Gown and Pantaloons
Period1820 - 1821
Place MadeHolmdel, New Jersey, U.S.A.
MediumCotton crepe, cotton, silk ribbon
Dimensions23 in. (58.4 cm)
ClassificationsCostume, Children's
Credit LineGift of Mary Gansevoort Van Vranken, 1935
Object number886
DescriptionA child's two-piece outfit consisting of gown and pantaloons, made of rose pink cotton crepe. The gown is constructed with a deep square neckline, with a drawstring closure tied with pink silk ribbon, front closure, and short flared sleeves gathered with braided silk ribbon at the shoulders. The high waistband is decorated with nine tiny self-covered buttons. Multiple narrow pintucks run along the hem, trimmed with tiny sawtooth edging. A separate plain cotton underbodice is constructed with a back closure and narrow cotton shoulder straps and two pink cotton crepe leggings, with pintucked hems and tiny sawtooth edging.Curatorial RemarksWhile at first glance the pink color of this two-piece garment seems to indicate its original owner was a female, pink was quite popular for boys' garments well into the 20th century. Not until World War II was the "pink for girls, blue for boys" tradition formalized. This garment's delicate, careful construction includes small details such as the tiny dagged or sawtooth edging along both the bottom of the gown and the matching pantaloons. This type of fabric ornamentation was popular during the first two decades of the nineteenth century.NotesThis charming and tiny infant's costume, made of textured pink cotton crepe, was made by Maria Gansevoort Van Vranken. The styling, with its extremely high waistband, short gathered sleeves, and the use of tiny sawtooth or "dagged" edging, points to Maria making the clothing for either her first son Nicholas, born in 1818, or her second son Gansevoort, born in 1820. Maria Gansevoort was born on 20 June 1796 in Fort Plain, Montgomery County, New York. She married Reverend Samuel Alexander Van Vranken on 13 October 1817 in New Brunswick, Middlesex County, New Jersey. The couple had five children: Nicholas (1818-1856), Gansevoort (1820-1856), Elizabeth (1822-1839), Maria (1824-1843), and John (1827-1829). Maria died in 1831, just three weeks shy of her thirty-fifth birthday. At the time of the garment's construction, Maria and Samuel were living in Holmdel, Monmouth County, New Jersey. Samuel served as pastor of one of the Dutch Reformed churches in the area from 1817 to 1834, when he left Monmouth with his four surviving children and moved to Poughkeepsie, New York to take up a position as pastor for the area's Dutch Reformed Church. Gansevoort Van Vranken married Mary Cannon (1828-1900) on 4 March 1852. Gansevoort Van Vranken kept the gown and pantaloons his mother had made, handing them down to his only child Mary Gansevoort Van Vranken (1852-1834). Gansevoort died at the age of 35. He was buried in the First Dutch Reformed Churchyard in Hackensack, New Jersey, along with his parents and spouse.
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