Vintage girls clothing (gallery)

[Betty]

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[Betty]

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[Betty]

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[Betty]

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[Betty]

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[Angela M...]

So many dresses, so little time.
Thanks again for all the wonderful pics, I think girls are so lucky to be able to wear such wonderful creations. Too bad many of them don't bother.  I must say that I am seeing more young girls about the age of 7 or 8 wearing dresses and skirts a bit more often these days and stores like Children's Place carry some wonderful dresses. Another shop is Justice where I go when I am buying for my niece's. I do like spring when there are more girls looking for First Communion dresses and I always wanted one of them myself. I remember trying on my sisters once and almost getting caught because I had done almost all of the buttons up. Not easy to get out of in a hurry, don't know what I was thinking at the time. I was wearing the white tights and lace trimmed panties also but I could hide them under my clothes when I had to but getting out of the dress in a hurry almost gave me a heart attack.

[Betty]

Oh yes. In the old days, a lot of them were botton-backs, instead of zipper backs. Not exactly something you can get in & out of in a hurry.

As you get in a panicked race to quickly get out of them because someone is coming, you're heart beats so fast it is almost like a heart attack. The terror of almost getting caught left your heart beating like crazy & you're hands shaking like a leaf.

[Robyn Jodie]

Ah, yes.  I once saw a post somewhere entitled "Button Back Dresses Are For Boys."  As I remember, it had something to do with so-called "petticoat discipline."

Which reminds me. Back before about 1920, when very young children  -- boys as well as girls -- wore dresses, "petticoat discipline" / "petticoat punishment" apparently had more to do with age-regression than feminization.  It was the equivalent of the later practice (1920s-1970s) of puting an older boy back in short trousers.

[Angela M...]

Hey Betty,
I think that rush we get is what also has us hooked on dressing. I have almost been caught several times in my life and would never stop doing it because of that. It just became more of a challenge to get away with it and of course I loved getting/finding dresses, panties and tights to wear.
Robyn Jodie,
in England in the fifties I always wore short pants and school uniform and when we moved to Canada I was still expected to do the same. In England a boy never got long pants until he became of age at about 12 or 14 years of age. My parents still stuck to that practice in Canada even though all the other boys wore jeans and long pants. The first winter in 1957 was a terrible one for me as we walked about two miles to school and the snow was deep. I had on short pants and the traditional knee socks and my legs were frozen by the time I got to school and back home again. Because of money being tight my mothers solution was to put me in a pair of my sisters leotards as they were called then. They were thick and beige and didn't show too much under my shorts and knee socks so I got some looks but no comments the first few days. The next pair however were white and showed a lot more so the teasing began and never stopped. I was now the little English girly boy in school and the bullying was terrible. You would think I could not wait to get out of the tights but I loved them, the warmth and smooth look of my legs and the white most of all were my favorites. The teachers finally sent a note home for my parents telling them I was creating a disturbance in school (ME) so they should get me long pants soon. The next week we were at Woolworths to get me jeans and I hated them. They were rough and stiff and most uncomfortable to wear. After much complaining and pointing out some softer plaid lined cotton pants in the store I was able to get them. So that was my first winter in Canada and I have loved tights ever since and been wearing them almost 60 years. I also only ever wore jeans when working in the garden or on my house.

[BillieJo]

I well remember some of the wicked winters we had in the later fifties. Although I wasn't made to dress in anything girly back then (at least not in public) I can still remember what the girls  at my school had to go through.  If the outside temperature was below ten degrees the girls could wear pants beneath their  dresses. They would have to remove them once inside the school building. I remember the girls complaining a lot.. In highschool it was only skirts and dresses no matter how cold it got.