1840s in Fashion - Children's Fashion

Children's Fashion

In this period, children's wear followed trends found in adult fashion. Wool and cashmere were popular textiles for baby cloaks while cotton was still widely accepted for toddler dresses, drawers and play wear. A popular silhouette for toddlers was a cotton bodice, pleated skirt and long sleeves. Small boys (ages 3 through 6) commonly wore a Tunic suit, also known as "Hussar tunics". The jackets were fitted to the waist and then flared out to a full skirt ending at knee length. This was worn over trousers, or for very small boys with white drawers. A round-collared shirt was usually worn underneath the jacket. Elementary to older age boys wore an Eton suit, which was a short, waist-level jacket, trousers, round-collared shirts, vest and sometimes neckties. In 1840 flat caps were popularly worn for boys. Small girls wore cotton drawers, cotton chemise, petticoats and stockings. As girls got older in age they followed the trend of their mothers and began to wear stays or tight corsets

• Young boy in tunic, shirt, and trousers, 1840

• French boy, 1843–44

• Prince Albert Edward, The future King Edward VII in a sailor suit, 1846

• Fashion plate of young girl's costume, 1849