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We see American boys wearing dresses with varying hem lengths. As far as we know, hem lengths for boys and girls were similar, although we have yet to definitely confirm this. We need to investigate girls' dresses to make sure of this. We note hem lengths which varied from just at or more commonly just below the knee to long ankle lengths. We do not see higher lengths because they were not worn at the time boys wore dresses. Knee-length dresses were worn by some little girls in Europe, but not in America. Fashion may be a factor here, but we are not sure how important this was. This varied somewhat over time, but we suspect that they often reflected the proclivities of the mother who may have had other thoughs that fashion in mind. The really long hems look rather unusual. Long hems were worn for women both for modesty and fashion. Both of these factors would seem less importnt for little boys. A mother might dress a younger boys in a dress with a long hem line thinking that the boy could wear the dess as he got older. And of course there are always hand-me-downs which might reflect older fashions and may likely come from an older boy or girl. This is difficult to assess, but we can gather information on the various lenhths and chronology. We find the same pattern in the other skirted garments boys wore.
We see American boys wearing dresses with varying hem lengths. We note hem lengths which varied from just at or more commonly just below the knee to long ankle lengths covering the child from the neck to the ankle. We do not see higher lengtgs because they were not worn at the time boys wore dresses. Knee-length dresses were worn by some little girls in Europe, but not in America. Many dresses were dome a mid lengths, about calf level. The really long hems look rather unusual on young children. Long hems were worn for women both for modesty and fashion. Both of these factors would seem less important for ery yong children especially little boys. This is difficult to assess, but we can gather information on the various lenhths and chronology. As this process develops we can begin t assess the prevalence of the various lenghs and the conventions involved. We find the same pattern in the other skirted garments boys wore such a skirts and kilts.
A mother might dress a younger boys in a dress with a long hem line thinking that the boy could wear the dress as he got older. This does not, however, explain the relly long, ankle-length dresses. And of course there are always hand-me-downs which might reflect older fashions and may likely come from an older boy or girl.
Fashion may be a factor here, but we are not sure how important this was. This varied somewhat over time, but we suspect that they often reflected the proclivities of the mother who may have had other thoughs that fashion in mind.
As far as we can tell, age does not seem to have been a fctor in the length of the dresses boys wore. They seem to have been essentialy the same lengths that girls at the times wore. This we still need to confirm. There is one exception to the basic rule that thre were no spcial length for boys ar various ages. We see a lot of boys wearing very ong dresses, even covering their ankles. The examples we have found to date were modtlyh the younger boys wearing dresses. We do not jnow why such very yojng boys had the longest dresses. The only thing we have been able to think of is that mothers were buying the dresses in lrge sizes thinking that the boys could grow into them and thus the dresses could be wirn longer hn ifthey had biufgt the right size.
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