Böndernas dopklänningar : Dopdräktens utseende och betydelse i Sverige på 1800-talet

Sammanfattning

The purpose of this study was to look at the christening clothes used by Swedish farmers during the 19th century. This was the period that the long gowns made by delicate white fabric came into fashion, and the existing literature regarding this time focuses mainly on these gowns worn by the upper classes. So the question posed is: what did the christening clothes look like for the lower classes? What cultural meaning did it hold? To achieve this I looked at a questionnaire from The Institute for Language and Folklore (Isof) regarding christening traditions. The questions were sent out in 1930 and the answers focus mainly on the second half of the 19th century. Focusing on a specific question regarding what the children wore during the christening, All the answers were collected and studied and the results were compiled for further comparison and analysis. The result of the study found that the trend that started in the upper classes, the white christening gown, had been widely adopted by the lower classes by the second half of the century. The fine trimmings of lace, embroidery and tulle present in the gowns of the upper classes were however missing. If a family couldn’t afford a gown, a piece of white fabric was draped around the child. This echoes what is found in the literature, but this paper helps give further clarity and dimension to this subject.