Child's dress and slippers

Embroidered dress and pink satin slippers worn by Alfred Muller Simpson before he was 'breeched'.

Despite its pink embroidery, this dress was worn by a boy. Until the late 19th century small boys wore the same clothes as their sisters, that is, dresses. Then from about the age of 5, boys graduated to pants. They were then said to have been 'breeched' meaning that they were old enough to wear breeches or pants.

It was not until the mid-20th century that the convention of 'blue for boys, pink for girls' became firmly established. In the 18th and 19th centuries it was in fact considered more appropriate for girls to be dressed in blue as this was seen as a softer more suitable colour. Pink was used for boys because it was a lighter shade of the stronger colour, red.

Born in 1843, Alfred Muller Simpson immigrated to South Australia in 1849 with his parents. He would later join his father's tin-smithing business and develop it into the prominent Adelaide firm, A. Simpson & Son. A member of the Legislative Council from 1887-1894, Simpson was a prominent and highly regarded member of Adelaide's business community.

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