Enfance vintage : quand le passé inspire

Inspirations from exotic cultures, fashions past or different environments are the main characteristics of childrens fashion throughout the ages. This contributes to create a specific style for children educated in social life and still considered apart from adult society. The history of childrens fashion shows much of this mechanism.
Echoing the current enthusiasm for an adult style "vintage", contemporary childrens fashion is widely open to past fashion influences. Childrens outfits from the 1930’s and 1950’s inspire nostalgic silhouettes from a reinvented past, paradoxically described as « intemporelles » (timeless). This outdated atmosphere of breeched boys and kilted girls, sticks to the very recent conception of a protected and well-educated childhood. While some brands like Jacadi make nostalgia the founding principle of their style and their communication, films and publishing feed this vision of childhood.
Marketing phenomenon or intrinsic to children’s fashion, how can we explain this craze for historicisms in present day children’s wardrobes? Does it have an effect on the definition of childhood?
Based on the analysis of fashion archives and on the study of the material coming from the design and marketing projects for the brand Jacadi, this paper explores the nature and sources of inspiration from the past (designs, colours, materials…) and shows the potential role of fashion museums in this process. It puts this movement in the perspective of the history of fashion to better identify the current features of a "vintage" style for children and explain its consequences from a sociological point of view.