Dress
1850-1860 (made)
| Artist/Maker | |
| Place of origin |
The concept of evening and party clothes for children originates in the 1840s and 50s with the rise of children's parties. Female evening dress, including that for children, was always reflective of the prevailing fashions, but often with shorter sleeves and lower necklines, whereas the male equivalent conventionally came to consist of black dinner jacket and trousers with a white shirt and black or white bow tie.
In the early twentieth century the black dinner jacket and trousers was more associated with boys in their middle teens and older; for younger boys the Eton suit was often customary instead, although as late as 1939-40 the Army & Navy Stores catalogue lists evening dress for boys as young as twelve. Girls of all ages between 1900 and the 1960s often wore white or pastel coloured dresses, usually more elaborately made or finished than their day ones.
In the early twentieth century the black dinner jacket and trousers was more associated with boys in their middle teens and older; for younger boys the Eton suit was often customary instead, although as late as 1939-40 the Army & Navy Stores catalogue lists evening dress for boys as young as twelve. Girls of all ages between 1900 and the 1960s often wore white or pastel coloured dresses, usually more elaborately made or finished than their day ones.
Object details
| Categories | |
| Object type | |
| Materials and techniques | White and silver-gilt gauze, over sateen; tinsel trimming |
| Brief description | Child's dress of white gauze patterned with silver-gilt tinsel, trimmed with tinsel flowers and fringes; UK, ca. 1850-60 |
| Physical description | Child's dress of white gauze patterned with narrow bands of silver gilt tinsel on a foundation of white sateen lined with plain white gauze and cotton twill. It has a round lace-edged neck and short lace-edged sleeves, with the armholes, neck and sleeves trimmed with rows of tinsel fringe. The bodice is decorated at the front with loops of tinsel shaped as simple flowers, and has a slight plastron effect at the front, terminating in a double row of tinsel fringe. The flared skirt falls from a self waistband, and is tiered with three flounces of tinselled gauze, each finished with a row of tinsel fringe at the hem. The garment fastens at the back of the bodice with a row of pearlised buttons and stitched buttonholes. |
| Dimensions |
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| Credit line | Given by Richard Eyre |
| Object history | Said to have been worn by unspecified members of the donor's family as a christening robe, but likely to have originated as a party dress. Given by Richard Eyre (RF 89/1875) |
| Summary | The concept of evening and party clothes for children originates in the 1840s and 50s with the rise of children's parties. Female evening dress, including that for children, was always reflective of the prevailing fashions, but often with shorter sleeves and lower necklines, whereas the male equivalent conventionally came to consist of black dinner jacket and trousers with a white shirt and black or white bow tie. In the early twentieth century the black dinner jacket and trousers was more associated with boys in their middle teens and older; for younger boys the Eton suit was often customary instead, although as late as 1939-40 the Army & Navy Stores catalogue lists evening dress for boys as young as twelve. Girls of all ages between 1900 and the 1960s often wore white or pastel coloured dresses, usually more elaborately made or finished than their day ones. |
| Collection | |
| Accession number | MISC.58-1990 |
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| Record created | July 1, 2009 |
| Record URL |
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