I am learning: I am not an expert. Neither am I a good guesser! One of the hardest things for me to do is to know the time frame a picture was taken. Many books have been written on the fashions of various eras and the reader, with a little patience, can search the web and become more knowledgeable. Most of the "upper class" of these various decades had the ability and the finances to dress their finest when the photographer or the portrait taker came to capture their likeness. Even the average citizen, or the poorest, always wanted to look their best and would pose with great pride in their hand-made clothes. I can imagine the excitement in the family before the picture taking was started; Mother fussing with the hair of the children or straightening the tie on their husband; children impatiently sitting in the preferred pose. (Some things never change!) And did you notice, they never smiled in the earlier pictures? The "Smile!" had not been invented yet; it appears that each person was to sit quietly and somberly. This is not a complete study of the clothing styles of various decades but is a basis for you to start with and expand so that it will be easier for you to date some of those old tin-types, cardboard backed photos or postal card style photos you have in that big box with nothing written on the back! 1840-1850: Women: Women of this time frame wore floor length dresses which had bell-shaped skirts. This covered layer upon layer of petticoats. The lady suffered with a tight fitting corset under all of this and caused the bustline to be flattened. The sleeves on the dresses were extremely narrow; the bodice was long and again, tight. Closures were in the back. The collars and sleeves were always white. Ladies were normally adorned in bonnets with a brim that was deep. A cape was often seen which was known as a "pelerine". The neckline was often adorned with wide ribbons as was many times the waist. Hair styles were normally quite identical from woman to woman with the hair parted in the middle and pulled back, covering the ears. If it was a younger woman, long gentle curls could hang around their face. Fancy jewelry was seldom seen unless a gold chain or black cord on which was fastened a gold watch or a pencil (which seldom showed in the photograph). Men: Their coats had long and narrow sleeves that were tightly fitted under the arm. There was a tie and a vest, and quite often they were photographed with their hat. The ties were of a medium width and tied like a bow tie. Facial hair was normally limited to a little beard running from the sideburns under the chin. Occasionally younger men wore moustaches and the style was with ends that turned down. Many men in photographs of this area were clean shaven. 1850-1860: Women: The skirts widened. "Bloomers" came into vogue for a short period which was the short skirt with the ankle length trousers under them. However, most women didn't give into the times and wore the standard skirts. Corsets were still around but for the mature woman, the corsets were shortened and finally all the ladies began using this style. The dress changed to a one piece outfit with long waist and "bishop sleeves" and the opening was at the front. Wider collars came into vogue and necklines were more open. Collars were up to three and a half inches wide and flat. They didn't stand up as in earlier collars. Petticoats were still around but were being replaced by the hooped skirt. The bonnets had shallow sides. The hair styles were adorned with large loops of hair covering the top of the ears, which changed slightly downards the end of the decade into soft loops and the entire ear might be covered. Men: Their fashions didn't change as drastically. Double breasted vests were seen and the collars were notched. The neckties changed to 2 inch wide silk black or checked cloth that extended out on one side. The men were fairly well clean shaven during this time with beards coming into style towards the end. The younger men had their own style - a tall "wave" at the center of their forehead. Hair on the side became longer towards the end of the decade, sometimes covering the entire ear. 1860-1870: Women: Clothes and accessories were at a premium during the Civil War period; especially in the southern states. The materials were used for the war effort instead of gracing the bodies of men and women. Since sewing machines were now available to those who could afford it, women still tried to look as beautiful as possible, despite the circumstances. Alterations were now the rule, changing their older clothes to look more up-dated. The full skirts began to be slenderized by the middle of the decade and they were flat across the front. But, behind .... more and more material and more extension. Braiding was used to fancy up an older outfit. The dresses were short-waisted as the years passed by and the shoulders were long and at a slope. They fastened in the front with buttons. The small collar style was back and dresses were often tight at the neck. Wide, bell shaped sleeves were seen; and the belt appeared with large buckles. Ornaments around the neck were going out of vogue and sometimes there were narrow ribbons. The ladies' hair had the center part and pulled back tightly behind the ears; the loops of the previous decade was "out." The hair net made its appearance during this time frame but were normally invisible in photographs. Men: Most of the younger, healthier men (and some of the older ones) had to settle for uniforms during this time - serving for the North or South. Those who did not serve made do with the styles of the previous decade. Towards the end of the Civil War when men could get back into their non-military garb, they wore shorter coats with narrow sleeves. The vests remained which had a collar and a narrow lapel. For dressy occasions they had stiff shirt collars; for normal wear, the collar was folded down. Ties changed again (do they ever not change?) and were narrow, with the ends hanging down from the knot of the tie. Beards were very popular. Hair was parted at the side now and smoothed back away from the face. 1870-1880: Women: American women during this time period were influenced by European fashions. Thus began the latest French styles! But the war (Franco-Prussian) affected this and America itself was in a recession by the middle of this decade. For the first half of the decade, women's dresses had that quite noticeable bustle and the dress pulled back and tight giving them a slimmer appearance. The short corsets went long again and the waistline was quite high. This changed again during the last half of the decade. The two-piece dress was introduced during this time. It had a quite long bodice and the skirt. The jacket portion was fastened in the front or left open with a vest under the jacket. The colors chosen were normally black or a dark color. Pleats and flounces made their appearance; and little button shaped earrings became popular. Hair styles became higher on the head and black velvet ribbons (narrow) were tied at the back with a bow and a brooch around the front at the neckline. Men: The jackets were narrower and fit the body more closely. Shirts moved from white, white and white, to various colors, often with patterns. Neckties became much wider and was tied in a loose knot with square ends. Beards were basically out this decade. 1880: Women: With imports, sewing machines and more to chose from, the woman could now buy what we later called "ready to wear" clothes. She could chose the more formal attire for fancier occasions; or casual wear for around home. Skirts were fuller again and still had some padding in the back. But the bustle hadn't given up way and made a return appearance; pads were often now added to the sides to make the hips look much wider. Then narrow skirts came back into popularity and the bustle image faded. The narrow skirt became the chosen style with a high bodice with high collars. Sleeves shortened and were also narrow, did not cover the wrist. Men: Better tailored styles wee seen and the men wore short jackets with narrow lapels. The coat closed at the throat and almost covered the tie. Sleeves were narrowed; shirts were back to white and collars were either standing and stiff or folding and narrow. Mustaches became very popular and some men wore beards. 1890-1900: Women: Mutton-leg sleeves were all the rage and developed and changed each year it seems. The sleeves were tight in the arms during the earlier years and the shoulder top had a puff. The next year the puff envelopes the upper sleeve. The next year the puff gets larger widest around the shoulder and narrowing down to the wrist. In two years, tit is wider yet and stiff. The largest puff was in 1896 and started worked their way back down in size the next year. Corsets were looser. Men: The narrow and short coat was in and noticeable were the short sleeves of the coat which exposed the cuff of the shirt. The coats buttoned all the way up the front with black being the acceptable color. White shirts stayed in vogue for the "doing the town" occasions, but appeared in colors for more casual wear. Stiff, short collars had sharp points. Bow ties were still seen, but most men were wearing the "hanging tie" I hope this will give you some interest in doing more investigating into the subject of dating photographs by clothing. There are many more ways of dating which I will share at a later date. (c) Copyright 4 April 2002, Sandra K. Gorin, All Rights Reserved. sgorin@glasgow-ky.com Col. Sandi Gorin, 205 Clements, Glasgow, KY 42141 (270) 651-9114 Publishing: http://ggpublishing.tripod.com/ SCKY resource links: http://www.public.asu.edu/~moore/Gorin.html < >< God Bless America ><>