The book is about the shift into gendered clothing for very young children in the beginning of the 20th Century.[1] The beginning of the book's survey is 1885.[2] It also includes the 1960s-circa 1985 trend of gender neutral clothing and the gendered clothing that came after it.[3] The endpoint of its coverage was the year prior to publication.[2]
The book has 139 pages. Rob Shoreman of Miami University characterized that number as making the book "slim".[3]
Background
The author joined the faculty of the University of Maryland in 1976 (department of Textiles and Consumer Economics) and retired from the department of American Studies in 2017.[4]
The author consulted primary sources (extant garments, papers dolls, retail catalogs, and baby records) in addition to secondary sources in multiple fields.[3]
Reception
Shoreman stated that the book's writing style was cogent and that the work is "an illuminating read in its own right."[3]
Tanfer Emin Tunc of Hacettepe University wrote that due to the complexity of the task of forming a "cohesive narrative" about how clothing for young children evolved, she stated the book's attempt was "The strength, and simultaneously the main weakness."[5]
