Three French Children – 1914

Three young children, two girls, and a boy with a dog stand out of doors by a fence while they model their morning fashions for 1914. The little boy on the left wears a short charcoal gray coat and short pants. The coat has a wide light gray collar and cuffs. He wears light gray gaiters that strap under his shoes. He wears gray gloves, a charcoal gray squarish beret, and stands with his brown dog on a short leash.

He holds the arm of his sister, who wears a red plaid coat and skirt. Her waist-length coat fastens off-center with three horizontal braids, and the cuffs and collar are of black fur. Her short plaid skirt falls in loose pleats, and she wears dark brown stockings. To complete the outfit she wears an acorn-shaped black beret and carries a dark brown muff. The younger girl on the right wears a light brown speckled tweed knee-length coat which fastens down the center. There is an outline of two flap pockets at the hips, and the cuffs and collar are light gray fur.

She wears gray gaiters over her shows. The little girl’s dark hair is covered with a light brown tweed cap which fastens under her chin with a strap; gray gloves complete the outfit. This seems to be a cool spring day; the children wear coats, but the bright green fields have many small red and yellow flowers. This illustration belongs to a series of stylized drawings signed by “mfn,” entitled Costumes Parisiens, for the Journal des dames.

Credit: The Claremont Colleges