Ticking Blue · 1990s Navy Stripe Baby Pinafore
Ticking stripe cotton · button-front bodice · brass buttons · gathered skirt · Target · 1980s to 1990s · AU 1 · approx 12-18 months
Ticking stripe in navy and white, that dense tight twill weave originally made for mattresses and prized for outlasting everything placed near it, here cut into a small button-front pinafore with brass buttons, a gathered skirt, and a woven label sewn carefully into the back.
An older Target piece, 1980s to 1990s, from before chain-store baby basics moved over to printed labels and plastic fastenings. The woven label, the separate gold size tab, the engraved brass buttons: the finishes of a garment designed by someone who thought the details still mattered, even at this price, even in this size. Ticking was originally woven for mattress covers and pillow ticking, too tightly to let feathers escape, which is why it has this particular density and drape. Somewhere in the 1970s it crossed into fashion and never quite left. It suits a baby beautifully.
Care
Warm gentle wash. Turn the brass buttons face-down in the drum. Line dry and press warm on the skirt.
More on looking after vintage pieces in our care guide.
Size
Measured flat: length 51cm, bodice 24cm, waist 33cm, skirt length 31cm, skirt hem 60cm. Fits approximately AU 1, around 12 to 18 months.
Our size guide explains how vintage sizing is read here.
Condition
Well-loved. The ticking stripe has washed soft but holds its colour; the brass buttons are all present. Had a previous life.
Our condition lexicon explains the grades we use.
Before it reaches you
Someone loved this before you did, and I try to honour that properly. Each piece is hand washed, or cleaned in the way that the fabric permits, then steamed until it softens and straightens and feels newly attended to. Wherever a button was missing, it has been replaced with a vintage one from my long-kept collection. Wherever a hem had given way, I fix it by hand. By the time it leaves this room it is genuinely clean, pressed, whole, and looked over one final time before I let myself believe it is ready. Not restored. Not made new. Just returned to a state where it can be loved again, by someone who was not there the first time.
Ticking was woven so tightly that not a single feather could escape it, and a cloth given that job never fully retires: this little pinafore still holds its stripes shut against anything that might try to drift out overnight. Sleep near it and your dreams stay where you left them, which is the old and entirely reliable reputation of the weave. The brass buttons keep a count of the washes and have lost their place only twice. It was built to outlast the mattress it came from, and it fully intends to outlast the childhood as well.