When West Meets East: Towards an Educative Journey in Nineteenth-Century Western Children’s Fashion

Abstract

Despite their abilities to talk, manipulate, and desire, children are socially immature (Quentel, 1997). Therefore, children’s education consisted of bringing them into history through a constant interdependence with adults and interaction with their material environment. Fashion, as a style, shaped social identities and created a sense of historical belonging. Being dressed in the style of a certain location, time, and environment diminished particularities between individuals to dress them according to their social role and rank (Balut, 2014). However, through the nineteenth century, sailor suits, hussar overalls and bohemian dresses were the norms of a playful, nostalgic and always specific children’s fashion. As illustrated through these examples, a fascination for Eastern European silhouettes and embellishments inspired unexpected styles for wealthy Western children. Far from playing dress-up, children in these outfits seemed to travel across Europe thanks to their clothing styles and experimented with alternative dress codes to possibly acquire alterity. How did adults play with children’s fashion to educate children in the concepts of space, time, and place as a way to define their social belonging? How did children use this interaction with their clothing not only to build their identity but also to feed their appetite for story-telling and therefore divert the educator’s and maker’s initial intention? Based on the study of nineteenth century European museum collections (garments, department store catalogues, and fashion and children’s magazines), this article analyzes the rationale behind the Eastern European trend in children’s nineteenth century fashion and the way this exotic fashion journey evidenced the specificities of an aspect of children’s material culture dedicated to the education and socialization of the child.