At least in a sort of rich, elaborate, 18th century fashion Look, Master Marshall even has his waistcoat unbuttoned so that he can climb a tree! And Miss Marshall is getting her dress soiled with fruit, while the littlest Marshall gets muddy paw prints all over her (well, probably her) pretty white frock!
Every time I have posted an image of an portrait of a child from pre-1800, the issue of children wearing adult’s clothes and our discomfort with historical children’s clothes has been raised. Mariana Victoria in her lovely blue frock incited a particularly lively discussion (following all the comments has been lots of fun from my end!). We all loved her dress, but some of us were rather uncomfortable with the way she was portrayed (the ‘ick’ factor), some of us felt that while it wasn’t exactly practical, it made lovely dress up clothes for a seven year old, and some of us didn’t understand what all the fuss was about at all. I think our perspective on historical children’s wear, and the discomfort we often feel about it, is based on three factors: Practicality. Many portraits of upper-class children in the 16th-18th centuries show them in clothes that look uncomfortable, restrictive, and unsuitable for the activities we associate with children (playing and getting dirty). Sexualisation. Formal historical children’s clothes tended to emphasize, and create, the …
As a costumer, Halloween is usually the highlight of the year – for once, you aren’t the only one dressed up! To celebrate, it’s Halloweek on the blog – everything will be about fancy dress, and costumes, and costume parties, and that sort of delicious fun. I love Halloween. Or at least I used to. It was great as a kid, when your costume was just about being fun, and clever. It’s not so fun when you are an adult and your costume is expected to be sexy, and all the parties have more alcohol than candy. And there isn’t much trick or treating in New Zealand. Trick or treating was fun and safe in the little community I grew up in – you knew all the people you visited, and all the other trick or treaters. Many years we didn’t go trick or treating – we had traditional Halloween parties with bobbing for apples and doughnuts on strings and caramel corn and skits and games. So much fun! Except for the one Halloween where …
