** This is a four part series being produced by 7th grade Torch writers to showcase the evolution of clothing dating all the way back to the 1800s until now that young students at Cannon Falls schools would have worn.

Sometimes there are old family photos that get passed down, kind of like an heirloom. Photos now versus photos from the 1800s all the way up to 1899 look very different. There are all kinds of differences between them that anyone can find, but the most drastic difference is in the clothes. The main reason they wore these clothes is because they could wear them for a long time and were durable, there weren’t many stores around leading them to do this. That is why people study fashion throughout the ages. 

Girls very rarely wore anything other than a dress with a pinafore, which is an apron that was typically worn over their dress. If they were at school they had to wear a dress. Those were the standards back then, according to Gold Rush Baby Children’s Fashion in the 1800s. If a girl now wore a dress every day it wouldn’t seem normal to most people; back then if a girl wore anything but a dress to school everyday that would be seen as weird. If a girl or woman was seen in public wearing anything other than a dress it was considered scandalous and disrespectful. Isla Harrison says “If I was in the 1800’s I would be surprised because everything I have learned about goes against that.”

When boys were little, typically five years old and under, they wore dresses. According to the article, Little Boys In Pink Dresses, Maryland Center for History and Culture, when boys and girls were little they all looked similar based on what they wore. 

There were some key differences and ways you could tell if they were a boy or girl. Typically boys would wear pink since pink used to be masculine because red was considered very masculine. Once boys graduated from wearing dresses they would get their first pair of knickerbockers which are similar to pants, but ended just below the knee. Tucker Nobach says “ If I lived back then I would look forward to wearing knickerbockers cause doesn’t it get cold?”.

During school, girls and boys wore pretty much the same thing every day. They wore clothing similar to uniforms. Typically boys wore knickerbockers and a nice shirt; it was also common for them to wear overalls or suspenders. On the other hand, girls wore dresses and pinafores every day.

If someone were to wear shoes from back then they might not even know how to put them on or what foot to put them on. On some occasions, it didn’t matter what foot they put the shoes on; the width was the same on both shoes. Parents typically tried to convince their kids not to wear shoes when they didn’t have to. The main reason for this is because the shoes were really expensive and the shoemaker didn’t come around often. The shoemakers helped the parents by making the shoes a little bit bigger than they needed to be, and made them a little uncomfortable so the kids didn’t want to wear them as often, according to Image 7 of [Rural Life In The 1800s].

There are so many differences between fashion now and then, but the revolution is amazing and the way it changes. There are many different fashion periods where different styles were in. From the 1800s up to 1900 fashion looked so different it is almost unrecognizable today.