often sleeveless or had short sleeves and the hemlines were usually shorter than those of adults. 【Buck, p. 66】 As the girls grew older the dress hems gradually lengthen until approaching that of adult women by the later-teens. Because the hemlines were shorter, their legs were modestly covered with long, narrow pantalettes, sometimes called drawers. Pantalettes were mostly white, but could be made in the same material as the dress. While pantalettes are basically undergarments, they were made to show, often from just below the knee to the ankle. They could be very decorative. Younger boys might wear the same style as their sisters until breeching some where between age 3-5 years, depending on the family.
The 1840s is the first decade for which we have photographic images. The problem is that most Dags are undated. And unlike Ambros, it is very difficult to destinguish between 1840s and 50s Dags. We have found some Dags that we blieve were taken in the 1840s, although we can not be sure. Here we welcome reader input. We note low necklines, defined waistlines, and long lengths even for younger girls. Pantalettes commonly covered legs below the hemline. Some dresses had short sleeves, something we do not see on boys' blouses and shorts. We do not yet have enough verifiable images that we cam date to the 1840s to go into much detail.
Large numbers of images which can be used to study girls' dresses only become available in the mid-19th century because of photography. We want to develop information on dress fashion trends over time. We also want among other matters to see how girls' dress styles compared to adult women's styles, especially in the 19th century when younger boys still commonly wore dresses. This will be very useful in improving our ability to date old photographs, many of which are not dated. This is complicated by the fact that it is difficult to deifferentiate between 1840s and 50s Daguerreotypes. One of the notable fearures of 1850s dresses which we also see in the early-60s is the sleeve treatment. We see very wide sleeves that fall short of the wrist. And emerging from the sleeves are heavily blosed vlouse sleeves with tight wrist closures. We are not yet sure about the hosiery worn with dresses in the 1850s, but long pntalettes were common.
At mid-century we see American girls wearing very full skirted dresses, often with several petticoats. We see both dresses and skirts. We notice various styles. All the dresses seem to have defined waistlines. We notice that matching jackets were popular. In some cases the dresses were worn with hoops. We are not sure if you can tell from just a photogrph, especially if the petticoats do not show at the dress hem. We think the hoops were more common for adult women than girls because of their impracticality. Some girls, however, did wear them. The older girl here seemns to be wearing a hoop skirt (figure 1). We note some novelty styles. Some like Zouave dresses were war related. We also see other military style jackets. Even though photography, especially by the 1860s, provides us a huge quantity of images, readers should bear in mind that the fancy dresses of fashionable urban Americans are over represented in the photographic record. Less apparent is what was worn in rural America. Most Americans still lived in rural America, although the cities were growing. And we begin to see more variation in hemlines, for younger girls. We think short hemlines for little girls were more common in fashionable Europe than America. Notice how long the little girl's skirt is here (figure 1).
Then we begin to see dresses with bustles. Low necklines went out of style for children. Bustles are hard to assess because the available studio portraits are mostly frontal shots. Blouses and skirts began to become more common as we can see here (figure 1). We beliec=ve they appeared earlier, but the photographic record suggests that they were not very common in thev first halfbof the19th century. Of course this mightnin part reflect a desire of mothers to dress up the children for photographic portraits.
For centuries younger boys wore dresses. And for most of this oeriod, there was bnot a lot of difference between the dresses these yonger children wore. You could not determine gender by looking at the dress styles. This centuries old convention began to change in the 19th century at mid-century. The first notable change was the appearance of the kilt suit. Abnd very quickly the kilt suit became tghe primary skirted garment worn by boys outside of the toddler years. That was certainly the case by the 1880s. Two other major developments occurred during the 1880s. We begin to see dresses for boys that had destictive styles--which mean primarily, plainer, less decorative and fussy styles. Here we are not talking about mandarory stlylistic decisions, but rather decisions that more and more mothers were making. The second notanlr change was the Fauntleroy Craze which was unleased on American boys with the publication of Mrs. Burnett's book. The new style was enormously popular. And many doting mothers wanted to outfit their pre-school sons in the popular new style. This inckuded many mothers who were determined not to breech their sons until absolutekly necessary because of social pressures. As a result, many mothers chose to breech their sons earlier thn they would normally had dine si they could outfit him a Fauntleroy suit. Fot the most opart these were decisions made by mothers without anyb input from fathers.
Dresses by the end of the century could be very fancy and elaborate , especially party dresses. The dresses worn during the decae were among the most elaborate ever worn by girls. The photographic record was still largely studio portraits so we see a lot of formal dresses being worn. They could be voluminous with many stylistic elements like velvet, ribbons, and lace. There were plainer styles for school, such as sailor dresses, and sailor elements on non-sailor dresses. We also see tartan dresses. Dresses were still much fancier than would be the case in the 20th century. Destinctive baloon sleeve dresses were popular in the 1890s, but this varied during the ecade becoming more imprtant during the early years and than declining after mid-decade. Hems lines depended on age, bit were below the knee even for younger girls. We are not entirely sure how dresses for adults and girls varied. Hem lengths were cerainly a factor. We note sailor styles and plaid as being styles for girls, but we note many of the same style elements. Dresses were almost always worn with stockings rather than socks. Black long stockings were espeially common.
Buck,Anne. Clothes and the Child: A Handbook of Children’s Dress in England, 1500-1900 (New York: Holmes & Meier, 1996).
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