This child’s dress has been made by hand from cotton printed with a small abstract pattern, and was probably never worn as there are a number of contemporary dressmakers’ pins remaining in it. Its loose, low waisted, cotton lined bodice and its knee length unlined pleated skirt allowed ease of movement, combining practicality with fashionable features derived from contemporary women’s garments. Its central pleated panel, emphasised by the vertical broderie anglaise borders, reflects the plastrons of women’s dresses, and, at the back, an outsized bow at the centre of the sash stands in for the bustle (see Additional Images).