Figure 1.--This unidentified child was photographed at the Bateman studio in Canterbury, England. Despite the short hair, we think the child is a girl, in part because of the flower basket. Notice the large bow at the front. That was rather unusual. We haven;t seen this before. The portrait is undated. We might guess the 1880s, but we are not at all sure.

The pinafore is commonly associated with girls. And indeed large numbers of girls wore them. We have found numerous images in the photographic record showing English girls wearing imaculate white pinnies to school. They were by both affluent and working class girls, although the better off girls normally had fancier pinnies. Other firls had both pinnies for play and for more formal occassions. We suspect that much lsrger numbers of girls wore pinafores than is suggested by the photgraphic record. The pinafore was commonly worn at home, but for a formal photographic portrait the girls usually dressed up and did not wer their pinafotes. This makes it difficult to assess the chronology and prevalence grom the photographic record. It is clear that white was the most common color. Some younger boys in England also are known to have been dressed in pinafores.

Created: 12:24 AM 4/19/2011
Last updated: 12:24 AM 4/19/2011