Boys in dresses!

 

[John Fane] Lord Burghersh.  

[Ref: 53432]  

From the mid-16th century until around the late 19th century young boys in the Western world typically wore dresses or gowns.  They generally wore these until they were toilet trained and old enough to be able to undo the fastening of their breeches or trousers, which could be very complicated! This rite of passage was called breeching. The first stage of this was to wear shortened gowns from when they were babies allowing them to walk and move more freely. You can still see the remnants of these long baby gowns in the modern day christening attire. In the second stage they would move onto trousers of breeches. For poor children this often symbolised their movement into the workplace.

 

Just Breech'd.  (From the pair)

[Ref: 48174] 

The print above shows a boy in his first pair of breeches, his petticoats lie discarded on a stool beside him. He looks very pleased with himself. A younger child stares at the breeches admiringly.

 

[Master Ashton.]  

[Ref: 53219] 

 As you can see these dresses often had sashes. These were often used to attach leading strings; narrow straps of fabric which attached to the child's clothing to act as a leash.

 

[Rubens with his Wife and Child. From the Collection of His Grace the Duke of Marlborough at Blenheim.]

[Ref: 34993]  

Leading strings had two purposes: helping children learn how to walk and restraining young children who may run off and injure themselves. A precursor to the modern child harnesses used today!

Generally speaking nowadays children wear more gendered clothing which is a shame as it seems dresses were very useful for potty training, child leashing and are generally fun to wear. I say wear whatever you like as long as you are comfortable and let the children wear clothes they enjoy!