Paper Dolls Wear 18th Century Costume

An adult salon gown with wig.

        The costume below is representative of how the upper classes of the 18th Century dressed in Europe around 1775. Men and sometimes women would powder their hair or wear wigs to go with these styles. 

       Children wore similar costume to their elders, no matter how uncomfortable it was, during special occasions. But while they played in the nursery or slept, they wore less formal clothing when they were not in public.
       If you parents were not wealthy but were ordinary folk, the costume would be made of rougher fabrics, in sombre/neutral colors. There would be fewer trims and adornments on the surface of the clothing too and women did not wear wigs much.

       Below are the formal garments of those children of upper class parents. Both a boy and a girl are illustrated along with hats, a shawl and a cane for the girl. The boy has three costume changes, the girl two. 

       A child's hair would not be treated with powder, nor would they ordinarily ever wear wigs. Hair styles were combed and secured with pins in similar shapes and styles of their parents but their natural hair color was left alone. 

Born to a family of status and wealth in the 18th Century, these children dressed
 like just like their parents when in public places. Only infants had clothing
 designed particularly for their size and age. If an infant were a boy he would
  wear clothing similar to a girl. By the time he was four or five, this would end
   and his gender would dictate his costume.