Figure 1.--The mother and daughter both wear similar cardigan sweaters and dress styles in this 1931 photograph. Apart from the socks, the only important difference is the young girl’s much shorter hemline, which was customary before the World War II.

The 20th century saw women’s rights increase as they began to work, take up educational opportunities and obtain the vote. The clothing women and girls wear today reflect this change, and the differences that once existed between adult and children’s fashions are less distinct. Although many girls still wear skirts and dresses, it is usually a matter of choice rather than convention or compulsion. It wasn’t until the Edwardian era and World War I that women began wearing trousers whilst undertaking war time activities such was working in the munitions factories, and trousers were generally frowned upon for wearing on other occasions until later into the 20th century. Similarly school girls therefore would rarely wear non-skirted garments, except for sporting activities, until the 1960s. Many girls by the end of the century rarely wear skirts and dresses, and this is reflected when looking on a typical UK high street on a Saturday.

Garments

We have noted chrionological trends associated with specific garments.

Headwear

Headwear continued to be virtually mandatory in the early-20th century and then began to decline. By mid-cntury headwear had become optional. Some schools eequired headwear, but this generally declned as well. In the post-World War II era, the prevalence of headwewear steadily declined. We also see changing styles. Tams were very common om te early-19th century. We also see wide-brimmed hats for formal occassipns as well as boaters. Gurks for decadeds pnly wore hats and tams, never caps. After World War I, broad-brimmed hats declined. In the 1920s we see cloche hats like the little girl here is weating (figure 1). We note rounded crown hats with narrow brims in the 1930s which persisted for decades for school or when dressing up. Girls like boys might have sun hats. In the post- World War II era headwear styles were much less common, except for winter wear. Some girls wore stocking caps. Girls stpcking caps might have poms. And gradually even schools stopped requiring beadwear. Even a fashiinable English women wore all kinds of fanvy hats for tea parties, weddings and social events, girls were less and less likely to have headwear. By the ebd of the century we see some girks wearing American baseball caps.

Decorative items

Skirted garments

Pants

Hosiery

In the 20th century one of the main differences between women’s and girls outfits were the types of hosiery they wore. Although a mother and daughter may have worn similar styles of dress, often the girl’s juvenile status was signified by the socks she was wearing, whilst her mother wore stockings or tights. Only in the past couple of decades have girls worn similar types of hosiery to their adult relations and carers on a regular basis.

Footwear

Females both girls and especially women throuhout the 20th century have been more adventurous with their footwear when compared to men and boys. Footwear in the early 20th century was still veey staid, in part because skirts were so long. Younger children, both boys and girl might wear strap shoes, almost always with sandals. When after World War I, hemlines began to rise the feet and ankles became more visible, This made footwear an increasingly important fashion accessory. This was especually true of women where fashion often exceeded practicality in importance. Girls footwear tended to be more practical, but even for girls, fashion was never absent. A major innovation begun in the 1910s was the sandal which unlike the earlier strap shoe, was commonly worn without socks, especially during the summer. Both sandals and strap shoes were commonly worn by girls in the inter-War era. Women often chosen to wear high heeled shoes for a variety of reasons including giving the optical illusion of a longer, slimmer leg, a smaller foot, and a greater overall height. High heeled footwear were not consider proper for girls, both because of safety and health concerns and the fashion appropriateness. We also see girls wearing practical low-cut oxfords. These basic trends continued after World War II into the 1950s and 60s. A major shift occurred in the 1970s when trainers (sneakers) became popular both as comfortable footwear and as a fashion statement.

Decade Trends

During the Edwardian era hemlines for young girls remained shorter at a later age, so girls aged 9 or 10 years of age would wear something akin to what a 4-year old wore in Victorian times. A brief comment on school fashion, which will be described later, in the early twentieth century girls were often only educated to their early teens when it was custom for them to go into service to work as domestics in large houses. The typical school garment at the time would be a white pinafore that would be slightly shorter than the mid calf length dress it was worn over. The 1920s brought the most radical change to women’s fashions; women liberated themselves and started to wear more comfortable clothes including shorter length dresses and skirts, and trousers. Many of these changes also reflected on the fashions for girls who now wore clothes made of lighter fabrics. Although hemlines were regarded as short in the 1920s most adult women hemlines were never higher than the top of the knee, however dresses with hemlines well above the knee for young girls (under the age of 10 or 11) were beginning to appear. School wear was also beginning to change with the introduction of gymslips (also referred to as tunics, and pinafores, although different). The purpose of the gymslip was originally intended to be an item of clothing for games activities; a short dress but with no arms, it gave easy movement for sports such as netball and hockey. Schools started to adopt gymslips as the standard day wear for all activities including academic lessons. Gymslips remained the standard attire for most school girls until the 1950s, and many primary and prep schools still have pinafores as part of their uniform today. The 1930s were economically difficult times and the female fashions became much more conservative. Mid calf was the typical adult women’s skirt length. Younger girls would tend to wear their skirts shorter. The differences in the dress length to what a young daughter would wear compared to her mother can be noticed in photographs from the era. Often the mother’s dress would fall below the length of her daughter’s despite the significant difference in height as a 1931 family photograph shows. Older girls would wear similar dresses to their mothers and this practice continued until the 1950s with the evolution of teenage fashions. During World War II (1939-45) era, Britain rationed clothing. Most women wore skirts at or near knee-length, with simply-cut blouses or shirts and square-shouldered jackets, and their daughters often wore hand me downs from either from their older sisters as they grew out of their clothes. Rationing made new clothing scare and it was necessary to “make do and mend”. Just like how a wartime teenage boy might have to remain in short trousers until he was 16 as opposed to 13 due to wartime shortages, a teenage girl may have to make do with dresses and skirts above the knee. Many schools also relaxed their uniform requirements as supplies were not always available, or opened their own second hand shops so uniform items from leavers could be reissued. The post war period brought an unprecedented era of economic growth and social change. Rock and Roll with the associated fashions influenced youth culture and mass produced affordable “off the peg clothing” was available. Young girls still tended to wear conservative outfits that mimicked older women’s fashions (with shorter hemlines for the youngest), but teenagers fortunate enough to receive generous pocket money allowances could afford the latest fashions. However, being fashionable at school remained impossible for most girls. Many of the new grammar schools established in the 1944 Butler Education Act were no longer constrained by war time restrictions and could adopt strict uniform requirements. Trousers for girls were virtually unheard of, with gymslips and pinafores common for many secondary school girls, although it was usual for sixth formers to be allowed to wear more grown up skirts. It was also customary to see headwear typically with berets in the winter and boaters in the summer (worn with summer dresses). Girls were wearing trousers with increasing regularity outside school, and schools from the 1970s onwards were beginning to allow girls to wear them largely as a result of pressure from women’s lib campaigns. By the 1990’s the majority of state schools in the UK allowed girls to wear trousers although a large number did not including maintained (church) schools. There was an increasing amount of debate on the subject as many girls were not happy that they had to wear skirts and dresses especially in cold weather, or they were self-conscious about their appearance. A raft of anti-discriminatory legislation had come into being from the 1970s including the Equal Opportunities Act, which created the Equal Opportunities Commission.

Created: 7:09 PM 11/19/2010
Last updated: 3:18 AM 5/18/2020