Figure 1.--This cased Daguerreotype is undated, but was probably taken in the 1850s. Notice all the plaid dresses. All the girls wear plaid dresses The coloration is interesting. Some authors insist that modrn color convntions wre not yet establishd, but hre we see an example of just such convntions. This half- Dag was slightly tinted. We see a family of six. We do not know the name of the family, but the father's initial was apprently JBP. There is a a mother, father, three daughters, and a son. The boy wears a tinted blue frock with plaid ribbon trim. The girls wear plaid dresses which are lightly tinted pink. The two older girls have matching dresses, while the moving toddler girl has an off the shoulder plaid dress. Mother wears a gold painted brooch. Father wears a suit and cravat.

Plaid is commonly associatd with the kilts worn by Scottish men and boys. There were also pants called trews done in plaid, but the kilt was more common. Women's highland dress is also based on the clan tartan, variously either that of her birth clan or after marriage optionally her husband's clan. Women and girls do not wear kilts but at some point began wearing ankle-length tartan skirts. There were color-coordinated blouses and vests. A tartan earasaid, sash or tonnag (small shawl) were also worn. We are not sure just when all of this began. We suspedct the mid-19yth century as Queen Victoria helped popularize all things Scottish. We also notice tartan dresses in America from the earliest photographic record (Mid-19th century), suggesting it was a well estsblished fashion in Scotland (we are not sure about England) during the early-19th century. Just when plaid dresses were first worn we are not sure. We see girls of all ages and younger boys wearing plaid dresses. We had thought plaid dresses were most common for boys to signal their gender. But we have found several imsges of girls wearing plaid drsses and now we are not so sure. We do know thsat plaid became a very popular girl's pattrn in the 20th crnury for both dresses and skirts. Boys on the other hand to some extent wore plaid shirts, influnced perhaps by the association with lumberjacks. We do see some younger boys wearing plaid shortalls.

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Created: 7:13 AM 2/10/2022
Last updated: 7:13 AM 2/10/2022