Figure 1.--This tin-type shows an American girl wearing a bright plaid dress with a large scalloped collar and lace trim. It is difficult to date tin-types, but we would guess that this one was taken in the 1880s.

Patterned or print fabric are a relativerly modern development. Earlier patterns could be inroduced as part pf the weaving process. Thhe best known fabric is plaids. The Industrial Revolution most immediately led to calico prints. Here engraved rollers and cylinders were used to create patterns. Most of this work was done in Europe with American companies gradually adopting the techniques and processes. Dyehouses known as printworks opened in Switzerland, Germany and England adopting steadily improving processes. It was, however, the French who excelled textile print fashions. One fashion hitorian writes, "... it was undoubtedly the French that led the way in the textile printing craft and enriched it with an undeniably artistic quality that many attempted to replicate. In America pits only appeared in the late-19th century and were primarily a 20th cenury phenomenon as a result of major technical advances. Patterned skirted garments were generally worn by girls. Patterns were not exclusively for girls, but the vast majority of patterned skirted garments were worn by girls. These were commonly called prints. The dresses the girls here are wearing are an excellent example, but we can't make out the actual pattern (figure 1). Girls wore a wide variety of patterns. We see polkadots, flowers, plants, and much more were popular choices. Two patterns were commonly worn by both boys and girls, stripes and plaid. These were one of the few patterns commonly worn by boys, but were popular with girls as well, especially plaid. During the 19th century, the brughter plaids seem more commoin for the girls than the boys. Strangely, in the 20th centuty, plaid became popular for boy's shirts in the 20th century. Rather inexplicably plaid was not popular for girls' blouses, but became very popular for girls' skirts.

Created: 9:05 AM 11/30/2012
Last updated: 5:05 AM 8/7/2017