The philosophy and design behind baby boy clothes and baby girl clothes changed dramatically in the twentieth century as European and American attitudes towards childhood changed.
In previous centuries, childhood was brief: for example, even as late as the eighteenth century the children of the poorest families were sent out to work sometimes from the age of five onwards. Clothing for children then was simply a smaller set of adult clothes.
In those days child development was not recognized as important because childhood was just a brief period before becoming an adult. So the need for play was not accepted and children’s clothes made no allowance for it.
For centuries before, the use of swaddling to restrict newborn baby movement and to promote correct posture had been used. Often this was applied for the first year of a baby’s life so no other clothes were required. The habit has reduce enormously in Western cultures but it is still practiced extensively in some Eastern societies.
Long gowns began to be used for newborn boys and girls by the end of the eighteenth century, also acting as foot warmers because they were so long. As baby learned to walk the gown reduced to ankle length.
Even at the toddler stage boys and girls were dressed alike in replicas of their mother’s dresses. In Mediaeval times these garments tended to be in dark colors such as green and brown because clothes were laundered infrequently and these colors hid the dirt better. Royal children and those of the ruling classes had more color and decoration on their clothes as befitted their rank.
The convention of dressing both sexes alike until they became four or five years old started to change by the end of the nineteenth century. By the end of World War One, 1918, the romper suit had been “invented” and so differentiation between the sexes was the norm. Baby boy clothes made a dramatic change due to this type of suit that is believed to have a French origin.
Romper suits meant that for the first time baby boys could be distinguished from baby girls. Preschool boys are believed to have used the suits for play. To begin with, long stockings were worn with knee-length romper suits. Toddlers wore boots and the suits had long sleeves. Variations such as two piece suits or the use of velvet material followed on from the more normal one piece style.
Over time the design of the romper suit changed - the legs got shorter and so instead of wearing long stockings, short white socks were worn and instead of boots modern shoes such as sandals were worn. The less formal ones had very little decoration, whereas the more dressy ones had lace collars or even frills. Smocking became a feature on baby rompers from the 1920s and they were also far more colorful than baby clothes had been in the past.
Romper suits are still around today although not as popular for baby boys. It seems that in some ways baby boy clothes and kid’s clothes have gone back to older days in that many are now just smaller versions of adult clothes (jeans, polo shirts, camouflage pants) albeit much more colorful. Fortunately though, our idea about childhood has not regressed in that we now realize the importance of play in a child’s development.
Looking for more baby boys clothing information and advice from the author? She is a mom, a grandparent and a former preschool owner with a great baby clothes web site.