Children's clothing

“ Children's Clothing.—An infant's clothing should be soft, warm, and light in weight, covering all parts of the body with equal warmth. Tight bands and long, heavy skirts should never be used, the dress and petticoat being just long enough to keep the feet covered and warm. ”

“ Children's Clothing should be a matter of care and thought with the mother—without which, indeed, it is impossible to have the little ones always properly clothed. We do not mean by this the mere consideration of prettiness and effect, but whether their clothing is just what it should be for the season and the health of each individual child. People are apt to think that what is good for one must be good for another ”

“ It is no less instructive than interesting to observe what a marked increase takes place in the growth, and improvement in the health, of boys, when from the ordinary improper clothing of young children they are promoted to the trousers or knickerbockers and stockings, with the jacket and waistcoat of schoolboy life. ”

“ Do not let your children's clothing lie underfoot when you undress them at night, but teach your boys and girls, when they come into the house, to find a place for their hats, cloaks, and bonnets, that, when they want them, they can put their hands upon them in a moment. ”

“ The mother of the future will bring to bear upon the clothing question not only more knowledge, but more serious thought, than she does to-day. For the children she must provide comfortable, serviceable play clothes in generous quantity, that they may pursue their development unhampered in either body or mind. She must know the hygiene of childhood and the psychology of children's clothes. ”

“ The retailers of children's clothes we spoke to all have some form of checking process in place to 'edit out' suggestions of sexualisation from children's clothing. Some companies have written guidelines for buyers, others provide induction and training in company values. All the companies we spoke to depend, to a greater or lesser extent, on the fact that many of their designers, buyers and managers are themselves parents who bring their own 'family values' to bear in design and retailing judgements, and all claimed to pay relentless attention to the feedback they get from customers. ”

“ A babe's clothing ought to be light, warm, loose, and free from pins. (1.) It should be light, without being too airy. Many infant's clothes are both too long and too cumbersome. It is really painful to see how some poor little babies are weighed down with a weight of clothes. They may be said to "bear the burden," and that a heavy one, from the very commencement of their lives! How absurd, too, the practice of making them wear long clothes. ”

“ Our persons change with our years; the child passes into youth, the youth into maturity, maturity changes into old age. Every period of life has its peculiar external characteristics, its pleasures, its pains, and its pursuits. The art of dress consists in properly adapting our clothing to these changes. ”

“ They support the clothing directly from the shoulders, and far surpass all others in comfort, perfection in fit and beauty of shape. We furnish everything for children’s wear, Boys’, Girls’ and Babies’ Clothing, including every article required for complete outfits for all ages up to 16 years. Better styles better made, better fitting, than can be had elsewhere, and lower prices. Mail orders have careful attention. ”

“ The material and quantity of the clothes should be such as to preserve a sufficient proportion of warmth to the body, regulated therefore by the season of the year, and the delicacy or strength of the infant's constitution. In effecting this, however, the parent must guard against the too common practice of enveloping the child in innumerable folds of warm clothing, and keeping it constantly confined to very hot and close rooms ”

“ The child, perhaps, has delicate lungs; it must, therefore, have warm clothing; so garment after garment, made fashionably, that is to say, very full and very short, is heaped one upon the other over the chest and upper part of the body, until the poor child can scarcely move under the heavy burden with which, with mistaken kindness, it has been laden, while the lower limbs, in which the circulation is most languid, and which require to be protected as well as the chest, are frequently exposed to the air, and the foot is covered with a shoe which is too thin to keep it dry. ”

“ It is the practice to let the girls have what garments they make, from material, old or new, furnished by the school, and thus a good many of the pupils in the Industrial Schools are supplied with decent clothing. In the winter especially, some of them need it sadly. In the Italian school of which I just spoke, one of the teachers found a little girl of six years crying softly in her seat on a bitter cold day. ”

“ Of milk it is truly said that “the finest and the healthiest children are those who for the first four or five years of their lives are fed principally upon it.” The use of light clothing with a view of hardening children is discountenanced, as it deserves to be, and the present fashion of dressing children meets the strongest censure, as being both adverse to health and furnishing early lessons of vanity. ”

“ The life of the child is play. Unfortunate is the child whose clothing is too good to play in. Of course there should be frocks for gala occasions. Children are sensitive to color and receive much innocent enjoyment from being prettily dressed. A child may be made unhappy and timid by ugly clothes, but plainness need not mean ugliness. ”

“ With regard to the adaptation of the dress of children to the climate, this appears so evident that any observations upon it might be deemed almost unnecessary; yet, in practice, how little is it understood! The great object in view in regulating the warmth of the clothing, is to guard the wearer from the vicissitudes of the climate, and to equalize the circulation, which is accelerated by heat and retarded by cold. Children are habitually full of activity, which quickens the circulation and produces a determination to the skin ”

“ Our schools are doing good work along these lines of personal hygiene; parents should reinforce the efforts of the teacher by bringing the home hygiene up to the right standards.
The clothing of children also deserves some attention. Probably in nothing else is vanity and selfishness more easily displayed than in dress. How rare a thing it is to find a beautiful child, simply or even plainly dressed, who is neither vain of her good looks nor of her rich apparel. The sweetest object in the world is a beautiful child, tastily dressed, free from vanity, and perfectly natural and unspoiled. ”

“ There is a constitutional difference in the skin of different children in regard to retaining the animal heat manufactured within, so that some need more clothing than others for comfort. Nature is a safe guide to a careful nurse and mother, and will indicate by the looks and actions of a child when more clothing is needful. As a general rule, it is safe for a healthful child to wear as little clothing as suffices to keep it from complaining of cold. Fifty years ago, it was not common for children to wear as much under-clothing as they now do. ”

“ Clothing.—​The havoc of clothes need not be great if the children are dressed for their little excursions, as they should be, in plainly made garments of some loosely woven woollen material, serge or flannel. ”

“ The dress of school-girls and children must not be overlooked. It should be as simple as possible and above all else it should be comfortable. It should never bind or pinch; indeed, the clothing should not interfere with any function of the body. ”

“ Clothing of children.—Children were dressed in suits like those of their parents, but they used to wear robes made of the skins of the deer, antelope, or of buffalo calves. When the boys were very small, say, till they were about four years old, they used to run about in warm weather with nothing on but a small belt of cloth around the waist, according to Dougherty; and the writer has seen such boys going about entirely naked. Girls always wear clothing, even, when small. When a boy was eight years old, he began to wear in winter leggings, moccasins, and a small robe. ”

“ Sexualised and gender-stereotyped clothing, products and services for children are the biggest areas of concern for parents and many non-commercial organisations contributing to the Review, with interest fanned by a sometimes prurient press. The issues are rarely clear-cut, with a fine balance on a number of points – taste, preference, choice, affordability, fashion and gender preferences. Retailers are aware of the issues and sensitivities and are responding.They need to be explicitly and systematically family friendly, from design and buying through to display and marketing. ”

“ Strange as it may seem, the small children always wear very long clothing, and the little girls waddling along in their full, almost trailing skirts, resemble dwarfed aged women. All the apparel is made of woollen cloth of home manufacture. The men permit their hair to grow long and braid it in a queue which hangs down the back. ”

“ The children's clothes particularly should be kept in good order, for they are made uncomfortable by wearing garments that are out of repair, to say nothing of the demoralizing effect upon their characters. ”

“ It is not always stipulated that the nursery governess makes the clothing for the children, but it is always understood that she repairs it and keeps it in order, and to do this she must work neatly, and, if the children be old enough, give them some instruction in the rudiments of needlework. To be able to renovate and renew little garments, to trim hats or bonnets, and to suggest or design pretty and inexpensive little costumes, should be a pleasure to one who takes an interest in the children for whom she works ”

“ We, therefore, have some sympathy with manufacturers and retailers of such clothing items as they are often in a difficult situation: they want to supply the perfectly normal and reasonable demand of parents and young people for such products, but in so doing risk often unreasonable criticism. ”

“ It is surprising what a constant loss of vitality many people experience from no other cause than the unsuitable character of their clothing. The children cannot be better dressed throughout than in loosely woven woollen garments, flannels and serges, of varying thicknesses for summer and winter wear. ”

“ Children have no kind of clothing, but lie naked in their mothers’ hoods until two or three years of age, when they are stuffed into a little dress, generally of fawn-skin, which has jacket and breeches in one, the back part being open ”

“ Hemstitching is always beautiful, but makes a weak spot which is apt to give out in the constant laundering necessary for children's clothes.
The skirt and shirt made in one piece, with sleeves to slip into the little outside garment, both to open down the back so that all may be slipped on at the same time without worry to either nurse or baby, will be found a great convenience.
Stockinet Undergarments
Stockinet or webbing, all wool, partly wool, or all cotton, is preferred by many to the plain cloth. The cotton is non-shrinkable, easily made, and finished. ”

“ A mother ought not to leave off her children’s winter clothing until the spring be far advanced; it is far better to be on the safe side, and to allow the winter clothes to 117be worn until the end of May. ”

“ If there is one thing in which the schoolmaster or the reformer is more wanted than in another, it is in our dress. From our birth to our death we are the slaves of fashion, of prejudice, and of circumstances. The tender, unresisting infant, the delicate girl, the mature woman, alike suffer from these evil influences; some fall victims to them, others suffer during life. Let us consider the dress of an infant. Here, however, it must be acknowledged that of late years much improvement has taken place in some respects, although much still remains to be done. ”

“ We find upon analysis that the simple forms are the basis of all decorative art work. Geometrical designs and arabesques are the most difficult, requiring the most exacting and careful work. Narrow bands, braided, outlined, or chain-stitched in simple designs are effective, easily done, and wear well. Braids and any of these stitches may be combined, making durable and effective trimming for sleeves and neck. These simple designs are also appropriate for children's frocks. The French knots are ornamental and durable. All embroidery and passementerie should be rich, close, and continuous. ”

“ It is sad to see a child fretting uncomfortably in a suit that is too tight, or a huge sailor hat that laps down over the eyes. Simple, comfortable clothes are the best for children, but they should be excellent material. Rather give the child one dress of excellent material and workmanship, than two that are faulty and inferior. ”

“ HOW TO DRESS INFANTS. FASHION has far too long been permitted to hold absolute sway over the layette, and it is more than time that some radical change should be made in this respect. If the problem to be solved in clothing infants were how best to keep them cold, fetter their movements, check their excretions, and render them generally uncomfortable, no better plan could be adopted than that at present in fashion. ”

“ Parents responding to our Call for Evidence told us that they felt that retailers could do more to offer age—appropriate ranges of clothes. They said that they preferred children's clothes to be clearly age—appropriate and not simply scaled—down versions of adult fashion. ”