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Post by cosmoblue on Feb 14, 2008 1:26:55 GMT -5
Would a regency toddler have worn a chemise or drawers or pantalettes or stays?
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Post by Goblin, esq. on Feb 14, 2008 13:49:56 GMT -5
I don't know at what age girls started wearing stays, but I imagine (without any evidence to back me up) it would be at about the same age boys were breeched. The picture Steph found: clearly shows pantalettes on the little boy. (With lots of pleats for letting out.)
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Post by Goblin, esq. on Feb 14, 2008 14:02:11 GMT -5
Since a chemise is worn to protect the outer garment, a child would probably wear one, especially if the outer dress was of nicer (or unwashable) fabric.
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Post by Goblin, esq. on Feb 14, 2008 14:11:43 GMT -5
I don't know at what age girls started wearing stays, but I imagine (without any evidence to back me up) it would be at about the same age boys were breeched. I am wrong: According to both the Arts et Metiers site and the Jane Austen Centre articles, children wore stays (though generally unboned) to keep their petticoats on. (Hmm; it's actually only one source, as the JA Centre article is written by the proprietress of Arts Et Metiers...)
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Post by Mme de Beaufort on Feb 14, 2008 14:18:59 GMT -5
Or a pinafore to protect the garment.
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Post by cosmoblue on Feb 14, 2008 15:19:32 GMT -5
How would potty training work with pantalettes buttoned to stays? I could see that as being a bit of a hindrance. Kuku has problems with her elastic waists when she is tired.
Chris - Does Master Teo have a Chemise?
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Post by Goblin, esq. on Feb 14, 2008 15:51:22 GMT -5
How would potty training work with pantalettes buttoned to stays? I could see that as being a bit of a hindrance. Kuku has problems with her elastic waists when she is tired. Chris - Does Master Teo have a Chemise? Teo doesn't - he just wears a modern onesie under his gown. If I had more time, I'd probably make him a chemise, but at the rate he's growing its tough enough just to keep him in period outer garments. Potty training is another great experience we have to look forward to! :-) So no, I have no advice. Except that depending on how she is with buttons, they might be easier with elastic, since once the buttons are undone, the pantalettes should slide off easily, while elastic will fight you all the way. If buttons are a problem, there might be other fasteners that work (but are less period), depending on what Kuku is comfortable with. (At least on a skeleton suit, the buttons are on the outside, not under another garment.)
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Post by dawnluckham on Feb 14, 2008 23:15:43 GMT -5
Babies were put into corded stays almost as soon as they were born. In the early 18th century babies were swaddled. This was a firm wrapping which was thought to help baby grow straight and strong limbs and back. With the "Age of Enlightenment" came new thoughts on childhood (that they weren't mini-adults) and on health. The practice of swaddling went out of fashion when they began to think that babies should be allowed to freely move their arms and legs. But the idea that they needed support in order to grow “straight and strong” remained.
Instead of swaddling, they put little corded stays on their infants. Children of both sexes wore these corded stays as long as they were wearing baby dresses. Little girls wore stays of some form throughout their entire lives. Little boys were allowed to leave off wearing stays when they were breeched.
I can’t offer any enlightenment on potty training or how the pantalettes would be dealt with. But it must have been fairly easy as the whole point of ‘toddler dresses’ for both boys and girls was easy access for diapers and potty training. Little boys were not breeched until they no longer had “accidents”. I have in my memory a little one-piece high bodiced and pantaloons garment. All I can think is it might have had open drawers. I’ll have to see if I can find it in my files.
So, a toddler’s clothes would include chemise, stays, petticoat , pantalettes/pantaloons and dress and cap.
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