Childhood

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I came across this picture about a year ago when researching 18th century clothing and I just loved it. I'm pretty sure everyone probably thinks otherwise, but I think the little girl is just the cutest thing (I mean she has a cat, a doll dressed in 18th century clothing, and chubby cheeks- it doesn't get much cuter!)

I found some more books I hadn't read yet at my library particularly one about children's fashion and came across this again and had to share. Fun fact I didn't know until now: the pink ribbons attached to her back are actually leading strings and show how young she is. Leading strings are strips of self fabric sewn to the shoulders of the dress to help the toddler who is learning to walk. The book showed another example of a young boy who had a ribbon that tied around his waist as a leading string.

The only baby I've known recently learned to walk around one year, and I know children wore clothing styled like adults, but I still can't believe the little girl in the painting is so young! If I only had a one year old... my next project would be making this dress to copy the picture!