A translation of a concept art page from Hyrule Historia. Translated by Snow.
Zelda Designs
1986 – The Legend of Zelda
A drawing of the first princess Zelda. Compared to the Princess Zeldas from A Link to the Past and later, her outfit is very simple. She also has red hair instead of her typical blonde.
1991 – A Link to the Past
The first work where Zelda’s hair was blonde. It was decided that this design of princess Zelda would be used from then on.
1998 – Ocarina of Time
As with Link, two designs of Zelda appeared in this game. In addition, this game also introduced the concept of a disguise (Sheik) for Zelda.
2001 – Oracles
This princess Zelda is cute from top to bottom. Her dress design is based on adult Zelda’s dress in Ocarina of Time.
2002 – The Wind Waker
Appeared as the female pirate Tetra. Her traditional princess look showed up as well, but not until the end of the game.
I just noticed something interesting on OoT’s version of Zelda.
The child version has the same Hylian Crest as the Hylian sheild, and the adult Zelda has the same crest, minus the upside down triangle at the bottom, and instead has the sheik eye symbol above the bird crest.