The growing role of childrenswear in fashion
History of Childrenswear
Fashion for kids is nothing new. Baby Dior celebrates its 50th anniversary this year, and with movie stars dressing their kids in the same designer outfits for decades, fashionable kids have always been around.
Up until the early 20th Century, there were no distinctions between boys and girls clothing. Children were just that – children. Their gender didn’t matter. Everyone wore the same thing because it was practical.
It wasn’t until the 1920s that patterns and colours first started to appear on children’s clothes. Usually floral patterns or animal motifs, these designs gradually began to become associated with one sex or the other.
Flowers and kittens would start to appear on girl’s clothes, while images of drums and puppies for the boys. Surprisingly, at this time pink was primarily for boys, and blue for girls. The thoughts at the time were that pink was a shade of red, and so was the colour of Mars, God of War, while blue was the colour of serenity and peace, and more suitable for girls.