ROBOT: Loose and short garment in cotton or knit, without sleeves or with balloon sleeves, which is put on over the head and fastened at the crotch (from 1925).
BIBS: In the 17th century, it was very large, worn all day by children in dresses, of both sexes, who had reached walking age, and symbolized a state of dependence. It was then said that the children were "wearing a bib." Later, it became smaller and was only tied around the necks of babies during mealtimes.
BEGUIN: A medieval bonnet placed on young children from birth, which attaches under the chin, originally worn in the 14th century by women who had chosen monastic life.
BODY: A one-piece cotton undergarment that fastens at the crotch with snaps. Invented in the 1920s, then forgotten before being rediscovered in the mid-1980s.
RIM: A helmet with a padded rim attached under the chin that protected the skulls of children learning to walk. Known since the Middle Ages and still sold today. Identical helmets are used in psychiatric hospitals for adult patients.
BRASSIERE: A very short baby shirt with long sleeves, open at the front or back depending on the country and region, pulled over the arms and fastened with ties. Two or more bras of different thicknesses were worn layered until the mid-20th century. Their use developed from the Renaissance onward, when white garments worn under clothing began to be seen.
BURNOUS: An Algerian-inspired cape with a long hood adorned with a fringed tassel, a relic of the colonization of North Africa, worn in the 1860s over crinolines, then relegated to the wardrobes of babies. Its use is that of a sash (see that word). It can still be found described in some specialized books on children's knitting projects.
CORSET: Just like the adult version, it held the child quite rigidly from the moment they emerged from the swaddling clothes. Worn from the 16th century onwards, and made of ticking with or without boning until the 1950s when it was crocheted or knitted.
Diaper pants: Pants that button at the crotch, which held diapers underneath in place. Worn by children after their bath from the second half of the 19th century onwards, and still sold today. Nowadays, the term usually refers to the paper version, which is held in place with adhesive tabs.
FICHU: Worn crossed over the chest, it was part of peasant dress until Marie Antoinette, playing at being a farmer, popularized it on court dresses at the end of the 18th century. This remnant of traditional dress was worn by babies until the 1950s.
A sleeping bag, also called a baby sleeping bag or baby sleeping bag, is a large bag in which the baby is placed fully clothed at night. It replaces traditional bedding. This garment already existed before the war in England and was revived at the end of the 20th century. One version, the baby nest, has a hood.
A onesie, also known as a babygrow: After World War II, this term referred to a one-piece knitted garment. The first prototype, tested at the end of the 19th century, was unsuccessful and was successfully revived by Americans after 1945. The quintessential anti-swimsuit, it symbolized the liberation of babies advocated by pediatrician Spock. Today, it is the most common garment worn by most babies from birth. Made of a single piece of cotton or a generally stretchy blend of fibers, it typically covers the feet and fastens at the front or back, with or without a hood (to facilitate diaper changes).
Swaddling cloth: A square of warm fabric—wool, flannel, thick cotton, hemp, depending on the region—the last piece of the swimsuit it covers. When the swimsuit goes out of fashion, the swaddling cloth is wrapped around the baby's body, now dressed in a diaper and vests.
French-style layette. English-style layette: the two main types of layettes found in childcare books from the interwar period onward. The first refers to the baby's undershirt (see that word) and everything that can be worn with it; the second refers to a set of generally knitted garments characterized by the possibility of free movement, i.e., tights, trousers, and sweaters. Generally, the French-style layette was worn for the first three months, followed by the English-style layette for about a year. Before the 1950s, few mothers in France dressed their children "English-style" from birth.
SHIRT, SWEATSHIRT, SWEATSHIRTS: Terms that designate the oldest and most emblematic garment of childhood in ancient societies. It is a system of narrow bands or swaddling clothes in which the child was bound from shoulders to feet, the head being supported by a headrest (see this word). In the 19th century, the swaddling became somewhat lighter, and the arms were now free. Still sometimes used today in France, its most rigorous form is found in Eastern Europe and Central Asia.
PASS-COULOIRE: Any hooded, sleeveless protective garment placed over the baby being carried in arms.
SMOCKS: From the English word smocking: a decorative gathering technique, sometimes embroidered, applied to the front of children's dresses and blouses from the 1880s onwards. Derived from English peasant blouses, made fashionable by avant-garde artistic movements at a time when this practice was in decline.
HEADSTICK: A bonnet-shaped band that kept the infant's head rigid, as it was pinned to the shoulders over the swaddling clothes. Other bonnets were worn underneath to shape the skull and hold (or flatten) the ears.
TROTTEUSE: Small, highly ornamented cape-like coat, from the second half of the 19th century, a miniature version of adult coats.