Figure 1.-- Here we have a turn of the 20th century child's stripped blouse. A dealer believes it may have been a boy's blouse, we suspect it was more likely for a girl. Here the puffed sleeves in particular suggest a girl's blouse to us. This was a wool garment. It has an unusual collar. Click on the imge to see the back of the blouse.

Here we have a turn of the 20th century child's stripped blouse. A dealer believes it may have been a boy's blouse, we suspect it was more likely for a girl. Here the puffed sleeves in particular suggest a girl's blouse to us. This was a wool garment. It has an unusual collar. Original pearlized buttons and brown piping. Length of blouse --neck to hem bottom is 14" ,width --shoulder to shoulder is 10". It does not look to have a drawstring closure, rather it was done in the button-on style. A Canadian reader tells us, "This is definitely a girl's blouse. A gender convention was which side the buttons were sewn. It was always on the heart side for girls. If you look carefully at the little girl in sailor coat and gaiters I sent HBC. You will note that double-breasted garments can be used on both sides, for girls on left and for boys on right. Useful in a large family." This is interesting because we are not certain just when this bittoning convention became widely accepted.

Created: 7:50 PM 10/4/2005
Last updated: 8:43 PM 10/10/2005