Baby and Toddlers Clothes - The Evolution of Children's Clothing

Children's clothing evolved as with all the things thatoption to the restrictive and binding fashion sense
are now present today.during the 19th century. This can be attributed to
From the beginning, children's' clothing used color toAmelia Bloomer born 1818 - 1894 who was an
separate the genders. Especially in the olden daysAmerican reformer espousing this cause. But the
where little boys looked like little girls, the distinctionbloomer concept must be credited to Elizabeth Smith
can be made by the color of the clothes. Girls woreMiller as she was creator of the bloomers. Although
pink and little boys wore blue, this is as much truethis type of garment did not bloom at all.
today as it is in the era of days gone by.Rompers
Because of historical accounts available like paintingThese were worn both by the girls and boys that
and photographs, it was not easily distinguished if awere used primarily for play time. By the end of the
child was male or female. Thus, not only do thesecond world war, rompers were basic staples for
clothes determined the gender but the generallittle girls wardrobe. They were usually used as
appearance as well. This was manifested by the haircostumes or uniforms for gym classes of girls.
style that they were told to wear. It became aSmocks
strong convention that little girls wear pretty dressesThis is one generic children's clothing of years gone
and their hair long while the little boys were told toby. As this was so common, different styles,
wear the pants and sport short hair. However due toaccessories, adornments, and other details filled the
the evolution of time, little girls of today haverepertoire of how a smock can look like. There were
adopted to wearing pants but the day hasn't comesmocks of different colors, smocks with different
yet where the boys adopted the dresses of girls!buttoning styles - buttons located at the back, in the
In our modern world today, a general conventionfront, or on the side. There were also smocks with
exists that girls are able to wear the clothes of boyscollars, with trims, with ties, with pockets, with belts,
but never the other way around. But that wasn't theetc. It was usual in the 1950s that smocks of identical
case in the 19th century where little girls and boyscut were bought by mothers for their children.
were dressed alike. Although during that time, girlsPinafores
were not allowed to dress in pants, otherwise, thereThis was a very essential piece of garment for the
was not much difference in the way they weregirls' wardrobe as they were usually worn by little girls
dressed.of Europe and America.
Up to the time of the second world war, clothesPantalets
associated with girls were dresses, pantalets, smocksThese were worn both by boys and girls. Usually,
and pinafores.boys wore plain pantalets while girls wore the fancier
Dressesones. But there were some boys who like to wear
This was the basic clothing of girls up to the secondfancy Pantalets too.
world war since it was not everyday occurrence thatSailor suits
girls wore pants or shorts before the war.This was basically a boy's garment but it became a
Bloomersunisex garment as girls started to wear sailor suits
This was another staple in the little girls' clothingtoo.
where it served its purpose ofproviding an alternative