Godey's Lady's Book

GODEY'S LADY'S BOOK
Philadelphia, February 1850

DRESSES FOR INFANTS.

SIMPLICITY is, in all cases, the best general rule in dressing little children; and infants, particularly, should be spared all unnecessary ornament.

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Figure 1 – Is a christening dress, made as plainly as possible, though the material may he as rich as the circumstances of the parents will allow. Jaconet muslin will look nearly, if not quite, as well as linen cambric, and insertion at twenty-five cents per yard, as that which costs treble the amount. There is a deep hem and three plain tucks in the skirt; and corresponding tucks in the sleeves.

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Figure 2 – A robe with waist en chemisette, or made in the style of a chemisette. The insertion and edging are of embroidered cambric, a very open, handsome pattern, and the sleeves are trimmed to correspond. The long, full skirt has five narrow tucks at the bottom.

Caps are not now in vogue, fortunately for the poor little things, who would otherwise be made uncomfortable by them. We remember when the child's face was difficult to be found in the cloud of French lace quillings which surrounded it; and to a nervous visitor, expected to pronounce on the resemblance to "pa" or "ma," this was somewhat embarrassing. Fortunately, some sensible physicians discovered that, doing no good, a covering for the head irritated and annoyed the child, besides making it unnaturally and uncomfortably warm.

Bracelets, another thing that should be prohibited, are not as much worn as formerly, and those used for looping the sleeves are, in some cases, superseded by a knot of narrow lute-string ribbon, plain blue, white, or pink. We know some ladies of excellent taste, who always use ribbon, buying it by the piece for that purpose, thus costing very little. It may be renewed twice a day, if necessary. If bracelets are used, they should be plain, flat, gold links, with n clasp of cut coral, or cameo. Coral beads, bells, and whistles, are also a part of the modern nursery apparatus.

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