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Photo Dating by
Fashions
Blue for men, pink for women and
yellow for children
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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
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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
Victorian
Mourning Period "Widows Weeds"
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Little
Lord Fauntlroy - Peter Pan collar
Knickers - pants to the knee
Sources/References/Credits:
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Opening Comments
At some point you may inherit a
photograph of a photograph and want to know the date. The first place to
research should be the photographic methods or processes, in this case that
information is lost Now we must turn to the contents of the photograph. The
photographic style of the photographer, the fashion sense of the times. 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.
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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".
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Researching
Men's Fashions
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Men's Suits
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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.
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 The
Tuxedo
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.
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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
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Straw Hat/Skimmer/Boater
These
hats became popular in the late 1800s. They were worn by both men and
women until the mid 1920s for the summer months by 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.
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Men's
Collars
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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.
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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.

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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.
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1880s Bow Tie. Zoomed in sample, below.

Notice the contrasting velvet color and wide lapels of the 1880s.
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Four In Hand, 1850s still
researching.....
Ascot,1880s
Traditionally 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.

same color huge knot tie, short lapels.
Collar Clips 1920s - 40's, double ended gilt clips for securing spearpoint collar points under the tie.
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Lapels go back and forth in width
1855 - Wide
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1871 Wide Lapels came back into fashion from the 1860s.
Return to top
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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.
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In
1925 the era of the
baggy pants dawned. This fashion would influence men's wear for three decades.
Oxford bags were first worn by Oxford undergraduates, eager to circumvent the
University’s prohibition on knickers. The style originated when knickers were
banned in the classroom. As the bags measured anywhere from twenty-two inches to
forty inches around the bottoms, they could easily be slipped on over the
forbidden knickers. John Wanamaker introduced Oxford bags to the American
public in the spring of 1925, although Ivy League students visiting Oxford in
1924 had already adopted the style. The trousers were originally made of flannel
and appeared in shades of biscuit, silver gray, fawn, lovat, blue gray, and
pearl gray.
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Jazz clothing passed
quickly in and out of fashion during the twenties. These tightly-fitting suits
were considered an expression of passion for jazz music. Jackets were long and
tight at the waist with long back vents. The buttons were placed close together
whether the jackets were double or single breasted. Trousers were tight and
stove-pipe narrow.
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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.
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Flannel was the other
popular fabric of the era. The word flannel may be derived from the Welsh word
“gwalnen”, meaning woolen cloth. Flannel was originally made as a heavy,
comfortable, soft and slightly napped wool cloth. Gray was the most popular
color, and thus gray flannel trousers became known as “grayers”. Other
popular colors were white, beige and stripes. Flannel trousers were
traditionally worn in warm weather.
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Men's
Fashion Timeline Table

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| 1850 |
1860 |
1865 |
1870 |
1875 |
1880 |
1890 |
1900 |
1930 |
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Boater
hats
with
streamers, men only |
In
this time both sexes were boater hats, men stopped wearing
streamers |
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1860-70
wide lapels, wide cuffs, binding braid on lapels |
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light
pants,dark seams, dark jacket |
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double
breasted jackets, jacket match pants |
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1870-80
high-crown Bowler |
1890-Low-crown
Bowler |
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London was the seat of
fashion for men. During the decade of the twenties, students at Oxford and
Cambridge violated - for the first time ever - the Edwardian practice of
different types of dress for different times of the day. The students wore
flannel trousers and soft collars all day. The crash of the American stock
market on October 24, 1929, marked a change in the worldwide economic situation
that had a drastic effect on men’s clothing. The Great Depression.
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Photo Dating and Facial Hair
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
in the United States
An interesting curiosity is
that the photographs of the U.S. Presidents was indicative of the trends in
facial hair. No president has worn a full beard until William McKinley. Every
President wore some form of facial hair except Andrew Johnson.

| 1700-1800 |
1850 |
1861-1865
CW |
1900 |
1910
wwI |
1930 |
1944
WWII
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Rare to see
facial hair
*N/H |
Rare to see
facial hair
*N/H
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all types of facial hair were
common to see just prior to and after the civil war |
uncommon to see facial hair |
no facial hair |
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| George Washington 1889-1897 |
James Madison 1809-1817 |
Abraham Lincoln
1861-1865
Bearded |
Theodore Roosevelt
1901-1909 M |
William Taft 1909-1913
M |
Franklin Roosevelt 1933-1945 |
Harry Truman 1945-1953 |
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| John Adams 1897-1801 |
James Monroe 1817-1825 |
Andrew Johnson 1865-1869
N/H |
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Woodrow Wilson 1913-1921 |
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Dwight Eisenhower
1953-1961 |
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| Thomas Jefferson 1801-1809 |
John Q. Adams
1825-1829 |
Ulysses Grant
1869-1877 goatee |
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1921-1923 Warren Harding |
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John Kennedy 1961-1963 |
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Andrew Jackson 1829-1837 |
Rutherford Hayes 1877-1881 |
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Calvin Coolidge 1923-1929 |
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Lyndon Johnson 1963-1969 |
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Van Buren 1837-1841 |
James Garfield 1881 goatee |
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Herbert Hoover 1929-1933 |
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William Henry Harris 1841 |
Chester Arthur
1881-1885 Chops |
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John Tyler 1841-1845 |
Grover Cleveland
1885-1889
Benjamin Harris
1893-1897 M |
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James Polk 1845-1849 |
William McKenley
1897-1901 |
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Zackary Taylor 1849-1850 |
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Millard Filmore 1850-1853 |
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Franklin Pierce 1853-1857 |
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James Buchanan 1857-1861 |
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http://www.hairfinder.com/hairstyling/mensfacialhair.htm
All presidents prior to Lincoln had not
worn beards. After Lincoln not one President worn a beard until William
Mckenley. With exception of Andrew Johnson,
William Mckenley and all who followed wore some form of facial hair until
Benjamin Harrison.
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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.
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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
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Corsets don't tell you much for dating purposes
because they appeared in 1820s and hung in until the end of the century.
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Read "The
Move Towards Rational Dress" footnotes, for details on health problems
due to the corset. Visit the website of "The
Pictorial Encyclopedia of Fashion". Read up on "Amelia
Bloomer" and Annie
Oakley's western wear
for more on reformers. In the 1870's was the decline of the
hoop skirts and in came the Bustle made with a horsehair pad, whale bone and
wire springs. Along with "Women's Suffrage" and the invention of the
bicycle and the acceptance of the more athletic women. "The bicycle
craze killed the bustle and the corset, instituted "common sense
dressing" for women and increased their mobility considerably. In 1896
Susan B. Anthony said that "the bicycle has done more for the emancipation
of women than anything else in the world". This statement was quoted from "Cycling
Community". Another interesting site "Women
and Social Movements in the USA 1775-2000" has the documents/letters
from dress reform activist. By the 1900's dresses were shorter, straight, closer
to the body and loose, think Titanic.
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1869-1876 First Bustle.
 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.
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1880s Second Bustle

 

Flat in the front and bustle in the back.
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Pie
Crust Collar, very popular in the 1870s.
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1890s
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1900
-1918
The
Edwardian Period
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 A one piece dress with
a small ruffle neckline. The sleeves have a cuff that stands similar to
the neck. The waist is fitted and the skirt has an over panel and both layers
are narrow and tubular.
April 15, 1912 the
Titanic Sank.
See
Victorian Hairdos.
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Women's
Fashion Timeline Table
Victorian
Era 1837-1901 Mourning
Period 1861-1901 40 years
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Era
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Dates |
Description |
| Crinoline |
1845
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1865 |
Layers of petticoats, huge
3-tier belle shape, extravagance, bonnets, Bodice pointed front &
back, belle sleeves, open off the shoulder necklines. Boater hats. |
| First Bustle |
1869
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1876 |
Sloping
bustle, entire dress loaded with trim usually vertically with an overskirt
and ornate sleeves. Many layers about the neck. Hairpieces popular and explosion
of color. |
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1877 |
1882 |
Little or no bustle, all
trained, tieback skirts. Pleated skirts. |
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2nd Bustle
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1883 |
1889 |
Larger
bustle, lots of swags and short bodices. Pie Crust collar, smooth
plain hair middle part, High-top shoes that we now call boots. |
| La Belle Époque |
1890 |
1899 |
Early - Skirt stay slim,
Bodice fancier, Tailored Jackets, all Trained Later- Huge sleeves, Skirts
wider at hem |
| Edwardian |
1900 |
1918 |
Pigeon Breast, High neckline, Narrow sleeves,
Huge Hats, lot of Lace, Hobble skirt, heavy on beads & Embroidery,
lots of white and pastel dresses, Gibson hairdo, fur.
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  Victorian
Mourning Period
1861-1901
40 Years
Depression
fell over the entire Nation and the widows in their mourning weeds made matters
worse. The Governor of Mississippi tried to pass a
law banning widows weeds because of the poor morale. Read more....
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England’s Queen Victoria = Victorian Era –
64 years – Born 1819-Died 1901
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Date
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Era
by Fashion
Known As:
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Comments
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1750
– 1850
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Romantic Era
/ Regency
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1837 Victoria is crown Queen
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1850 – 1856 Pre-Civil War
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Early Victorian/Crinoline Era
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Large bell hoops,
1839 first photograph
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1856 – 1882
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Mid Victorian – First Bustle Era
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1861 (Albert dies) -1865 Civil War
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1883 – 1890 Naughty Nineties
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Late Victorian – Second Bustle
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1901 Victoria dies
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1891 – 1914
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Edwardian - think Titanic
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Tailored suits, off the floor dresses
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Stages
of Mourning for Widows, totaling 2 years
(
men two years and children one year)
Stages
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Details
on Widows Weeds (Garment)
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#1
Full Mourning
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One
year and one day
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Dull
black crepe, under garments white trimmed with black
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Without
decorations/trim/lace or jewelry
q Weeping
veil always down
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Only
when absolutely necessary and restricted to church services only
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Weepers
Cuffs, black handkerchief, black stockings and gloves
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#2 Second Mourning
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Nine
months
q Still
black lusterless cloth
q Allowed
for minor decorations/trim/lace
q Mourning
(jet, black) jewelry only (popular during CW)
q Weeping
veil can lifted overhead
q Hair
art jewelry, brooches most popular. Gold, Gutta-percha (plastic, jet
imitator) and pinchbeck (faux gold).
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#3
Half Mourning
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q Three
to six months
q
Decorations
became elaborate
q Grey,
mauve/burgundy, all shades of purple and white could be used. Also subtle
prints of these color were acceptable
q
All
jewelry permissible
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The Civil War lasted 4 years and it is
estimated that 618,000 men died. Wakes
were long and the tradition of sending flowers for the bad odor, still holds
today even though it is no longer necessary. Depression
fell over the entire Nation and the widows in their mourning weeds made matters
worse. The Governor of Mississippi tried to pass a
law banning widows weeds because of the poor morale. Mourning clothes were the
first ready-made clothing in stores. Some
families would hire “mutes”, professional mourners to pray for the deceased.
PMP
has researched this topic and created these tables with the information found
from many sites.
References/Resources
Collier’s Cyclopedia 1901 “Victorian Mourning Customs”
Harpers Bazaar April 17, 1886 “Mourning and Funeral Usages”,
Death in the Victorian Family” by Pat Jalland.
“Daily
life in Victorian England” by Sally Mitchell
“Victorian America. Transformations in everyday life
1876-1915” by Thomas J. Schlereth
“Death, Grief and
Mourning” Geoffrey Gorer. 1965 Doubleday.
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Return to "My
Activities in Period Clothing"
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Children's Fashions
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Little Lord Fauntlroy
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.
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 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.
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References:
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www.fashion-era.com/victorian_sleeves.htm
Shooting
Star Enterprises- Early Bustle Era Dresses 1868-1876
Civil
War Fashion Glossary/Images/Events
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