CHILDREN'S DRESS
_Man's earthly Interests are all hooked and buttoned together
and held up by Clothes._
--_Sartor Resartus. Thomas Carlyle, 1833._
Of the dress of infants of colonial times we can judge from the
articles of clothing which have been preserved till this day.
Perhaps I should say that we can judge of the better garments worn
by babies, not their everyday dress; for it is not their simpler
attire that has survived, but their christening robes, their finer
shirts and petticoats and caps.
Linen formed the chilling substructure of their dress, thin
linen, low-necked, short-sleeved shirts; and linen even formed
the underwear of infants until the middle of this century. These
little linen shirts are daintier than the warmest silk or fine
woollen underwear that have succeeded them; they are edged with fine
narrow thread lace, hemstitched with tiny rows of stitches, and
sometimes embroidered by hand. I have seen a little shirt and a cap
embroidered with the coat of arms of the Lux and Johnson families
and the motto, "God bless the Babe;" these delicate garments were
worn in infancy by the Revolutionary soldier, Governor Johnson of
Virginia.
[Illustration: Baptismal Shirt and Mittens of Governor Bradford,
1590]
In the Essex Institute in Salem, Massachusetts, are the baptismal
shirt and mittens of the Pilgrim Father, William Bradford, second
governor of the Plymouth Colony, who was born in 1590. All are of
firm, close-woven, homespun linen, but the little mittens have
been worn at the ends by the active friction of baby hands, and
are patched with colored "chiney" or calico. A similar colored
material frills the sleeves and neck. A pair of baby's mitts of fine
lace also may be seen at the Essex Institute. These were wrought in
the sixteenth century, and the stitches and work are those of the
antique Flanders laces. I have seen many tiny mitts knit of silk
and mittens of fine linen, hemstitched, worked in drawn work or
embroidered, and edged with thread-lace, and also a few mitts of
yellow nankeen which must have proved specially irritating to the
tiny little hands that wore them.
I have never seen a woollen petticoat that was worn by an infant
of pre-Revolutionary days. It may be argued that woollen garments,
being liable to ruin by moths, would naturally not be treasured.
This argument scarcely is one of force, because I have been shown
infants' cloaks of wool as well as woollen garments for older folk,
that have been successfully preserved; also beautifully embroidered
long cloaks of chamois skin. I think infants wore no woollen
petticoats; their shirts, petticoats, and gowns were of linen or
some cotton stuff like dimity. Warmth of clothing was given by tiny
shawls pinned round the shoulders, and heavier blankets and quilts
and shawls in which baby and petticoats were wholly enveloped.
[Illustration: Robert Gibbs, Four and a Half Years Old, 1670]
The baby dresses of olden times are either rather shapeless
sacques drawn in at the neck with narrow cotton ferret or linen
bobbin, or little straight-waisted gowns of state. All were
exquisitely made by hand, and usually of fine stuff. But the babies
in pioneer settlements a century ago had to share in wearing
homespun. It is told of one in a log cabin in a New Hampshire
clearing that when the grandmother rode out eighty miles on
horseback to see her son's first baby, she shed bitter tears at
beholding the child, but a few months old, clad in a gray woollen
homespun slip with an apron or tier of blue and white checked linen.
The mother, a frontier lass, dressed the infant according to the
fashions she was accustomed to.
Nothing could show so fully the costume of children in olden times
as their portraits, and a series of such portraits of successive
dates will be given in these pages. Many of them are asserted to
be by the three well-known artists of colonial days,--Blackburn,
Smibert, and Copley; a few are by Peale, Trumbull, and Stuart. I
have accepted all family traditions as true, and in many cases
believe them to be true, especially since there were few painters of
any rank in the community, and no others who could paint portraits
such as those which have been preserved. The Gilbert Stuarts and
Trumbulls usually have some authentic pedigree. Many of these
pictures have no artist's signature and are absolutely valueless as
works of art, and probably meritless as likenesses; but as records
of costume they are always of interest and historical worth.
There is a certain sweetness in some of these old-time portraits;
they are stiff and flat, but some of them have a quaintness that
reminds me of the angels of the early Florentine painters. They
have little grace of figure, but the details of costume make them
pleasing even if they are not beautiful.
The first child's portrait in this series is one of extraordinary
interest. It is opposite page 4, and has never before been given
to the public. It is the reputed miniature of the Pilgrim Father,
Governor Edward Winslow, when a boy about six years of age, which
would be in 1602; it is the only miniature in existence of any of
the Pilgrims at any age. I have, in deference to the wishes of the
Rev. Dr. William Copley Winslow of Boston (to whom I am indebted for
it), entitled it the reputed miniature of the child Edward Winslow,
though the term expresses neither his belief nor mine; and seems
scarcely just to a portrait whose claims to authenticity are far
more definite than those of many of the family portraits that have
descended to us.
[Illustration: Infant's Mitts, 16th Century]
The miniature came to Dr. Winslow from Mrs. Hersey of Pembroke,
Massachusetts. She died at the age of eighty-six. Her grandfather
assured her that his father (the famous General John Winslow)
received the likeness from his father (the grandson of Edward
the Pilgrim), and that it was the Pilgrim's likeness as a child.
This--through long-lived Winslows--is a record of few retellings;
and these were told by folk to be trusted. The Winslows were
gentlefolk of ample means, such as were likely to have miniatures
painted; and the portrait of Governor Winslow when fifty-six years
of age, now in Pilgrim Hall, Plymouth, is the sole one (save this
miniature) of any of the Pilgrims. Other strong evidence is the
extraordinary resemblance of the child's picture to the "grown-up"
portrait, the same brow, contour of face, and other similarity.
There is something in the child's portrait that is singularly
suggestive to any one with any historical imagination. The
simplicity of the dress and arrangement of the hair show the
influence of Puritanism. As I look at it I can fancy, yes, I can
plainly see, some little English children, twenty years later
standing on that crowded historic ship, looking back with childish
serenity at the home they were leaving, and then greeting as
cheerfully and trustingly the "sad Plymouth" where they disembarked;
and the faces that I see have the broad brow, the flowing hair, the
bared neck, and simple dress shown in this miniature.
The next portrait, which faces the title page, shows the costume
worn in 1690 by a boy a year or two old; it is a charming and quaint
picture of the first John Quincy, who was born in 1689, and who when
dying, in 1767, gave his name to his great-grandson, John Quincy
Adams, who had just been born. Some have thought the picture that of
a sister, Esther Quincy; but to me it has a hard little boy's face,
not the features of a delicate girl, and also a boy's hands, and a
boy's toy.
Children in America, if gentlefolk, dressed just as children did
in England at that date; and boys wore "coats" in England till they
were six or seven. One of the most charming of all grandmothers'
letters was written by a doting English grandmother to her son, Lord
Chief Justice North, telling of the "leaving off of coats" of his
motherless little son, Francis Guildford, then six years old. The
letter is dated October 10, 1679:--
"DEAR SON:
"You cannot beleeve the great concerne that was in the whole
family here last Wednesday, it being the day that the taylor was
to helpe to dress little ffrank in his breeches in order to the
making an everyday suit by it. Never had any bride that was to
be drest upon her weding night more handes about her, some the
legs, some the armes, the taylor butt'ning, and others putting
on the sword, and so many lookers on that had I not a ffinger
amongst I could not have seen him. When he was quite drest he
acted his part as well as any of them for he desired he might
goe downe to inquire for the little gentleman that was there
the day before in a black coat, and speak to the man to tell
the gentleman when he came from school that there was a gallant
with very fine clothes and a sword to have waited upon him and
would come again upon Sunday next. But this was not all, there
was great contrivings while he was dressing who should have the
first salute; but he sayd if old Joan had been here, she should,
but he gave it to me to quiett them all. They were very fitt,
everything, and he looks taller and prettyer than in his coats.
Little Charles rejoyced as much as he did for he jumpt all the
while about him and took notice of everything. I went to Bury,
and bo^t everything for another suitt which will be finisht on
Saturday so the coats are to be quite left off on Sunday. I
consider it is not yett terme time and since you could not have
the pleasure of the first sight, I resolved you should have a
full relation from
"Yo^r most aff^nate Mother
"A NORTH.
When he was drest he asked Buckle whether muffs were out of
fashion because they had not sent him one."
This affectionate letter, written to a great and busy statesman, the
Lord Keeper of the Seals, shows how pure and delightful domestic
life in England could be; but the writer was not a commonplace
woman--she was the mother of fourteen children, and had had years of
experience with a father-in-law before whom an army of traditional
mothers-in-law would pale. She lived through this ordeal and a
trying marital experience, and her children rose up and called her
blessed. Among her virtues her son Roger dilated at length upon her
delightful letter-writing, her "freedom of style and matter," and
declared that her letters were among the comforts of her children's
lives.
[Illustration: Jane Bonner, Eight Years Old, 1700]
To return to the dress of John Quincy: with the exception of the
neck of the body of the frock it is much like the dress of grown
women of that day. We have existing portraits of Madam Shimpton and
Rebecca Rawson of the same date. In both of these, as in this little
boy's portrait, the sleeve is the most noticeable feature, with its
single slash, double puff drawn in below the elbow and confined with
pretty ribbon knots. This sleeve was known as the virago sleeve,
and John Quincy's are darker colored than his frock. All three wear
loosely tied rather shapeless hoods, such as are seen on the women
in the prints of the coronation procession of King William. The boy
has a close cap under his hood. His dress is certainly picturesque
and distinctive.
A portrait, facing page 36, of another Massachusetts boy,
contemporary with John Quincy, is that of Robert Gibbs, the rich
Boston merchant. This is plainly marked as being painted when he
was four and a half years old, and with the date 1670. He wears the
same stiff cuirass as John Quincy, the same odd truncated shoes of
buff leather, and has the same masculine swing of the petticoats.
Both figures stand on a checker-board floor, four squares deep, with
their toes at the same point on the board. Robert Gibbs wears a more
boyish collar, or band, as befits a bigger boy. The sleeves are
an important feature of his dress, having a pair of long hanging
sleeves bordered with fur, which do not show in the print in this
book, but are plainly visible in the original portrait. Hanging
sleeves were so distinctively the dress of a little child that the
term had at that time a symbolic significance, implying childishness
both of youth and second childhood. Pepys thus figuratively employs
the term. Judge Sewall wrote in old age to a brother whose widowed
sister he desired to marry:--
"I remember when I was going from school at Newbury to have
sometime met your sisters Martha and Mary in Hanging Sleeves,
coming home from their school in Chandlers Lane, and have had
the pleasure of speaking to them. And I could find it in my
heart now to speak to Mrs Martha again, now I myself am reduc'd
to Hanging Sleeves."
This roundabout wooing came to naught. The Judge married Widow Mary
Gibbs, relict of this very Robert Gibbs whose childish portrait we
have here. The artist who painted this picture may have been Tom
Child, who is named by Judge Sewall as the portrait-painter of that
day.
A demure and quaint portrait, opposite page 42, is that of Jane
Bonner. She was born in 1691, the daughter of Captain John Bonner of
Boston, and was married in 1710 to John Ellery. She was about eight
or ten years old when the portrait was painted. Crude as is the
painting, it gives evident proof that the lace of the stomacher and
sleeve frills is of the nature of what is now called rose point.
In the early settlements of Connecticut, Massachusetts, and
Virginia, sumptuary laws were passed to restrain and attempt to
prohibit extravagance in dress. The New England magistrates were
curiously minute in description of overluxurious attire, and many
offenders were tried and fined. But vain daughters and sons "psisted
in fflonting," though ministers joined the lawmakers in solemn
warnings and reprehensions. Young girls were fined for silk hoods
and immoderate great sleeves, and boldly appeared in court in still
richer attire. The Dutch never attempted or wished to simplify
the dress of either men or women. In New York dress was ample,
substantial, varied in texture, and variegated in color. It ever
formed a considerable item in personal property. The children of
the Dutch settlers had plentiful and warm clothing, and sometimes
very rich clothing, as may be seen in the quaint and interesting
picture facing page 26, of twin girls, the two daughters of Abraham
De Peyster of New York, and his wife, Margaret Van Cortlandt. They
are dressed in red velvet trained gowns, but are barefooted. They
were born December 3, 1724, and Eva died in 1729, a month after
the portrait was painted. Catherine was married on her eighteenth
birthday to John Livingstone, son of the second lord of the manor.
Their son had a daughter Catherine, who became the wife of Don
Mariano Velasquez de la Cadenas. To their daughters, Mrs. Azoy and
Miss Mariana Velasquez, this interesting portrait now belongs.
[Illustration: Infant's Robe, Cap and Christening Blanket]
The mother of these twins was the daughter of Jacobus Van Cortlandt
and Eva De Vries Philipse. The names of Eva and Catherine have ever
been given to the little daughters of these allied families, and are
borne to-day by many of their descendants.
Another little girl of Dutch blood was Cathalina Post, who married
Zegor Van Santvoord. Her portrait was painted in 1750 when she
was fourteen years old, and is now owned by Dr. Van Santvoord of
Kingston-on-Hudson, New York. A copy of this quaint old picture
faces page 204. It is most interesting in costume; the head-gear
showing distinct Dutch influence.
There is a suggestion of earrings in this portrait, and Katherine
Ten Broeck, another child of Dutch blood, but three years old, wears
earrings. The reproduction of her portrait, given opposite page 192,
shows these jewels but dimly, but they are visible in the original
oil-painting. She was born in Albany in 1715. The portrait is marked
Ætat^s Sua, 3 Years, 1719. She was married to John Livingstone, and
lived to become a stately old dame, receiving formally on New Year's
Day her grandchildren, who always greeted her in Dutch learned for
the special occasion.
The devastations of two wars (and in some localities
three)--destruction by fire and earthquake--have sadly destroyed
the cherished relics of many southern homes. From Mrs. St. Julian
Ravenel of Charleston, South Carolina, the delightful biographer
of that delightful colonial dame, Eliza Lucas Pinckney, come two
portraits of children of the Huguenot settlers. The picture facing
page 48 of Ellinor Cordes of St. John's, Berkeley County, South
Carolina, painted about 1740, shows a lovely little child of French
features, and French daintiness of dress, albeit a bright yellow
brocaded satin would seem rather gorgeous attire for a girl but
two years old. Opposite page 50 is a picture of Daniel Ravenel
of Wantoot, St. John's, Berkeley County, South Carolina, who was
born in 1760, and was about five years old when this portrait was
painted; though he still wears what might be termed a frock with
petticoats, there is a decided boyishness in the waistcoat with its
silver buttons and lace, and the befrogged overcoat with broad cuffs
and wrist ruffles, and a turned-over revers, and narrow linen inner
collar. It is an exceptionally pleasing boy's dress for a little
child.
Two portraits of Flagg children painted, it is said, by Smibert,
must be among his latest portraits, for the baby, Polly Flagg, was
born in Boston in 1750, and Smibert died in 1751. The portrait
facing page 184 shows, as may be seen, a dear little baby not a year
old, in baby dress and cap, clasping a toy. It is marked on the
back Mrs. Polly Hurd; for the little girl lived to be the wife and
widow of Dr. Wilder of Lancaster, Massachusetts, and of Dr. Hurd of
Concord, Massachusetts. Of equal interest is the severely beautiful
face of James Flagg, her brother, shown opposite page 188. He was
born in 1739, and was still "coats" when this portrait was painted.
These portraits are owned by Mrs. Albert Thorndike of Boston,
Massachusetts, the great-granddaughter of Griselda Apthorpe Flagg,
the sister of these two children.
[Illustration: Ellinor Cordes, Two Years Old, 1740]
The portrait of Jonathan Mountfort, given opposite page 58, has
a special interest to the art student, since it is a specimen of
Copley's early work. The boy was born December 6, 1746, and was
seven years old when the portrait was painted. He married Mary Bole,
a Newfoundland girl, whose father sent her to a school in Halifax,
under the charge of Captain Shepherd of Medford, Massachusetts.
Finding Halifax in a state of blockade, the captain took the little
girl to Boston. He and his wife were childless and became deeply
attached to her and finally adopted her. She became engaged to Dr.
Mountfort, and went to visit her parents in Ireland, whither they
had removed. On her return, bringing with her the gifts, wardrobe,
and household furnishings of a bride of that period, she came into
Boston harbor only to be wrecked in sight of the town. The ship's
mate swam with her to the lighthouse, and the two were the only
ones saved. Captain Shepherd gave her a house and fresh outfit,
and she married Dr. Mountfort. They had seven children, but the
name of Mountfort is now extinct. Their daughter Elizabeth married
Major Thomas Pitts, whose daughter is now Mrs. Farlin of Detroit,
Michigan, the present owner of this interesting portrait.
[Illustration: Daniel Ravenel, Five Years Old, 1765]
An altogether charming group of children, facing page 54, two
sisters and two brothers of Governor Christopher Gore (seventh
governor of Massachusetts), was painted about the year 1754, by
Copley. The mature little girl of this picture, Frances, married
Thomas Crafts, colonel of the regiment of which Paul Revere was
lieutenant-colonel in the Revolution. Colonel and Mrs. Crafts were
the great-grandparents of the present owners, Miss Julia G. Robins
and Miss Susan P. B. Robins. This picture was for a time in the
Boston Museum of Art, and on returning it General Loring wrote, "I
shall miss the little grown-ups--were there no children in those
days?" This look of maturity seems universal to all these portraits.
I have photographs of several other groups of children, one of the
most charming, that of the Grymes children, now in the Capitol
at Richmond, Virginia; but they are all too darkened with age to
admit of proper or adequate reproduction, and must be left out of
these pages. The baby in the Grymes group is truly a baby, not a
"grown-up."
[Illustration: Child's Shoes]
The handsomest of all the boy-portraits of colonial days is that
of Samuel Pemberton, by Blackburn; it is perfect in feature and
expression; though he is but twelve years old he wears a wig. It was
painted in 1736, and boys of good family then wore costly wigs. Mr.
Freeman of Portland, Maine, had in his book of expenses of the year
1750, such items as these:--
"Shaving my three sons at sundry times. £5. 14_s._
Expenses for James' Wig 9.
" " Samuel's Wig 9.
The three sons--Samuel, James, and William--were aged eleven, nine,
and seven years. The shaving was of their heads. Slaves of fashion
were parents of that day to bedeck their boys with such rich wigs.
A more exquisite portrait than that of Thomas Aston Coffin, opposite
page 222, can scarcely be found. It is painted in Copley's best
manner (shown in the highest perfection in the portrait of his
daughter Elizabeth). A light-hued satin petticoat-front shows under
a rich full-skirted satin over-dress which brushes the ground. The
pretty satin sleeves have white under-sleeves and wrist ruffles, but
the neck is cut very low and round. The child holds two pigeons by
a leash, and a feathered hat is by his side. This portrait was much
loved by its late owner, Miss Anne S. Robbins of Boston.
This charming picture of the Pepperell children, facing page 214,
was believed to be by Copley, and included in Mr. Perkins' list.
At present this authorship is doubted. It is owned by Miss Alice
Longfellow of Cambridge, having been bought by her father, the poet,
from the owner of the Portsmouth Museum, who had in some singular
way acquired it. The children are William, son of the second Sir
William Pepperell, and his sister Elizabeth Royal Pepperell, who
married Rev. Henry Hutton.
A bright-eyed little girl, Mary Lord, has her portrait, given
opposite page 66, hanging in the rooms of the Connecticut
Historical Society. She was born in 1702, in Hartford, Connecticut,
and married, in 1724, Colonel Joseph Pitkin of Hartford. By her side
hangs the picture of Colonel Wadsworth and his son, shown opposite
page 316. It is the one which the artist Trumbull took to Sir Joshua
Reynolds for advice and comment. He was snubbed with the snappish
criticism that "the coat looked like bent tin." Other criticism
might be made on the anatomical proportions of the subjects.
Copley's genius is shown in the fine portrait of William Verstile,
facing page 210, painted in 1769. There is one little glimpse of
this boy's boyhood which has so human an element, is so fully in
touch with modern life, that I give it. It is from an old letter
written by his mother, during a visit in Boston, where possibly this
very portrait was painted. It shows the beginning of tastes which
found ample scope in his services in the war of the Revolution.
"BOSTON, June 11, 1766.
My Dear these leaves me and my friends as I hope they will find
you for health. I was obliged to stay a fortnight as I didn't
set out till the middle of the week from Weathersfield, was
obliged to tarry here a fortnight on account of coming with the
Post. We got down safe we got into Boston Wednesday afternoon
at four o Clock. The Horse seem'd to enter Boston as free &
fresh as when he first set out from home. Mr. Lowder says he
is a prime horse. He wasn't galled or fretted in the least but
would have come right back again. I was a good deal worried as
Billey didn't fill the chaise no more, the horse might have
brought three as well as two & not have felt it. I have had but
very little Comfort since I have bin here on account of Billey
as there's so much powderwork going on among the Children since
the Illumination Billey has bin very forward of firing iron
guns. Since we've bin here its not only the powder amongst
the Children but the wharfes being so neare he's down there
continually. Johnny Bradford & Ned & Dan Warner and Billey was
down the wharfe together when a boy push'd Dan over & lik'd to
bin drown'd & might bin Billey so I can't take much comfort on
leaving of him but shall bring him, you needn't be Concern'd
about threes coming up as Mr. Hide tells me Billey may ride
behind him if he's a mind to."
Billey became a portrait painter himself, and got four guineas
apiece for his miniatures. He early showed artistic predilections,
and these tastes were well supplied. Interspersed with pumps and
hose and hats for Billey are found in his father's purchases "brass
deviders," scales, "books for limning," two dozen "hair pencils,"
and "1 box painter's collurs on glass," which cost twelve shillings.
[Illustration: Gore Children, 1754]
I don't know who taught Billey limning. There was a funny book in
circulation among students in that day. It was written in serious
intent, but its rules read as though they were dictated by Oliver
Herford. It was entitled _Every Young Man's Companion in Drawing_.
Here are a few of its instructions to young artists:--
"Make your outlines, which may be mended occasionally.
"From the Elbow to the Root of the Little Finger is Two Noses.
"The Thumb contains a Nose.
"The Inside of Arm to Middle of Arm is Four Noses."
The crowning glory of the Copley portraits is the charming family
group opposite page 180, depicting Copley himself, his beautiful
wife, his dignified father-in-law, and his lovely children. It is
now exhibited in the Boston Museum of Fine Arts. This group seems
perfect, and the quaint figure of the child Elizabeth Copley, in the
foreground, is worthy the brush of Van Dyck.
Colonel John Lewis, one of the old Virginia gentlemen, had two
child wards. As befitted young gentlefolk of that day of opulence
and extravagance, they had their dress from England. In 1736, when
Robert Carter, the younger child, was about nine years old, suits of
fine holland, laced, and of red worsted and of green German serge
came across seas for him, with laced hats with loops and buttons.
When he was twelve years old part of his "winter cloathes" were six
pair of shoes and two of pumps, four pair of worked hose and four of
thread hose, gloves, hats, and shoe buckles. His sister Betty had a
truly fashionable wardrobe, and the stiff, restrictive dress of the
times was indicated by the items of stays, hoops, masks, and fans.
When "Miss Custis" was but four years old George Washington ordered
for her from England packthread stays, stiffened coats, a large
number of gloves and masks.
An order for purchases sent to a London agent by Washington in 1761
contains a full list of garments for both his step-children. "Miss
Custis" was then six years old. These are some of the items:--
"1 Coat made of Fashionable Silk.
A Fashionable Cap or fillet with Bib apron.
Ruffles and Tuckers, to be laced.
4 Fashionable Dresses made of Long Lawn.
2 Fine Cambrick Frocks.
A Satin Capuchin, hat, and neckatees.
A Persian Quilted Coat.
1 p. Pack Thread Stays.
4 p. Callimanco Shoes.
6 p. Leather Shoes.
2 p. Satin Shoes with flat ties.
6 p. Fine Cotton Stockings.
4 p. White Worsted Stockings.
12 p. Mitts.
6 p. White Kid Gloves.
1 p. Silver Shoe Buckles.
1 p. Neat Sleeve Buttons.
6 Handsome Egrettes Different Sorts.
6 Yards Ribbon for Egrettes.
12 Yards Coarse Green Callimanco."
There is a large-headed portrait of the Custis children which was
painted at about this time. A copy of it is shown opposite page 250.
While the dress of both children is mature, it is not so elegant as
might be expected from the rich garments which were imported for
them.
Sir William Pepperell ordered, in 1737, equally costly and
formal clothing from England for his little daughter to disport
at Piscataquay. Stays and masks are ever on the lists of little
gentlewomen. A letter of the day tells of seeing the youthful
daughter of Governor Tryon sitting stiffly in a chair, in broad lace
collar, with heavy dress, never playing, running, or even walking.
Delicacy of figure and whiteness of complexion were equal fetiches
with colonial mammas. Little Dolly Payne, afterward Dolly Madison,
wore long gloves, a linen mask, and had a sunbonnet sewed on her
head every morning by her devoted mother. Very thin shoes of silk,
morocco, or light stuff unfitted little girls for any very active
exercise; these were high-heeled. A tiny pair of shoes for a
little girl of three are shown on page 51. I have seen children's
stays, made of heavy strips of board and steel, tightly wrought
with heavy buckram or canvas into an iron frame like an instrument
of torture. These had been worn by a little girl five years old.
Staymakers advertised stays, jumps, gazzets, costrells, and caushets
(which were doubtless corsets) for ladies and children, "to make
them appear strait." And I have been told of tin corsets for little
girls, but I have never seen any such abominations. One pair of
stays was labelled as having been worn by a boy when five years old.
There certainly is a suspicious suggestion in some of these little
fellows' portraits of whalebone and buckram.
In the sprightly descriptions given by Anna Green Winslow of her own
dress we see with much distinctness the little girl of twelve of the
year 1771:--
"I was dress'd in my yellow coat, my black bib & apron, my
pompedore shoes, the cap my aunt Storer sometime since presented
me with blue ribbins on it, a very handsome loket in the shape
of a hart, the paste pin my Hon'^d Papa presented me with in my
cap, my new cloak & bonnet on, my pompedore gloves, and I would
tell you they all lik'd my dress very much."... "I was dress'd
in my yellow coat, black bib and apron, black feathers on my
head, my paste comb, all my paste, garnet, marquasett, and jet
pins, together with my silver plume,--my loket rings, black
coller round my neck, black mitts, 2 or 3 yards of blue ribbin,
striped tucker & ruffels & my silk shoes compleated my dress."
[Illustration: Jonathan Mountfort, Seven Years Old, 1753]
It would seem somewhat puzzling to fancy how, with a little girl's
soft hair, the astonishing and varied head-gear named above could be
attached. Little Anna gives a full description of the way her hair
was dressed over a high roll, so heavy and hot that it made her head
"itch & ach & burn like anything." She tells of the height of her
head-gear:--
"When it first came home, Aunt put it on & my new cap on it; she
then took up her apron & measur'd me, & from the roots of my
hair on my forehead to the top of my notions, I measur'd above
an inch longer than I did downwards from the roots of my hair to
the end of my chin."
Her picture, shown facing page 164, is taken from a miniature
painted when she was a few years older. The roll is more modest
in size, and the decorations are fewer in number. Each year the
"head-equipage" diminished, till cropped heads were seen, with a
shock of tight curls on the forehead--an incredibly disfiguring
mode.
In the chapter upon the school life of girls a letter is given
describing the dress of two young girls who were boarding in Boston
while they were being taught. There is no doubt that very rich dress
was desired, and possibly required of these young scholar-boarders.
The oft-quoted letter in regard to Miss Huntington's wardrobe shows
the elegance of dress of those schoolgirls. She had twelve silk
gowns; but word was sent home to Norwich that a recently imported
rich fabric was most suitable for her rank and station; and in
answer to the teacher's request the parents ordered the purchase of
this elegant dress.
When cotton fabrics from Oriental countries became everywhere and
every time worn, children's dress, as likewise that of grown folk,
was much reduced in elegance as it was in warmth. Hoops disappeared
and heavy petticoats also; the soft slimsy clinging stuffs, suitable
only for summer wear, were not discarded in winter. Boys wore
nankeen suits the entire year. Calico and chintz were fashioned into
trousers and jackets. A little suit is shown, facing page 60, made
of figured calico of high colors, which it is stated was worn in
1784. The labels are very exact and the labellers very cautious of
the Deerfield Memorial Hall collection, else I should assign this
suit to a ten or even twenty years' later date. Children must
have suffered sadly with the cold in this age of cotton. Girls'
dresses were half low-necked, and were filled in with a thin tucker;
separate sleeves were tied in at the arm size, and often long-armed
mitts of nankeen or linen took the place of the sleeves.
[Illustration: Boy's Suit of Clothing, 1784]
A family of Cary children had several charming portraits painted in
London. Two of them are given opposite pages 240 and 246. They note
the transitions of costume which came at the approach of the close
of the century. The portrait of the boy is interesting in a special
point of costume; it shows the abandonment of the cocked hat and
adoption of the simpler modern form of head-covering. The little
girl, Margaret, has a most roguish expression, which is suggestive
of Sir Joshua Reynolds' _Girl with the Mouse Trap_. The resemblance
is even more marked in the portrait of the same child at the age
of six, wherein the eyes and half-smile are charmingly engaging;
unfortunately the photograph from that portrait is not clear enough
for satisfactory reproduction.
A demure little brother and sister were the children of General
Stephen Rowe Bradley of Westminster, Vermont, whose portraits face
pages 356 and 378. These were painted soon after the Revolution,
and show the definite changes in dress which set in with other
Republican institutions. At this date there began to be worn a
special dress for both boys and girls. Until then, as soon as a boy
put on breeches he dressed precisely like his father--in miniature.
By tradition Marie Antoinette was the first who had a special dress
made for her young son. And sadly was she reviled for dressing her
poor little Dauphin in jacket and trousers instead of flapped coat,
waistcoat, and knee-breeches.