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As far as we know, plaid dresses are a 19th century phenomenon. We have no information on the early-19th century, but with the invention of photography, we do have information by mid-century. Interestingly it is a fashion that was roughly con incident with photography which is HBC's principal source of information. Plaid became an important pattern after Queen Victoria began outfitting the young princes in tartan kilts (1840s). This created a fashion for boys outside of Scotland wearing Highland kilts. The Highland kilt never proved very popular in America, but the related kilt suit did become a major style. A related development was that mothers began using plaid material for children's clothing. We are not sure how common this was in Britain, but we have seen English plaid dresses for boys. We know it was very common in America. Both boys and girls wore plaid dresses, but it was particularly popular for boys. We are not sure about the 1840s, but we definitely see American boys wearing plaid tunics in the 1850s. Most of the images we have found are from the second half of the 19th century. We think this is when plaid dresses for boys were the most common. But of course it is also when photographic images became increasing common. Photography was only invented (1839). We are not real sure about the 1860s, but we see quite a number of plaid dresses by the 1870s. The boy's dress here is a good example (figure 1). We see plaid dresses in many different styles. We continue to see American boys wearing plaid dresses through the 1890s.
As far as we know, plaid dresses are a 19th century phenomenon, ta least in America. We have little no information on the early-19th century. Scottish immigrants would have intrduced plaid to America. Scotts were, however, were a small portion of the immigrant flow. Even so, the Scotts-Irish were of some imprtance, albeit not in fashion. And they were relatively low income immigrants, largely making their presence felt on the frontier. This is not where American fashion trends were genrated. And while the Scotts may have arrived with a knowledge of plaid. That does not mean that plaid fabric was avaihble to purchse.
As far as we can tell, dresses in America were not done to any extent in plaid. There are a number od family paintings showing American children from the 1830s. And we do not see a hint of plaid. good example is the Alling family. There were two developments in the decade of imprtance in fashion history. First, the young Princess Victoria became queen (1837). This is imprtant in the hisyoy of plaid because Victoria had a romantic attachment to all things, Scottsh, primarily because of the literature she had read. And this included Scottish dress--meaning in part plaid. There would be no immediate fashion impact, but it would soon come. Second, a French experimente invented commerical photogaphy--the Daugerreotype (1839). This meant that images would be created in huge numbers that today allow us to follow fashion tends to a greater degree than possblein earlier decades.
Queen Victoria married Prince Albert (1840). Looking at the marriage ceremony, there is not a hint of plaid. The children were not long in coming and in large numbers. The Queen is often called the 'grandmother of Europe'. The Crown Princess, Victoria, was born before the year was over. This is important in the history of plaid because fashion in Europe was heavily influenced by the royal families, especially the important royal families. And American fashion while not affected by the frontier, was affected if not set by European fashion, especially British and French fashion. One fashion expert writes, "Another trend that I noticed with Victorians and plaid was that they loved to dress their little ones in it." 【Recollections】 Plaid became an important pattern after Queen Victoria began outfitting the young princes in tartan kilts (1840s). This created a fashion for boys outside of Scotland wearing Highland kilts. The Highland kilt never proved very popular in America, but the related kilt suit would become a major style even more important than plaid dresses. Women wore plaid dresses, but as far as we can tell, plaid was more popular for children's dresses. It took some time for Victoria's children to reach the age that they could wear dresses and kilts, but by the end if the decade the impact on the fashion world had begun. Photography was invented (1839) and we begin to see images (1840s). The industry spread like wildfire, much more rapidly than in Europe. By the end of the decade there were Dag studios in all American cities and an increasingly towns of any size. Dags were expensive, although only a fraction of the cost of a painted portrait. Thus the number while far more than painted portraits was still limited.
With the invention of photography, we do have much more information on fashion by mid-century than eve before. Interestingly it is a fashion that was roughly conincident with photography which is HBC's principal source of information. The number of phoographic images increased in the 1850s. We see new formats lke tin-typesand and Ambrotypes lowering the cost of photograpic portraits furthrf increasing the number of portraits. Lowering the price not only inceased the number of portraits, but the economic level f the people who could aford a portrait. This mean an ever expnding expanson of the social strata of the people appearing in the photographic record. The American economy was growing increasing the spending power of Americans and the population was expanding. More and more photgraphic studios were opening. And we see mothers beginnig to use plaid material for children's clothing. We are not sure how common this was in Britain, but we see English plaid dresses for boys. We know it was very common in America because we have a larger photoraphic record. America surpassed the British populkation (1850s). Not only waa thereaa larger ppulation, butAmericans were having more potograpic portait taken per capita, a reflection of he rising posperity and wages in America. Both boys and girls wore plaid dresses, but it was particularly popular for boys. We are not entirely sure about the 1840s, but we definitely see American boys wearing plaid dresses in the 1850s. We also notice kilt suits for the first time.
While we see more images in the 1850s, we exponentally more images when the CDV appeared in the 1860s. We see CDVS in the late-1850sm but they did not begin to become popular until bout 1860. The CDV wa sa negafive based firmat, meaning you could have low cost copies made for family and friends. Something you could not do with earlier formats. As a result, most of the images we have found are from the second half of the 19th century. We think this is when plaid dresses for boys were the most common. But of course it is also when photographic images became increasingly common. We also see kilt suits, commonly but not always done in plaid--usally a subtle dark plaid..
We see quite a number of younger boys wearing dresses in the 1870s. We see a trend develping to diffentiate boy and girl dresses. boy dresses end to be plainer than girl dresses. Both boys and girls wore plaid dresses. Plaid esspecially popular for boy dresses. The boy's dress on the previous page is a good example. We see the plaid dresses in many different styles. The plaid dresse seem to be rather plain, but there was considerable variation. We also see plaid trim beng used. We tend to see more boys wearing kilt suits than plaid dresses. We think that this is reflection of relative popularity, even though a dress is a lss expensive garment than a suit.
We continue to see American boys wearing plaid dresses durig the 1880s . The boys here are a good example (figure 1). We see far more examples of kilt suits.
We contnue to see children wearing plaid dresses in the 1890s, both boys and girls. They continued to done in many styles, but with increasingly boy oriented styles, including plaid patterns. Mst were aher plain, but there wee some with ellaboate embelishments. While we continue to see boys wearng plaid dresses, we do not see as many as in the 1880s. This was probably not because the laid material for boys was becoming less popuar. Rather the comvention of youngr boys wearing dresses was in decline, especially after 1895. We still see younger boys commonly wearing kilt suits, but fewer and younger boys wearing dresses.
Recollections. "The Victorians and plaid".
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