This post is part one of two. Example images for after 1900 will be in the second post. See the end of the post for a timeline of photography and relevant links.
There are tons of online guides on this topic but since most of them focus on identifying the type of photograph to figure out the date I'm going to focus on identifying the fashion trends in the photo to date it instead. The clothing details in an old photograph that will narrow down it's date range the most in both men's and women's wear are found in collars/necklines, sleeves, shoe styles, and hats. Specific to women's wear will be telltale details like bustles or hoop skirts and fitted bodice styles. Specific to menswear will be ties, waistcoats/vests, and occasionally jewelry. For photographs that are bust style portraits; the sitters hair style will also be important to consider.
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| Sibling Portrait |
To date this photo we will look at the following details: her skirt, dress bodice, sleeves, hat and his fly front pants. So right off the bat you're probably thinking "Why are most of those details in her clothes and not his?" Mostly because the collar of his jacket is difficult to see despite the photos nice quality but also because trends in men's wear didn't change nearly as fast as women's and so dating women's clothing tends to be much easier.
So starting with the skirt. She's definitely wearing a skirt with a bustle underneath. If you look at the detail image you can see it piled up behind her on the left. The bustle was very popular and increased and decreased in size from when it originally came into fashion in the 1870s through the 1890s.
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| An example of an 1875 dress with over skirt and bustle. |
Image from agelesspatterns.com
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| Bustle, button front bodice, and fly front detail |
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| Hat detail |
Her dress bodice is fitted and has a button front popular in the 1880s. The narrow sleeves indicate it is no later than 1890; after which sleeves with lots of volume from shoulder to wrist came into fashion.
The bonnet style hat; worn without the securing ribbon tied under the chin that's typical of a true bonnet is an 1880s style. It's distinguished from earlier bonnet styles by the way it is worn on top of the head rather than leaning forward across her forehead as was popular in the 1860s (think Scarlet O'Hara) or tilted to one side as was popular in the 1890s. Learn more about Victorian hats here. His hat unfortunately is impossible for me to date as it fits no specific style and is almost certainly a work hat worn for practicality rather than fashion.
The fly front on his pants dates them to post 1850 when fly fronts replaced the flap like opening on breeches of earlier decades. These still closed with buttons however and the zipper wasn't used on clothing until after 1900.
Likely date range of photo: 1880-1890
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| A well to do fellow |
This guys coat with it's fancy velvet trimmed collar makes it difficult to definitively date his outfit because details like the shape of his suit jacket lapels and sleeves are hidden by it. So I'll have to use the unobscured details of his outfit: the waistcoat/vest, collar, and hat.
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| Waistcoat and collar detail |
The waistcoat is basically an earlier version of the vest. Only worn in modern times on formal occasions it was originally worn as part of everyday wear and a man would never be caught out of the house in just a shirt. This one is likely a post 1860 waistcoat which before then were commonly worn in colors or prints and had higher necklines.
Continue reading after the jump
He's wearing a typical stiff mid height 1880s collar with a gap at the front. It looks high by modern standards but in the 1890s men's collars were even higher.
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| That looks uncomfortable |
The faintest shadow of a wide white cravat; an early version of the tie (probably similar to the one pictured above), is also visible at the base of his collar and near his left waistcoat lapel. Cravats were initially just a bit of fabric tied around the neck and knotted or tied in a bow in front. Their width changed over time from the 1830s through the 1890s to match the lower or higher collar styles.
Top hats with brims curved at either side were popular throughout the Victorian period (and into the Edwardian as formal wear). The only variation being in height and material. Silk became popular in the 1890s and the hat pictured does seem to have the sheen of silk.
Although his suit jacket is almost completely covered the fact that he's wearing it open pinpoints him within the 1880s when men often wore their jackets open to show off the waistcoat and watch chain.
The most interesting and telling fashion detail about this photo to me (other than the print mixing) is his vest. It has no buttons meaning it's definitely knit and post 1900. Knit vests didn't really catch on until the 1920s so this fashionable fellow was a bit of an early adopter.
I'll be using the following details to date this photo: bonnet, sleeves, and skirt
Bonnets tied under the chin with ribbon were the fashionable throughout the 1840s and 1850s. They varied in shape over the years especially in how wide the brim was and how much of the the forehead or face it covered. This low brimmed example was worn back a bit from the hairline and became fashionable in the early 1850s. The tiny bit of her hair it exposes reveals the typical 1850s center part hairstyle with two braids at either side.
Her cape hides the style of her bodice but the wide sleeves can be dated to between 1857 and 1864 when wide sleeves that narrowed at the wrist called peg tops were in fashion according to the Dictionary of Fashion History.
She appears to be wearing a hoop skirt also known as a crinoline. Originally coming into fashion in the 1830s the hoop skirt grew in width over time (eventually being several feet wide) until the width disappeared from the front entirely and morphed into a more bustle like shape by the late 1850s.
Top hats with brims curved at either side were popular throughout the Victorian period (and into the Edwardian as formal wear). The only variation being in height and material. Silk became popular in the 1890s and the hat pictured does seem to have the sheen of silk.
Although his suit jacket is almost completely covered the fact that he's wearing it open pinpoints him within the 1880s when men often wore their jackets open to show off the waistcoat and watch chain.
Likely date range of photo: mid 1880s to early 1890s
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| Possibly a law student based on the size of that book |
I'll be using the following details to date this photo: suit jacket, collar, tie, shoes, and vest.
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| Suit detail |
His pinstriped suit jacket is unmistakably from the 1910s. Known as the Sack Suit they had wide lapels and were a boxy straight cut.
Unfortunately, the high collars and cravats of the 1890s carried over into the 1910s in various forms so that detail doesn't help to narrow down the date range much.
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| Shoe detail |
His boots are an Edwardian (1901-1910) spat top style. Spat style shoes closed with a series of small buttons up one side. These button close style shoes continued to be worn until the 1920s.
Likely date range of photo: 1895-1920
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| Seated woman in bonnet |
I'll be using the following details to date this photo: bonnet, sleeves, and skirt
Bonnets tied under the chin with ribbon were the fashionable throughout the 1840s and 1850s. They varied in shape over the years especially in how wide the brim was and how much of the the forehead or face it covered. This low brimmed example was worn back a bit from the hairline and became fashionable in the early 1850s. The tiny bit of her hair it exposes reveals the typical 1850s center part hairstyle with two braids at either side.
Her cape hides the style of her bodice but the wide sleeves can be dated to between 1857 and 1864 when wide sleeves that narrowed at the wrist called peg tops were in fashion according to the Dictionary of Fashion History.
She appears to be wearing a hoop skirt also known as a crinoline. Originally coming into fashion in the 1830s the hoop skirt grew in width over time (eventually being several feet wide) until the width disappeared from the front entirely and morphed into a more bustle like shape by the late 1850s.
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| Crinoline support beneath a skirt |
Image from Victoriana.com
The width of this skirt is hard to judge but there is a suspicious shadow along the right edge of her skirt that suggests it might've been edited by the photographer to look smaller in order to better balance the composition of the photo. Learn more about historical "Photoshop" techniques in this PBS article and this video.
Likely date range of photo: 1850-1860
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SOURCES
Disclaimer: I am not a fashion historian and the dates given in this post shouldn't be taken as absolute facts but rather guidelines for dating your own photos.
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