Up until the seventeenth century, young babies were tightly wrapped in swaddling clothes and carried to the font in a "bearing cloth". This was a large square piece of silk, edged with trimmings of gold lace and braid.
What we now call the "Christening Robe", evolved in the mid-eighteenth century when babies were freed of swaddling from an earlier age. The earliest surviving samples were made of white silk and had a front opening which was either left open to show a petticoat underneath or fastened with ribbon ties. Similar to the women's gowns of that period, the robe had similar decorative curving lines of braid.
The first Christening robes were made in the style worn every day by eighteenth-century children: both boy and girl babies wore "slip" dresses, with a very long, flowing skirt falling from a short, tucked bodice and a low neck and short sleeves. Other items of clothing such as bonnets and bootees could be made to go with the robe. A number of exquisite Christening sets survived from the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, including bibs, head bands, mittens and pincushion covers or handkerchiefs in embroidered linen.
Victorian babies were dressed in gowns decorated with Ayrshire work, a delicate form of white-on-white embroidery that originated in the Scottish Lowlands.
An old Scottish custom was to pin a piece of shortbread to the Christening robe and was to be worn for the duration of the ceremony. Afterwards, if an unmarried girl ate the shortbread, she was sure to dream of her future husband that very night. It was also deemed necessary that the baby sleep in its Christening robe for the first night after the baptism in order to bring good luck and good health in the future.
A timeless tradition
The same fashion has remained popular for Christenings ever since. This is partly due to the tradition of handling Christening robes down from one generation to the next, so that dozens of babies may wear the same gown over many years.
If your family has no tradition of an antique gown, you can begin this tradition for future generations with a gown from our range of traditionally made gowns, composed of fine natural pure silk and embellished with exquisite embroidery and tucking. - 16492
What we now call the "Christening Robe", evolved in the mid-eighteenth century when babies were freed of swaddling from an earlier age. The earliest surviving samples were made of white silk and had a front opening which was either left open to show a petticoat underneath or fastened with ribbon ties. Similar to the women's gowns of that period, the robe had similar decorative curving lines of braid.
The first Christening robes were made in the style worn every day by eighteenth-century children: both boy and girl babies wore "slip" dresses, with a very long, flowing skirt falling from a short, tucked bodice and a low neck and short sleeves. Other items of clothing such as bonnets and bootees could be made to go with the robe. A number of exquisite Christening sets survived from the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, including bibs, head bands, mittens and pincushion covers or handkerchiefs in embroidered linen.
Victorian babies were dressed in gowns decorated with Ayrshire work, a delicate form of white-on-white embroidery that originated in the Scottish Lowlands.
An old Scottish custom was to pin a piece of shortbread to the Christening robe and was to be worn for the duration of the ceremony. Afterwards, if an unmarried girl ate the shortbread, she was sure to dream of her future husband that very night. It was also deemed necessary that the baby sleep in its Christening robe for the first night after the baptism in order to bring good luck and good health in the future.
A timeless tradition
The same fashion has remained popular for Christenings ever since. This is partly due to the tradition of handling Christening robes down from one generation to the next, so that dozens of babies may wear the same gown over many years.
If your family has no tradition of an antique gown, you can begin this tradition for future generations with a gown from our range of traditionally made gowns, composed of fine natural pure silk and embellished with exquisite embroidery and tucking. - 16492
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