Researching Fashion History 

On this page you will find:

Opening Comments:

Researching Men's Fashions

Men's Hats

Men's Neckties

Men's Collars

Men's Fashions Timeline Table

Researching Women's Fashions

"The Move Towards Rational Dress" by Margie Knauff

"Women and Social Movements in the USA 1775-2000"

Learn about Amelia "Bloomer

Women's Fashion Timeline Table

Children's Fashions and Photo Dating

Period Movies help Photo Dating 

Sources/References/Credits:

Opening Comments

As we said in the History of Photographic Methods, photo dating begins in 1839 when the first photograph was taken. The Giroux Daguerreotype camera was the first commercially-manufactured camera. Photos at this time are rare so more than likely, your research could begin with the Crinoline period 1845-1865.  Search for words like, Crinoline, Victorian fashions and costumes.  You will come across sites that show you in detail the type of sleeves that were popular from 1860 through 1880s.  1880-1889 was the bustle period, search for bustle. If your search is for men's fashion the same applies, search for men's fashions like top hat etc.   Keep in mind, that as in today's photos for example, you could have a photo of someone in the 1970s that is wearing clothes from the 1950's. You may want to simply look for photos in the time period you suspect your photo is in and see if the clothes, objects or style look like your photo.  

We see so many of our clients photos that have known dates, that we have developed a sense for the time period by exposure.  We are attempting to put novice information about the subject in one place for  our clients in their efforts to estimate the dates of their photos.   Any information on this subject is found on the World Wide Web.  We make every attempt to give credits where it's due.  As we learn more we add on to this section of our site (always a work in progress). Photos Made Perfect is not an expert on "photo dating". 

Researching Men's Fashions

In 1860, white was the choice color for most shirts and disposable collars and cuffs were worn and bow ties were popular for evening wear.  One shirt and many collars is easy on the laundering and the appearance of more clothes.  In the 1860's and 70's trousers were worn close to the leg and long enough to reach the heels of the shoes.  

The Sack Suit 1860-1890

The everyday common business suit. Appeared in the 1850s, usually four cloth covered buttons, one engaged at the top. It was more in style not to match color.  Any hat could be worn with this suit with exception of the top hat.

In the 1860 the became for fitted and in between morphed into the suit we know today.

At the end of World War I (1914-1919). Men returning from the war faced closets full of clothes from the teens, which they wore into the early 1920s. The sack suit, which had been popular since the mid eighteen-hundreds, constituted appropriate “day” dress for gentlemen. (Edwardian etiquette commanded successive changes of clothing for gentlemen during the day.) With the suits, colored shirts of putty, peach, blue-gray and cedar were worn. Shaped silk ties in small geometric patterns or diagonal stripes were secured with tie pins and a black bowler hat. The tail coat was considered appropriate formal evening wear, with a top hat. Starched white shirts with pleated yokes, bow ties and shirts with white wing collars were also seen. Tuxedos were increasing in popularity but were not yet completely acceptable.  Black patent-leather shoes were popular and often appeared with formal evening wear. Casual clothing demanded two-tone shoes in white and tan, or white and black. Fringed tongues on Oxfords and brogues were seen frequently. Lace-up style shoes were most in demand. 

In 1880 the tuxedo first appeared.  The style of both daytime and evening coats changed the frock coats were replaced by the morning coat which curved at the waist. For evening wear, tail coats remained popular. The low laced shoe, early tennis shoe, was worn for sporting events, and the spats appeared.

Men's Hats

A top-hat is a tall, flat-crowned, handmade, broad-brimmed hat worn by men throughout the 19th and early 20th centuries. Worn with morning dress or evening dress.  The first top hats were made with beaver fur felt and later they would be made of silk. They would be called by several versions of it and each version came with nicknames such as the stovepipe made popular by President Lincoln. They were taller than the typical top-hat and  straight, like piping, not wider at the top and bottom. A collapsible version was created called the "opera hat"  In the 1920s they were called high hats. The movie "Gangs of New York" has the largest most colorful top hat I have ever seen. Somewhere in the 1860s they began to fall out of favor with the middle class who started wearing the Bowlers and Fedoras which were mass produced and the top hat became associated with the upper class because they were handmade making them more expensive. Styles varies enormously in the first part of the decade before setting down to the conventional straight sides we know today. After WWI (1914-1919) they were rarely used with exception of formal wear.

Thomas and William Bowler created the "iron hat", then the hats were called Bowlers because of its makers; which has been used ever since. It was designed to protect the head while on horseback.  There were many versions, but only two discussed here.  The first from the 1870s through the 1880s had a tall crown and on the second one the crown was much lower.  Even though you may think social status would not help you date a photograph, it actually could. If you know the occupation of the relative you think you have a photo of the type of hat may be one more clue.  In England it was associated with professional servants but in London it was associated with professionals and city officials.   Englishmen stopped wearing hats as a matter of course in the 1960s. In the US the bowler was known as the derby and the social standing different.  The derby was associated with urban culture, and the well-to-do that had risen from the working class and often appears in

These hats became popular in the late 1800s.  They were worn by both men and women until the mid 1920s for the summer months and the middle and working class.

The humble sublimity of the straw hat swept with all its glory through the 1890s—1920s. The boater, so called because it originally topped off the striped blazer and flannel trouser outfit worn by young men while rowing, developed into the universal style for both men and women. American men wore the boater with a modest brim, slightly tilted on the head in a cocky mode, embellished only with a wide, striped grosgrain or silk hatband.

The evolution of modern straw dress hats is marked by important changes which took place in the middle 1930s. Summer headwear, which had previously been merely cool-looking became, cool and comfortable on the head. Paralleling the shift from hard derbies to soft hats in felts, the emphasis shifted from hard straws to soft straws.

Some of the better known soft straws are Open-weave Panama, New braids, Hanoki, Hemp, Peanit, Leghorn, Baku, Bangkok, and Madagascar.

The popularity of the Panama straw dress hat soared at the start of the 20th century when a photograph of U.S. President Theodore Roosevelt sporting a stylish fino appeared in the world press. The demand for the chic hat rose. Prominent companies around the globe began distributing them. In Turkey, modernization laws banned the traditional fez in 1925 and mandated the use of Panama hats. By 1944 the Panama hat had become Ecuador's primary export item.

By the second half of the 20th century, the popularity of hats waned. Yet, Ecuador's finely woven Panama hats maintained their mystique. Indeed, expert hatters throughout the world compete for premium grade specimens. Famous people from bygone eras to our day have been captivated by the elegance of the Panama hat. It has graced the heads of Winston Churchill, Nikita Khrushchev, Humphrey Bogart, and Michael Jordan, to name but a few.

Of course, there are inexpensive mass produced imitations of the genuine Panama. However, many of these crack; others do not breathe. In contrast, the genuine Panama is light and airy, and it lasts a lifetime. Each is hand woven and therefore is one of a kind. Prices range from a few dollars for the coarser hats to over $1,000 for the rarest, the superfinos of Montecristi. Quality is determined by the fineness and regularity of the weave as well as the consistency of color. But always remember this: A genuine Panama hat is made only in Ecuador.

Men's Collars

Collars and cuffs were made to be removable from 1860s through to 1930s.  Because they wore under shirts the only contact places of the skin and shirt were at the collar and cuffs.

A Straight 2" Stand Up collar worn from 1880-1920 for formal wear.  

 High Imperial Collar - This 2½” high collar was popular from 1890 to 1905 for formal wear.

A stand up collar with turned corners, 1 ½” deep. Worn from 1880-present day for formal wear developed many versions.  The  2” high version was popular from 1890 to 1905. the extremely high collar and with more server points was favored by 1890 to 1905. Then a version called the butterfly wing of the 1920s and 30s, they were pretty much the same but the wings were pointy and bent outwards.  Another collar that was similar was the but with double rounded turndown corners collar worn, from 1870-1940.

Neck Ties

The Cravat also originated these variants, still worn today:

The Paisley patterned neck tie was adapted in India 1800s to 1850 soldiers brought them from the town of Paisley, Renfrewshire to Scotland, where the design was nicknamed Paisley and spread to shawls. 

Photograph is a Potter's Patent Tintype 1865.

The Bow Tie,1865  was already in use by the invention of the photograph and still going strong in the late 1880s. The earlier version of the bow tie was larger and looser. 

1880s Bow Tie. Zoomed in sample, below.

Notice the contrasting velvet color and wide lapels of the 1880s. 

Ascot,1880s  A narrow neckband with wide pointed wings, traditionally made of pale gray usually patterned silk, formal, folded and fastened with a stickpin or tie tack. It is usually reserved for wear with morning dress or formal daytime weddings and worn with a cutaway morning coat and striped gray trousers. This type of dress cravat is made of a thicker, woven type of silk similar to a modern tie and is traditionally either gray or black. In British English a more casual "day cravat" is different from the highly formal dress cravat by ornate and colorful printed patterns.

Collar Clips 1920s - 40's, double ended gilt clips for securing spearpoint collar points under the tie. 

Knickerbockers, later shortened to “knickers”, were popular casual wear for the well-dressed gentleman. Variations of knickers included plus-fours, plus- sixes, plus-eights and plus-tens. The “plus” in the term referred to how many inches below the knee they hung. Norfolk coats as well as golf coats were worn with knickers. The coats sported large patch pockets, a belt, usually one button and often a shoulder yoke. Gentleman’s shoes or boots were the appropriate footwear to coordinate with knickers.

Tweed cloth became popular at this time. The word “tweed” is an English variant of the Scottish word “tweel”, itself a variation of “twill”. Tweel refers to hand-woven wool fabric from the Scottish highlands and islands. Historians differ on whether tweed originated in the highlands or the south of Scotland. The name became associated with the Tweed River which forms part of the boundary between England and Scotland. Tweed eventually became the general term for all carded “homespun” wool, whether it was Scotch tweed, Irish tweed, Donegal tweed, Cheviot tweed or Harris tweed.

Men's Fashion Timeline Table

First let us define, facial hair.  A beard is the hair that grows on a man's chin, cheeks, neck, and the area above the upper lip  When differentiating between upper and lower facial hair, a beard specifically refers to the facial hair on the lower part of a man's chin, excluding the moustache, which refers to hair above the upper lip and around it). The study of beards is called pogonology.  To some people men with facial hair have been thought of as having wisdom, sexual virility, or high status, yet others feel that facial hair is not clean or refined to say the least.

While the history of facial hair can start in 3000B.C. we are only interested in the 1800s to present. From the 1700s to the early 1800s beards were rare but by the 1850s gained popularity. To read more about the reasons behind the facial hair trends go to the free encyclopedia wikipedia they have a an very interesting article; which is where this information is from.  It's a lot of reading about how every president since Lincoln(1860) until (1896) McKinley, (except Andrew Johnson) had either a beard or a moustache and how the war brought on health reasons to avoid facial hair, mid- Victorian period and the early nineteenth century... 

After World War I -1914 The sudden concentration of recruits in crowded army induction centers brought with it disease, including head lice. Action was taken by immediately shaving the faces and cutting the hair of all inductees upon their arrival. From the 1920s to the early 1960s, beards were rare again with exception of old men and beatniks.

PDF] The Beard Movement in Victorian Britain Christopher Oldstone-Moore Wright State University In the middle of the nineteenth century the face of masculinity suddenly changed in Western culture. In a few short years, full beards spread from the social margins inhabited by artists and Chartists into the respectable mainstream. This transformation of men's faces has thus far drawn remarkably little comment from historians or literary critics.^1 The Victorians, by contrast, had a great deal to say about this renovation of the masculine image. In pamphlets, polemical books, and the periodical press, Victorians engaged in a lively discussion that sheds light on changing notions of masculinity and illuminates the decision of millions of British men to spurn more than a century of tradition by letting their beards grow. The timing of this change is significant. The current standard line on this great change was established by G. M. Trevelyan, who explained the new style as an imitation of the heroic and hirsute soldiers returning from the Crimea (549). But the trend was well underway before the war began in 1854. More importantly Trevelyan's explanation obscures the deeper social roots and cultural significance of this impulse towards remaking the masculine image. When one attends to the conversation about manliness and beards, what emerges is a new perspective on mid-Victorian perceptions of gender, and greater understanding of how and why concepts of masculinity were reformulated in this period. In modern history, the shaved face has been the rule, while beards have enjoyed widespread popularity only relatively briefly during the late sixteenth and early seventeenth centuries,

Facial Hair Timeline Table

http://www.hairfinder.com/hairstyling/mensfacialhair.htm

Researching Ladies Fashion 

Pre Civil War

In the 1820's and 1840's the Ladies wore dresses and skirts that resembled a bell shape.  The skirt came straight out from the waist.  To  get the effect they would wear many layers of skirts and petticoats weighing up to 9 pounds.  Later the period known as the "Crinoline Period" came in with the invention of a material made of horsehair that was stiff and could support the shape of a bell, away from the body without the weight of layers of skirts. During this same period the corset remained popular disregarding the fatal health problems they caused in women. 

This dress is 1960s, pre-civil war. Extravagance became a thing of the past with the onset of war. 

1850s-1860s 

Plain, parted in middle hair.

Plain lacey collar

Sloping sleeves off the shoulder

Gloves without fingers

Skirt is not as full at the waist

Full body shot, sitting

Plain background

Little collar

Sloping sleeves off the shoulder

Skirt is not as full at the waist

Full body shot, standing

This dress is the first bustle appearance, just after the civil war came the recovery of frills and lots of trim.

In our "Genealogist Corner" you can see images from a photo album from the 1800s.  Just like our scrapbooks today, there are examples in our scrapbooks from the early 1900s from our grandparents and parents, so these books have photos in them from the early 1800s on up.

Flat in the front and bustle in the back.

Pie Crust Collar, very popular in the 1870s.

1900 -1918 

The Edwardian Period

April 15, 1912 the Titanic Sank. 

See Victorian Hairdos.

Women's Fashion Timeline Table 

Victorian Era 1837-1901

Mourning Period  1861-1901 40 years

Children's Fashions

Published in 1886 "Little Lord Fauntlroy" was written by Francis Hodgson Burnett who popularized this style of dress for boys after a character in her book, who was really her own son.  The style appears to be similar to Buster Brown a shoe trademark created in 1902 by Richard Fenton Outcault, "Buster". and his dog, Tiger.  They were as famous in their time as Charlie Brown is today.  The Buster Brown collar is wide, flat, round and sometimes with or without a ruffle, usually worn with a floppy bow tie, characteristic of boys' shirts from c. 1880-1920. 

Sailor Suit

One of the most popular boys clothing styles in history is the boys sailor suit.
The sailor suit became an internationally accepted style, first worn by the Prince of Wales in 1846 when the Royal Navy began to standardize naval uniforms. 

www.fashion-era.com/victorian_sleeves.htm 

Shooting Star Enterprises- Early Bustle Era Dresses 1868-1876

Civil War Fashion Glossary/Images/Events

If your a movie fanatic you may want to watch a movie in slow motion, or constantly pause so you can take a good gander at the period clothing.  Especially the movies that brag about being accurate in their costumes right down to real mustaches grown just for the movie. I have the bonus material version of  Tombstone 1881, you see polar opposites from dressy to casual. Ties, from bow ties to scarves and ascots. As collars go, from turndown wing tips to no collar, short jacket and long coats.  My point being that in the 1860s the clothes may be easier to pick out for lack of some of these items and likewise if you see a bow tie, don't insist it's of the 1860s. You must weigh everything.  Those of you who know of Bat Masterson may want to go to the Ford County Historical Society site. and have a look at a fabulous photograph of the Peace Commission of Dodge City of the same time period.  See Wyatt Earp and Bat Masterson in. They all wore very cool hats. 

Cold Mountain - 1860s for women's clothing mostly. Watch Nicole Kidman's clothes morph into rags.  

A Beautiful Mind - 1930s you could watch "I Love Lucy" re-runs on TV for inspiration.

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