ABSTRACT
This chapter utilizes the Clothing Books of Matthaus Schwarz and his son Veit Konrad Schwarz, who was born in 1541, as a hook from which to hang a brief analysis of children’s clothing in England and Scotland from c. 1500 to c. 1700. Much of the English evidence is familiar and often cited in the fairly small body of secondary literature on childhood clothing, while the Scottish material is very rich and deserves to be better known. Traditional dress history has focused on charting the evolution of clothing through a close study of the changes in the cut, construction and materials of key adult garments worn during a given timeframe. During infancy and childhood, children’s clothing was distinctive and unique to that period of life, while gradually moving closer towards adult fashions during the growing up phase. Children’s clothing, like that for adults, needed to respond to seasonal changes.
