Portrait of Couple Wearing Old Fashion Clothes -stock

Historical Children's Clothing in the 17th Century

"A Boy And A Girl With A True cat And An Eel" by Judith Leyster, 1635

Children didn't always article of clothing "kid's wearing apparel." Setting children's wear apart from adult clothing is a relatively new concept developed in the last 100 years or so. In modern times, we even so apparel our kids in scaled down, more "cutesy" versions of our own clothes, just with a much more definitive line betwixt what is kid-appropriate and what is adult-advisable. In the by, parents did not enhance children; they raised tiny adults. Younger generations wore in their youth the same clothes their parents were wearing–with few alterations for smaller, growing bodies. There are a few exceptions to the adult-clothes-merely rule, including toddler dresses, coral teething necklaces, and pudding caps which were all made specifically for toddler-aged children.

Boys in Dresses

2005 vs. 1659

Some children's trends from the past may seem quite strange to u.s.a.. Today, little boys are expected to clothing pants, but up until the late 19th century (and sometimes across), boys under the age of 5 wore dresses. Gender issues brand up a major portion of our modern fashion sensibilities. Girls wear pink. Boys habiliment bluish. Girls wear skirts. Boys wear pants. It's go a major source of conflict both socially and politically. For years now, at that place have been movements to cancel these gender-defining guidelines. Information technology is at present acceptable for girls to wear pants and even shorts, but boys are still expected to shun skirts.

Young Boy past Jan van Bijlert, 1640-1660

In 17th century Europe, the sight of a piddling boy in a fluffy pink skirt wouldn't have been frowned on in the least. Boys wore skirts from the time they could walk until the age of six or 7. Since zippers and elastic were centuries in the future, a 17th century mom couldn't but slip a pair of pants over her squirming toddler's legs. Breeches required buttons and buckles to hold them in place: two nimble, dexterous activities that toddler easily cannot perform on their own. Until a boy was considered mature and independent enough to handle his own dressing, he wore skirts. Unlike breeches which required a fitted liner, skirts did not need underwear. A dress allowed toddlers to hands use the chamber pot or elevator the material out of the  way to pee. Toddlers as well grow rather apace, needing new dress in a matter of months. Skirts could be hemmed and let out as the child grew, a much more than economical option than paying for a new pair of breeches every 4 months. The addition of a full-length apron protected the dress from all the drips, drizzles, and mishaps niggling boys ever seem to get covered in!

Portrait of Rex Louis Fourteen and his Blood brother, Duc D'Orleans, 1640s

Sometimes it can be quite hard to tell a niggling boy from a lilliputian girl in portraits. Many, if left unlabelled, still stump art historians! Usually the only major difference betwixt toddler girls and toddler boys is the lack of flowers or jewelry, though many wealthier families decked their children's gowns with heaps of pearls, coral strands, collars, lace, and flowers regardless of gender.

Beads, Baubles, and Bells

"Susanna de Vos" by Cornelis de Vos, 1627

Would you give your three year sometime child a cord of chaplet to chew on? In a world dominated past recalls and alert labels for pocket-size parts, nosotros've get accepted to keeping pocket-size things out of our children's grasp. In the 17th Century, toddlers were often given strands of chaplet to play with and chew on. Coral was considered healthful, a talisman to ward off sickness and disease–a big threat in a world without vaccinations and other modern medical advancements. A common baptism gift to an babe was a string of smooth coral beads which the child continued to wear until they married and had children of their ain. The coral beads would so be passed on to the next generation.

The portrait of the little girl is Susanna de Vos, the daughter of the Dutch painter Cornelis de Vos. He painted many pictures of his changing family over his lifetime, from his oldest children to Susanna, his youngest. You tin run across that she is wearing a pair of coral bead bracelets. Hither's a painting done 3 years later in which you tin can see that she is still wearing her coral bracelets (along with her cross necklace):

"Self-Portrait Of The Artist With His Wife Suzanne Cock And Their Children" by Cornelis de Vos, 1630

You can likewise meet that her elder sis is wearing a coral bracelet of her own. If y'all look at an earlier portrait, y'all tin can come across that the bracelet is actually made from a long double strand coral necklace given to her when she was nonetheless a toddler! In improver to her coral bracelets, Susanna is property a silver rattle on a concatenation. Her sister keeps her close past on a braided silk leash. Accessories similar this helped keep runway of where a rambunctious young one was. Many portraits show pocket-size trinkets dangling from cords and chains on the waistbands of children's aprons. 1 of the nearly common is a rattle or a bell.

Detail of "Portrait of  Doña Antonia de Ipeñarrieta and Her Son don Luis" by Diego Velázquez, 1631-32

This is a great painting for 3 reasons: start, it shows another young lad in a gown; 2nd, he is holding a pretty scarf in 1 mitt while his female parent holds the other end; and thirdly, a petty aureate bong hangs from his chugalug. The low position of the bong makes certain that it gets the maximum corporeality of motion and therefore makes the well-nigh sound.

Silver Bell on a Concatenation, 17th Century

Pudding Caps

"The Lacemaker" by Nicolaes Maes, 1656-57

We phone call very young children "toddlers" because they toddle around, wobbling on new legs and generally motoring about in a haphazard fashion. Since they haven't quite got the hang of beingness graceful, they often fall down. To protect them, 17th century mothers would make pudding caps. Pudding caps were soft, quilted "helmets" that would assist protect a kid's frail skull from unsafe bumps.

"The Family of the Artist" by Cornelis de Vos, early 17th century

Pudding caps remained popular through the early 19th century. Pudding caps in the 17th century commonly took ii forms: a padded ring that fit over a coif or a regular bonnet-style cap with quilted-in padding. Here is an example of a leather pudding cap from the Metropolitan Museum of Fine art:

Leather Pudding Cap, early on 19th Century

Though it's 19th century, the pattern it follows is the same as the pudding caps in the 17th and 18th centuries before it. They're brilliant safety devices (and cute to boot), but they fell out of favor in the 20th century.

Paintings: Infant to Pre-teen

"(The Twins) Clara and Aelbert de Bray" by Salomon de Bray, 1646

"Magdalena and January Baptist de Vos" by Cornelis de Vos, 1622
Magdalena is the pretty girl in the ruby-red and white dress, a fabled design! The little boy on the right is Jan. He wears a petticoat with blackwork embroidery. These simple petticoats with embroidered borders were very popular equally children's wear from about 1600-1650.

"2d Duke of Buckingham, with His Brother, Lord Francis Villiers" past Anthony van Dyck, 17th Century (kickoff one-half)

"Princess Mary Stuart And Prince William Of Orange (Time to come William Iii)" by Van Dyck, 1641
This is the wedding portrait of Mary Stuart and William. He was xv and she was only x years sometime when they were wed. You lot can read more than virtually it here: "A Stuart royal wedding, 2d May 1641"
The epitome may look grainy because it is actually very, very large. Click on it and y'all can see every brushstroke!

"Portrait Of The Duke Of Medinaceli" past Francisco de Zurbarán, Mid-17th Century

"Portrait of a Girl at the Age of 10" by Cornelis de Vos, early 17th Century

"Portrait of a Young Adult female with Fan" by Jan Daemen Cool, 1636
Again, this epitome looks grainy because you can enlarge it and see every pigment daub! The details in the lace are breathtaking.

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