Kids Dresses. If you are looking for a dress for you daughter or as a gift then this collection I picked out some great today's fashion. How did children dress in the 1800s? Infants and toddlers, both boys and girls, wore dresses. Dresses were usually long and white and were used because they allowed toddlers to move and play. At age five, boys were introduced to pants, a tradition known as breeching. After that, boys wore short trousers or knickerbockers with a suit jacket.