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Clothing Children

© Ann Garner

In many parts of the world, most humans are born to a mother who has only been able to furnish the babe a wardrobe consisting of one piece of cotton cloth. No diapers, disposable or otherwise, no fine shawl knit by grandmother, no pretty bonnets or booties, certainly no fine embroidered cotton batiste dresses. The swaddling cloth is usually a square of cotton muslin, folded into a triangle in which to secure the baby onto the mother's back. This baby sling serves as a covering, a carrier, and a kind of security blanket which confines the baby to the safest possible place for his entire pre-ambulatory period.

Baby's Layette

But for the developed countries, merino wool, bird's-eye pique, batiste, cotton knit, satin and organdy, make up a baby's wardrobe. These are raw materials of the traditional "bringing baby home" layette in much of the Western World. The virgin Merino wool shawl lined with a cotton flannel blanket -- in blue if for a boy, pink if for a girl -- keep the babe warm, as does a matching cap, lined in satin to prevent chafing from the even the softest of Merino wool yarns. The cap is to prevent heat loss through the top of the head. Of course, the well-turned-out infant would have booties to match to the cap as well. For Summer, the wool cap is replaced by a starched cotton batiste bonnet.

We have to discuss the basic necessity for keeping all this unsoiled: the diaper. It is traditionally made of cotton woven in a rosepath twill pattern called "bird's-eye." This weaving pattern provides a breathable garment that dries very quickly but is very absorbent. It is a staple of American weaving styles. To top the diaper, the baby wears a cotton rib-knit shirt which is the second staple of the layette. Traditionally, the shirt is made with adjustable tie fastenings to fit a range of newborn body sizes.

A unisex dress worn over the shirt served both girl and boy babies until the mid-1950s in the United States. At present, boy babies may wear rompers -- a kind of short-legged jump suit -- or they may wear tiny trousers of various kinds. Cotton knit "sweat suits" mimicking their parents' workout suits are also popular nowadays. Footed "bunny suits" are probably the most commonly worn Winter-time outfit for infants.

Baptism (Christening) Gowns

Again, at this ceremony the appropriate dress is the same for male or female infants. For pristine, fast-drying garments, a fine cotton batiste embroidered white-on-white is preferred. See http://www.knoxplace.com/sa/gowns.html for some examples of fine batiste christening or baptismal gowns. In fact, batiste is becoming the heirloom fabric. To quote from the site which I mentioned directly above:

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