*** American girls' clothing fashion hair parts









American Girls' Hair Styles: Parts


Figure 1.--We see these center parts for girls from the earlies pgotographs like this 1840s Daguerreotype. Interesting with a society obsessed ith modesty. many children wore dresses with low necklines. In thi mase a robe was used. But while lownecklines were common, nost children had their legs descretely cobvered with stickings and pantalettes as dress stryles became shorter. r,

There was one consistent element over time in girls's hair styling which was a center hair part. It is the most valid element in assessing unidentified images. Boys at times had center parts, but the primary trend in boys hair styling was and continues to be a side part. Girls on the other hand during the 19th and 20th century genrally had center parts. This was sometimes hidden ny styling, but it was fairly standard. Notice the meticulous center parts here . virtually razor perfect (figure 1). We are less sure about very young children, but do note some todlers wearing dresses with side parts. We believe these children are largely boys. This is all a little different to sort out because young boys and girls look so much alike. This is whu the hair part is such a iseful indicator in sorting out whi is who in old photographs. A factor here is that girls and women often had long hair and a center part is the most fuctional way of styling long hair. This was true of both short and long styles. Thus center parts are a very strong indicator of gender, but they are not definitive. We see this in earliest Daugerreotypes through to modern snapshots. This was true of America children ans children throughout Europe.









HGC





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Created: 12:45 AM 4/22/2022
Last updated: 12:45 AM 4/22/2022