1778-Bourgeois-daughter-fashion

Outfit of the pre-teen daughter of a French "bourgeois" from Galerie des Modes, 1778 (Plate 45, detail): a green dress with large panniers, and a white striped pseudo-apron thing over it. By modern standards, it seems quite impractical for a child of that age -- and the clothes of an actual aristocrat young girl of the same age might possibly have been even more extreme. (Compare the adult aristocratic dress at Image:1778-jeune-dame-de-qualite-en-grande-robe.jpg.) This was about a decade before the idea of sparing children most of the indignities of adult fashions took hold (compare the attire of Image:Marie Antoinette-children-1785-6-Wertmuller.jpg in 1785-1786, Image:Battledore - Youthful Sports.png in 1804, Image:Passer-payez-Boilly-ca1803.jpg in ca. 1803, Image:Philipp Otto Runge 003.jpg in 1805-1806, Image:Jean-Baptiste Wicar 001.jpg in 1809, or Image:Children-dancing-ca-1820.jpg ca. 1820...).

Also, compare en:Image:Watteau the dance.jpg / Image:Antoine Watteau 013.jpg or Image:Dansande barn, målning av Lorens Pasch dy.jpg or Image:William_Hogarth_047.jpg to see how little things changed from 1718 to 1742 to 1778...