Figure 1.--This small cabinet card shows an unidentified American girl in 1894. he trike would have been a studio prop. Boyscat the time were most likey to have trikes and bikes. Here mother has added copious amounts of cut-out lace as well as collar ruffles. The boduce is decirated with smocking.

Dresses have several different construction elements. The major ones are necklines and collars, bodice, sleeves, waistline, skirt, and hems. Necklines and collars varied from low necklines without collars, to high elanborate collars. The bodice is the heart of the dress with the different elemnts built around it. Dresses were done both sleeveless as well as with long sleves with elaborte cuffs. Dresses might be done without waistlines as well as destinct waistlines and elborate waistbands, including large back bows which unfortunately we so not see in most portraits as they are front facing. The skirts were dome in various ways from plain to more developed styles like pleats. And finally the hems varies from below the ankle to extremly short high above he knees in the mini-skirt era. These stylistic elements varied chronologically as well as with the age of the child. There were enumeralble variation between the extemes noted above. There are countless variations of these major elements as the way of balancing the elements to achieve a pleasing and stylistic look. And the vaious elements varied over time, both the style and importance. Here are he trends we see in America concerning the various elements.

Necklines and Collars

Dresses are made with a range of necklines and collars. Many have necklines without collars. This includes both high neclines, low necklines and may variations in between. Early photographs such as Dags and Ambros show many children wearing dresses with low necklines. We notice two Iowa siblings about 1865. One has a high neckline. The younger one a low neckline, a popular style for younger children in the mid-19th century, but going out of style in the 60s. As this occured the neckline treatment became increasingly important. We see dresses both with and without collars. And we also notice many collar styles.

Bodice

The bodice is the heart of the dress with the different elements built around it. The term bodice has varied in meaning over time. Until modern times in meant an article of clothing for women and girls covering the upper body. This garment can still be seen in many European olk dresses, inckuding the Germn drindl abd Scottish dancing costumes. The modern meaning is the upper part of a dress excluding the sleeves. The term originated fro the English term, a 'pair of bodies'. The garment was originally made in two pieces that were laced together at the sides. And this reflected the fact that it was esier to weave a flat textile than a shaped one. The term corsage was widely used in the 19th century for the modern meaning of bodice. Besides being the heart of the dress, the bodice has a practical purpose, it is how he garment is held up. There are mant different types of bodices used in dresses for modern women. And the different types especially when dressing up are basically used to make the dress alluring. Of course for girls this was not the case thus the most common type was the overlay bodice meaning a dress done covering the shoulders. We also see various kinds of strapped bodices. These were not common in the 19th century, but do see them for summer dresses in the 20th century. There were also strapless bodices which for some reason were poopular for very young girls in he 19th century. There were also many ways of styling the bodiese. One popular style was smocking wjich can be seen here on the dress the gurl is wearing (figure 1).

Decorative Elements

There was all kinds of decorative trim than can be used with dresses. Lace was one of the most popular. We see both true lace and cutout lace which was a cheaper alternative. The girl here has copious amounts of cutout lace added to her dress. Decorative trim could not be more varied. They include: appliqu� and patches, braid/cord, buttons, crochet trim, embridery, fabric flowers, fringes, hard attachments (beads, sequins, and rhinestones), piping, ribbon, ruffles and frills, and tassels. Some of these were more common fir girs' dressess than for wimen's dresses. Boith practivality and cost here were factors. In addition to he cis if the item, the difficuklty of dding the item has to be considered. This affects both the skills of the home sewer abnd the cost of production.

Sleeves

Dresses were done both sleevless as well as with long sleves and elaborte cuffs.

Waistline

Dresses might be done without waistlines as well as destinct waistlines and elborate waistbands, including large back bows which unfortunately we so not see in most portraits as they are front facing.

Shirts

The skirts were done in vrious ways from plain to more developed styles like pleats.

Hem Lines

Hem lines are on of the major dress varitions over time. They can be helpful in dating images, although hm lengths were fairly tandad over long period, especially during the 19th century. The length of the hem was fairly constant in the 19th century. We see both girls and adult ladies with long dresses doen to their shoes. Dress lengths for ladies pertty much stayed there through the end of the century. Hem for girls, however, began to rise. At first girls wore long stockings to cover their legs so exposed. Over time pantalettes became shorter and the long stockings were deemed adequate for mnodesty sake. The length of thehem was determined by the chid's age. They began to grow longer in the teen years. American girls virtually always wore long stockings with dresses. In Europe we see some younger girls wearing socks. This was much rarer in America. We see hemlines becoming much shorter in the 20th century, especially after World War I. Hem lines varied from just below he knee to well above the knee. We see younger girls wearing short skirt in the 1930s and commonly with socks rather than long syockings. Shirley Temple movies are good examples of these styles. Hem lines were especially shortin the 1970s. Girls including teenagers wore mini-skirts and short dresses. We note all kinds of hosiery, including tiggts. We see somewhat longer hems in the 1980s and greater variety of hem lines.

Created: 11:02 AM 1/15/2019
Last updated: 11:02 AM 1/15/2019