Christmas Party Frocks (McCall Style News, December 1935)

And now, because it's Christmas, and Christmas is very much a children's festival...

Merry Christmas to all my readers!

Fashions for Girls from "The Delineator" (August 1906)

Women's fashions of the 1900s were elaborate and impractical—and judging by these plates from The Delineator, so were the fashions worn by little girls.

Here we have costumes for girls aged from around two years old (second from the right, above) into their early teens.  The teenagers' clothes seem to be near copies of their mothers'—from their over-decorated hats, to their bloused and boned bodices, to the tucks, pleats and folds that shape and decorate their garments.  Only the length of their skirts indicate that these clothes are not meant to be worn by adults!

The younger children wear looser and easier fitting dresses (still, I note, heavily ornamented with ribbons and laces).  The youngest wear straight, unfitted frocks that fall to a little below the knees, and shoes and socks rather than stockings and boots.  The slightly older children wear dresses with waists dropped to around the hips.  (I wonder if this fashion influenced the clothes these same children would have worn as adults in the 1920s?)

Impractical and uncomfortable as these clothes look, I'm delighted to report there are patterns for more serviceable girls' clothes tucked away in the back pages of this issue of The Delineator.  The garments here were probably meant for "best", and plainer clothes were worn for school and play.

Matching Mother-Daughter Outfits (1950s)

Judging by clothing and pattern catalogues of the era, there was a brief fad in the 1950s for dressing mothers and their young daughters in matching costumes.  Clearly the idea was that these little girls were their mothers in miniature.  However, given that these same little girls were baby boomers, many of them would not be following in Mommy's footsteps once they grew up.

Simplicity Pattern Book, Vacation 1950

Spiegel Anniversary Book, 1950

Simplicity Pattern Book, Summer 1950

Advertisement for Avondale fabrics, 1951

Spiegel Anniversary sale, 1955

I don't know how many of these outfits were made or bought, or how often mothers and daughters wore them together if they were bought or made.  However the images are sweet, even if (possibly) unrealistic!

"Sun-Shine Companions" (Spiegel Anniversary Sale, 1955)

The Spiegel "Anniversary Sale" catalogues were miniature versions of their "Big Book" catalogues, with pages packed full of clothes and other consumer goods. 

 Casual wear for outdoor activities (you can see the clothes accessorised by a beach back and a picnic basket).   These postwar play clothes for women consist of mix n' match shorts, tops and capris.  All  are made of cotton, and bright colours, stripes, and modernist prints predominate. Women's pants were still strictly for casual or home wear in the 1950s!

Wool is no longer the material of choice for making swimsuits.  The costumes above are mostly made of "rayon faille Lastex".  (The exceptions are the two at centre bottom, which are made of cotton broadcloth.)   They are more glamorous and form-fitting than their pre-war predecessors though they are also obviously more structured.  All have built-in bras.

From the same catalogue: play clothes for little girls!  They are wearing garments not unlike their mothers', but the manufacturer seems to have eschewed patterned fabrics for plain colours with trimming.  There also seems to be a bit of a Western theme going on.

These beach styles for girls are also very like their mothers' (or older sisters') costumes, right down to the materials they are made of.  However they are obviously less structured (there's no need for built-in bras for a start!)  Ruffles and shirring are used to underline the girlish innocence of the costumes.