All posts tagged: Children’s fashion

Rate the Dress: ruffly pink party frock of the late 1860s

Goodness was last week’s acid green Callot Soers dress controversial and divisive! You either really, really, really love it. Or really didn’t. If I’d gone with everyone who rated it 6 and over it would have come out an 8.1 out of 10. If I’d gone with everyone who rated it 5 and under it it would have rated a 3 out of 10. Combined, the rating comes to a 6.5 out of 10, which is a rating that no-one gave it on their own! It’s Valentine’s day, and even though I’m not a Valentines fan at all I thought it was a good excuse to show you something ruffly and pink. I failed to find a suitable frock that was quite and pink and quite as ruffly as I had hoped, but I did find this sweet but slightly restrained pink and cream party frock from the MFA Boston. Doesn’t this girls dress with its stripes and panniered overskirt just speak of old fashioned Valentines: all flower garlands and cupids, and maybe just a …

Rate the dress: a girls party frock, about 1865

Published by The Dreamstress

Last week I presented a painting of a wealthy young Englishwoman of the 1750s, and the vast majority of you rated it very highly, and it achieved a 7.3 out of 10. You know what though? I’m disappointed in you! So many readers criticised it, and then gave it a 9 out of 10 anyway! What does that mean? Shouldn’t a 9 be almost absolutely perfect ‘must-have-now’ with just the tiniest tweaks needed? I think you are all just brainwashed to think that anything 18th century is fabulous, and don’t stop and think “but is this a good example of 18th century?”! So this week is about pushing our usual inclinations. You, dear readers, have been rather disapproving of historical children’s clothes in the past. But I’m feeling brave, and am wondering if I can’t tempt you out of ingrained likes and dislikes. So I’m presenting a striking girl’s dress of about 1865 in muted red and white. I imagine this would have been worn by a girl of about 9 or 10. So, do …

Jeanne Samary’s book: Charlotte’s Treats

Published by The Dreamstress

It’s really hard to get ahold of a copy of Jeanne Samary’s children’s book Les Gourmandises de Charlotte (Charlotte’s Treats), which is really a pity, because it sounds charming, and the illustrations are adorable. Little Charlotte is a greedy, unruly little child. She won’t eat anything but sugar! Her mother tries to tempt her with all sorts of delicious, nutritious food, but Charlotte just says “Non”! A doctor is called to warn her, but does Charlotte listen? Non! Without nutrition, Charlotte begins to shrink… and shrink…. and shrink… …until she becomes so little that she is smaller than a rat. Indeed, she is so small that she becomes the servant to a rat! Poor naughty Charlotte! Charlotte is so distressed that she begins to eat. She eats… and eats… and eats… She eats anything she can get her hands on! She eats so much that she grows enormously fat, and can’t walk or play! Poor naughty Charlotte! Will Charlotte ever learn to eat the right amount of the right kind of foods, and be a …