These baby garments are entirely without attached fastenings, and there is no evidence of their ever having had any. It was quite normal at this date to use pins instead - one reason why a pincushion was such a popular present to a new mother. Using sharp pins to fasten baby clothes made it much easier to adjust garments to fit the growing child, but even then there were those who considered it dangerous. The first printed reference in English to the closable safety pin (based on the ancient fibula form of brooch), is in 1857, but safety pins were not widely available until the late 1870s.