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Tuesday, October 15, 2024

Don’t freak out...

ALL little boys used to wear dresses and nobody cared!



by Pip Lincolne


Franklin D Roosevelt in 1884, aged 2
 Image via Wikipedia 


Can you even believe that such a fuss is made of boys wearing dresses and skirts? Fact is that up until the early 20th century, little boys wore dresses and gowns well into their preschool years, and often beyond.

Once upon a time, all little boys wore dresses.

In Western European countries, boys would be dressed like this until anything from 2 to 8 years old, with some boys documented wearing dresses into the late teens.

“Boys’ dresses were often made in brighter or darker colours and in plainer or stronger fabrics, and might have had chunky belts and trimmings and large metallic buttons, none of which were typical of girls’ dresses,” the V&A Museum of Childhood explains.

“Boys’ dresses were more tailored in appearance, and often had features associated only with clothing for boys, such as the opening down the front of the skirt, fashionable in the 1810s and 1820s.


From Beauty and fashion

2 comments:

  1. I'm curious about when these gender dress codes changed. I often think about what it would be like had the clothing evolution gone in the opposite direction and the current dress codes were reversed. For example, would I still be excited to wear hose and heels if it was something I could wear all the time? Would I be envious of women in their drab pants and flat shoes? Just some of the thoughts that wander through my mind as I travel this gender journey...

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