Girls Didn’t Wear Pink

Until wash-fast chemical dyes were widespread (1940’s/50’s) most children were dressed largely in white, whether boys or girls, right up until the age or six or seven. Of course they did wear other colours too, but white was practical as the clothes and nappies could be bleached. As they grew up styles were chosen that were simplified reflections of what adults wore. Red was considered a strong, aggressive, masculine shade associated with the military and virility. While blue had long been  associated with the Virgin Mary and was considered delicate, gentle and feminine. So dressing children in paler versions of the adult colours meant boys were often seen in pink, while girls were dressed in pale blue. That is not to say it wasn’t just as often the other way around, but there was not such a hard and fast ‘rule’ as today and no name calling if a boy was wearing pink. Enough doubt existed as to which way was correct that one mother wrote to a magazine for confirmation as to what she should do and childcare manuals would each put forward their favoured choice.

During their early months the little man and little woman dress exactly alike unless Master Baby should have pink for the prevailing color in his wardrobe and its accessories the baby boy color; while Miss Baby will have blue, as that is supposed to be the girl baby color.

Cost of the American Baby, New York Times, 26 March 1905: page 31

The Baby’s Toilet – Chapter XI – The Baby’s Basket – It is a French fancy to have blue for a boy and pink for a girl, but pale primrose yellow, delicate green, or crimson in winter, look equally well. [43]

The Care of Children, by Elisabeth Robinson Scovil

The colours had other associations too, not just for gender. Blue was often the usual colour of school uniforms, for boys and girls as it was associated with seriousness and study.  Pink was linked to  childhood and softness, play and being carefree.

Much later, the stereotypes we are familiar with today began to prevail. This was partly influenced by the Hindu ideas British people brought from their Indian sojourns. Some Indian traditions said that blue was ‘heavenly’ and therefore Male and pink was ‘of the flesh’ and therefore Female.

In fact scientific research has been conducted showing that babies and young children of both sexes tend to favour pink. Perhaps there is some evolutionary reason for our tendency to be drawn to colours in the pink/red spectrum, unless it has been drummed out of us by cultural conditioning! Other research shows that women are, on average, more sensitive to colour variation than men which is reflected in a tendency to use more colour words where men group colour together. So don’t just blame gender marketing for your daughter’s pink preference, it’s more that boys are sadly encouraged OUT of it than that girls are pushed that way. Free the PINK!

color-preferences-by-gender1-21

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Felicity Westmacott

I write about all aspects of weddings, dressmaking, fashion history, and the human relation to clothing. I welcome comments and debate.

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Since 1753, when the Marriage Act first came into existence, UK marriage law has come a long way. Some things have taken much longer than they should have (I'm looking at you, 1991 and 2013, 2023). But there's still more than can be done. The association of @independentcelebrants is campaigning for the UK government to follow the recommendations of the 2022 wedding law reform report.

"At least 10,000 wedding ceremonies a year in England and Wales are led by independent celebrants. These ceremonies are perfectly legal to hold, but as it stands a celebrant cannot perform a legally binding marriage – that part must be done separately, meaning added inconvenience and cost for couples."

I'm all about supporting couples to have the wedding day of their dream, and that rarely includes having to find time and money to go to the registry office.

If you want to help with this, then you can spread awareness! Share this post, or make your own. Talk about it with friends and family. And once you've done that, you can always get in touch with your local MP. The Independent Celebrants website has a PDF guide to help you with how to go about doing that.

Is this an issue you're aware of? Is there anything I've missed out?

#ChangeWeddingLaw #SpeakUpForCelebrants #LegaliseCelebrantWeddings
I created this Regency-inspired wedding dress for a Bridgerton themed wedding shoot. I used modern fabrics like tulle, beaded lace and shantung, but with period accurate details like the empire line waist, square neckline and boned stays (corset). ⁠
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I love to work with versality when it comes to my creations, so the dress was designed with multiple layers; the main dress has an embroidered tulle bodice and asymmetric beaded lace skirt. A lilac and pink dip-dyed tulle skirt can be added over the floral train of the main dress for some dreamy ombre magic. A lilac silk dupion 'spencer jacket' with hand appliqued beaded lace completes the ensemble. ⁠

 All these options make it possible to have lots of different looks throughout your wedding day. ⁠

Which Bridgerton character can you imagine wearing this outfit?

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#regencyweddingdress #bridgerton #historicalweddingdress #periodwedding #colouredweddingdress #dipdyeweddingdress #surreydressmaker #londondressmaker #vintagebride #romanticbride #weddingveil #purpleweddingdress #bespokeweddingdress #fantasyballgown
Now and again I'll take one of the wedding dresses I've made, and break down some of the elements. So, if there's something you love about a dress, but you don't know the 'proper words' to reference them, hopefully this will help you out.⁠
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This beautiful 1950’s style wedding dress with delicate cream lace over golden-orange silk has lots of really scrummy details:⁠
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🧡 the opening at the back of the dress is called a keyhole (or you could call this a slit opening). This one is closed at the top with three covered buttons.⁠
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🧡 the base dress is made of a beautiful russet orange silk dupion, with dark ivory lace layered on top.⁠
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🧡 the base dress is essentially a halter neck, with a turn over collar at the front, with the ivory layer providing semi-sheer, full length sleeves.⁠
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🧡 the edges of the ivory layer are cut along the floral pattern of the lace, making a pretty scalloped edge.⁠
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🧡 this length of skirt is called 'ballet' or 'ballerina'.⁠
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🧡 the front of the dress has a line of false buttons (buttons that are just there for decoration), that match the buttons at the back.⁠
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Those are just some of the details of this dress. If you have any questions about anything else, just leave a comment. I could talk dress making all day!⁠
On my birthday, 43 years ago, I was gifted a beautiful name...does it suit me?

Felicity means "happiness", from the Latin word meaning "good luck" or "fortune". Shortening to Fliss is good, but never Flick!

What about your name? Does it have a meaning?
emailme@felicitywestmacott.co.ukTEL 07762 543230TOUCHGet in
from design to completionbespoke wedding dressesFelicity Westmacott
Dorking, RH4 1RT241 High Street• Visit the Studio •
Dorking, RH4 1RT241 High Street• Visit the Studio •
emailme@felicitywestmacott.co.ukTEL 07762 543230TOUCHGet in