Skirt Lengths and Hoop Styles for Victorian Young Girls
In the C18th all girls wore floor length gowns. In the early 1800s young girls began to have their skirts shortened. A seventeen and eighteen year girl was considered to be a young lady and wore skirts ground length just like adult women did. Most sixteen year old wore gowns to the ankles, a fourteen year old skirts to the calves, but a 12 year old wore skirts to just below the knee.
Not even the youngest child escaped the wearing of a crinoline supported skirt. By the 1840s those skirts were true crinoline style. They were pushed out with stiff starched petticoats and horsehair crin fabric petticoats in layers. Later a wire hoop cage crinoline, a mini version of adult crinolines, liberated youngsters as it made lighter work of the job.
This image is of a fashion plate dated 1863 and from Fashion Books at eBay.