Little Women
For centuries little girls were dressed like small versions of their mothers. This dressing of children as miniature adults in every detail continued until the early C18th. Formal paintings often show children in elaborate silk clothing with skirts supported by paniers and multiple petticoats.
Silk was an important fabric as it was used by the richer people in society to show off their wealth through their dress. Poorer people whether adult or child wore simpler practical clothes made from linen, cotton, wool and lesser coarser fibres out of practical necessity.