Good Taste and Bad Taste in Dressing Children
"The Ladies Home Journal" describes the pitfalls of
over-dressing children in the Edwardian era.
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"Look here, upon this picture, and on this!"
The girl with the doll is all ready to have a
good play in clean or in dirty places and still
be comfortable and happy. But her companion
can't venture to have a good time where there is
any “nice dirt" to play in, and looks thoroughly
miserable in being so much overdressed, with a
hat old enough for her mother, and furbelows and
trimmings quite out of place on a child. |
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The first boy is
in for a good time, and yet he looks the thorough little man
with his bloomer trousers underneath his one-piece suit.
Then look at his "nice" but unhappy little companion who is
made a ridiculous caricature of a man in his wee trousers so
out of place on little legs, in a hat which would look
better on a girl than a boy, and a blouse, collar and tie
that were surely meant for his sister. |
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Simple childish and yet undoubtedly smart is the
dress of this little lady. Her white linen suit,
shade hat, navy blue coat, her gloves and shoes,
are all appropriate and inconspicuous. A girl
of twelve wants to wear pretty clothes, of
course, but she also wants to be able to "do
things" in them, and they must not be "fancy,"
nor should they make her look older than she is.
Her clothes must get their style from their cut
and fit, and not from the trimming. She has
many years before her to wear lace and
jewelry—while she is a child she should dress
like one! |
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Too
much—too dreadfully much of everything! This
girl's clothes probably represent greater money
outlay than do those of the girl opposite, from
the rhinestone buckle on her cap to her high
heeled, patent leather shoes. Yet what is the
effect? Cheapness, bad taste, unsuitability.
Making a woeful attempt to look fine, she adds
an elaborate lace collar to a plain cloth coat
(which is all wrong), wears a skirt far too old
for her in cut, dons fancy gloves, impressive
beads, an exaggerated hair-bow, and a jingly
metal belt—too much, indeed! |
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Isn’t this a fine little
fellow with his blue linen jumpers and his hobby-horse? And
then look at the unfortunate little soul next to him,
dressed so that he cannot have a moment's freedom. Our
little friend with the hobby-horse is ready to get right
down to play, and have a "bully" time, while the poor little
fellow with the curls cannot have any fun at all, with his
ridiculous hat, and his big Fauntleroy collar and jacket. |
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Comfortable and
attractive is the little girl with the gingham dress, big
rough-and-ready straw hat, and tan shoes and stockings. But
the other poor child is dressed up in cast-off finery of her
mother's, in hopeless imitation of her big sister. Her hat
is much too old for her and so over trimmed that it looks
like a lamp-shade, while her general appearance is that of
being dressed out of the scrap basket.
From The
Ladies' Home Journal, 1907.
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