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This nightdress is
a mixture of hand and machine stitching. The broderie anglaise edging to
the collar and the stitching around it are exactly the same as on the
full size nightdresses. They have even added one of the old cloth
covered buttons. I would guess that the nightdress dates from around the
beginning of the 20th century and was made in Britain. I wonder who made
it?
The length of the
dress is
only 41cm, so it is too small for a real baby. Possibly it might
have been made as a sample for a manufacturer to show to
shopkeepers, but more likely it was made for a doll. It is an
accurate copy of the nightdresses women wore during the 19th and
early 20th centuries. This one is made of strong cotton but
sometimes nightdresses were made of wonderful fine linen. Both sexes wore
similar garments to bed. Men wore nightshirts and women wore
nightdresses. As the bedrooms were often unheated they frequently
wore nightcaps as well. Even today some ladies find these antique
nightdresses so comfortable that they buy them to wear at night. If I
sell them one they tell me that ' there is nothing so comfortable as one
of these old nighties'. 'Nightie' is a commonly used abbreviation of the
word 'nightdress'.
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