Figure 1.--Here we see English children in a cabinet card portrait. It was taken in Eastbourne (a seaside resort) so they may be vacationers. Notice the girl wearing a sailor dress. The portrait is not dated, but we would guess was taken in the 1890s. The studio is W. Kent.

English girls like girls in other counties almost entirely wore dresses and skirts. These were the two most common garments for girls. The 19th century photographic record suggest that dresses were by far the dominant garment for girls. We are not, however, sure how accurate this is. Mothers may have outfitted their daughters in their best outfits for the portraits which meant dresses. Skirts are not strongly represented in the 19th century photographic record. Skirt outfits may have been worn more commonly than is reflected in the photographic record. In the 20h century we see far more girls wearing skirts. This may mean that skirts were more common, but it may only mean that the explossion of amateur photography wih Kodak Brownie and other systems mean that the photographic record was no longer based just on studio images. We see all kinds of family snapshots around home and the photographic record is much more a reflection of everyday life and the lothes the children wore when not dressed up. School photography is also a good indicator of popular styles, although pinfore were so common that we often do not see what the girls are wearing underneath. As pinafores became less common, we see many girls wearing skirts to school in the 20th century. This included school uniforms which were popular in England. Dresses appear to have been the standard girls' garment in the 19th century. This began to chnange in the 20th centuty. The dress was dominant when dressing up, but we see both dresses abd skirts for more casul wear, espcially after World War II.

Created: 8:58 AM 1/7/2019
Last updated: 8:58 AM 1/7/2019