This toddler’s dress was worn by Perry Huff who was born in Seattle in 1895. Up until the early 20th century, young boys in Europe and the United States wore dresses and skirts. “Breeching,” the practice of boys being dressed in pants for the first time, typically happened between the ages of two and eight. Before the invention of zippers and snaps, most pants were fastened with rows of small buttons. Skirts were much easier for diapers and toilet training. But there were also cultural ideas about separating the innocence of early childhood from more gendered responsibilities for older children. A photo in the MOHAI collection shows Perry in this dress, alongside his older sister who also wears a white dress with lace trim. Perry has a large bow around his neck and a ribbon in his hair, which is ear-length and slightly curled. The one distinguishing feature is that his hair is parted on the side, whereas his sister has a center part. While it wasn’t universal, this choice of hair parting was one of the few delineations made in styling young boys and girls in the late 19th century.