Isn't the 'blouse' that young Snape is wearing described as a 'smock'? (I don't have the book so can't verify) I thought that she meant one of those old garments that in later days only Yorkshire farmers etc wore (because rural people from the North are more culturally conservative)
see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Smock-frock
But of course Sev's mother was from a wizarding family and has no ideas about Muggle fashions (if she even cared about what her child looked like) so she probably gave him a hand-me-down which looked 'wizarding'. Wizards are culturally conservative too so a smock-frock would look all right to her. To Petunia such a garment would look like a woman's blouse just as a wizarding robe would look like a dress to her. What man in the sixties (exept for clergy) would wear such a garment, after all?
I think it shows how separated poor Snape was even in his childhood. And people thought Harry had it tough for wearing clothes that were hand-me-downs and slightly too big...
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I thought that she meant one of those old garments that in later days only Yorkshire farmers etc wore (because rural people from the North are more culturally conservative)
see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Smock-frock
But of course Sev's mother was from a wizarding family and has no ideas about Muggle fashions (if she even cared about what her child looked like) so she probably gave him a hand-me-down which looked 'wizarding'. Wizards are culturally conservative too so a smock-frock would look all right to her. To Petunia such a garment would look like a woman's blouse just as a wizarding robe would look like a dress to her. What man in the sixties (exept for clergy) would wear such a garment, after all?
I think it shows how separated poor Snape was even in his childhood. And people thought Harry had it tough for wearing clothes that were hand-me-downs and slightly too big...