Figure 1.--Here we see English children gathering flowers. Both girls wear pinafores to keep their clothes clean. This is an undated magic latern slide. We would guess it was taken in the 1890s. The boy looks to be about 5 years old. The girls look to be about 12-14years old.

Pinafores were widely worn and for different circumstances. Pinfores were very commonly worn to school. Countless school portaits which were becoming common lace by the 1890s show girls wearing pinafores to school. We see almost all or at least many girls wearing pinafores to school. White pinafores were very common. A good ecample is a church school in the 1890s. School pinafores were usully white and simple. Girls also wore around the house and for play. These are not the same as children often had chores, but the tendency to wear pinafores was prevalent in both instances. There is less photograhic evidence of this because the aateur snapshot did not becone common until the turn-of-the-century. Thus we do not see that many images of play and life around the home until the 1900s and this is about the time that pinafores began declining in popularity. And the pinafore vecame less common after World War I (1914-18). We some girls wearing pinafores with more formal dresses, like the girl on the previous page, but his was less common than for school or play.

Created: 4:08 AM 2/4/2018
Last updated: 4:08 AM 2/4/2018