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Ask the photo expert – ancestor’s engagement?

Our photo dating expert, Jayne Shrimpton, analyses your family photos.

Janice Horne sent us her photo and asked:

‘I would be very grateful if you could identify the era that this photo was taken. I have two more of the same woman in our family, one with small child and one that might appear to be in the 1910-20 period. Many thanks for any help you can give to start me off.’

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Jayne says:

‘Unlike our other photograph this month, yours is a professional studio portrait, as seen from the card mount naming the photographer as J S Protheroe of Swindon. Judging from its appearance, this is probably a cabinet print or cabinet card – a standard card-mounted photograph measuring around 16.5 x 11.5cms.

The cabinet, first introduced in 1866, took a while to become established. It became more popular from the later 1870s onwards and by the 1890s was the most favoured photographic format for studio portraits. Cabinet prints continued to be produced in the early 1900s, finally becoming obsolete around the beginning of WWI. Many late Victorian and Edwardian examples survive in family and public collections today.

We don’t have a view of the reverse of this photograph, the design of which would help with ascertaining a timeframe; nor is there a handy online database offering operational data for early Swindon photographers. The various clues that are present here, however, are very useful and date this photograph firmly to the 1890s.

The pale grey card mount with rounded corners is typical of the 1890s and early 1900s, while the three-quarter length composition of the subject was popular at that time. We also notice certain studio props relating to this period – a potted palm and an exotic screen, the screen especially fashionable during the late 1880s and 1890s.

Jayne Shrimpton

The fashionable appearance of the young woman in the photograph narrows the date range to within just a few years. Female dress and hairstyles generally offer an accurate date for a photograph, especially when the subject is young. Even ordinary working girls and women in the Victorian era often enjoyed spending their income on stylish, up-to-date clothes, especially when single, before they gained family responsibilities.

Here, this attractive young lady wears a formal bodice and skirt typical of the 1890s. We see the shapely silhouette admired around the turn of the century and, in particular, the style of her puffed gigot or ‘leg-o’-mutton’ sleeves confirm that she was photographed some time between 1893 and 1897.

Formal studio portraits were very often taken to signify a special occasion and the floral bodice corsage worn here supports the notion of celebration – the marking of an important event. We notice that this ancestor places her left hand carefully on the screen, so as to show a ring on her engagement/wedding finger. We cannot see the details of the ring very clearly but since she is posing alone in the studio, it is highly likely to be her engagement ring, since wedding couples were usually pictured together.

Hopefully this image of a young forebear who became engaged some time between 1893 and 1897 and who lived in the Swindon area will be possible for you to identify. The close timeframe here should also help you to pinpoint the likely period of your other photographs of the same person.’

If you’d like to send your photo to Jayne Shrimpton, please register or opt to receive newsletters in ‘my account’. Jayne only has time to analyse two photos each month, but if yours wasn’t chosen this time, you could be lucky next month!

Ask the photo expert – traditional Welsh costumes

Our photo dating expert, Jayne Shrimpton, analyses your family photos.

Sarah Bassett sent us her photo and asked:

‘This is a photo of my great-grandmother (standing), born in 1876. We think that the lady seated is her mother, who died in 1891. We believe the photo dates from around 1889/90, but any extra opinions and views would be lovely. We assume the clothing and hats were props used in the studio by the photographer.’

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‘This is a formal studio portrait and, judging from its appearance, probably a cabinet card measuring 16.5 x 11cms – the most popular photographic format of the late 19th and early 20th centuries. We see from the details at the bottom of the mount that the photographer had branches in both Llanelly and Birmingham. An online database that covers Welsh studios is Victorian Professional Photographers in Wales, 1850-1925. This provides photographer data organised by region and under Carmarthenshire it states that McLucas & Co. operated for almost 40 years, between 1884 and 1923. The style of the mount, however, is much more closely dateable: this type of design, pressed into the card, can be dated to just a few years – 1899-1906.

The image itself is hard to date precisely because, as we see, the ladies aren’t dressed in ordinary fashionable clothes but wear traditional Welsh costume comprising short-sleeved dresses, checked and striped aprons, white caps and the iconic Welsh hat. Welsh women had worn men’s felt hats since the at least the 1700s, but this distinctive tall style with a stiff brim, made of linen buckram covered with silk plush (like men’s top hats), was first introduced in the 1830s.

It is believed to have been worn mainly by women of middling status, such as successful farmer’s wives, for example, to market, at chapel and church and for special occasions.

Jayne Shrimpton

The c.1899-1906 date of this photograph means that, unfortunately the seated lady cannot possibly be your 2 x great-grandmother, who died in 1891, although I see no reason to doubt that the standing lady is your great-grandmother, who would have been aged in her 20s when this was taken. Her companion is likely to be older than her as, according to photographic convention, senior members of a pair or group were usually positioned sitting down. In my opinion, however, the seated lady may not be very much older, so I wonder whether she could be a sister, cousin or even a friend.’

If you’d like to send your photo to Jayne Shrimpton, please register or opt to receive newsletters in ‘my account’. Jayne only has time to analyse two photos each month, but if yours wasn’t chosen this time, you could be lucky next month!

Ask the photo expert – staff day out?

Our photo dating expert, Jayne Shrimpton, analyses your family photos.

Peter Ashley sent us his photo and asked:

‘The attached picture was among the effects of an aunt. I would like to think that the maid on the right is my maternal grandmother, who was in service at the household of a master cotton spinner in Stockport around the time of the 1881 census.

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The terrain and presence of dry stone walls would suggest an outing in the Peak District, Stockport being on the edge of the Derbyshire Peak District. The photograph is printed on a postcard, however, which I understand was not in use until 1902. My grandmother was back in Clay Cross, Derbyshire in 1886, when she produced the first of nine healthy and successful children. This photograph has been the cause of puzzlement and speculation for several years and your opinion would be much appreciated.’

Jayne says:

‘You are quite right about the date of postcard photographs. Souvenir picture postcards were current during the Victorian era; however, the practise of printing photographic portraits onto postcard mounts only began when the new style of postcard with a divided back was introduced in 1902. This new design, with a line running down the middle, provided separate spaces for an address and any written message, whereas previously if the postcard was sent through the post, the message had to be written across the picture on the front. Both professional photographers and amateurs used postcard mounts and the new format became especially popular from 1906/7 onwards, finally dying out after WWII.

Here we see a group of men and women and in a mixed group it is always the appearance of the women that offers the closest date range for the image. The two house maids in uniform and the two fashionably-dressed young women standing at the back, centre left, are dressed in the styles of the mid-late Edwardian era. Their hair is drawn up in the full, soft style typical of the early-1900s, while the full sleeves of the blouse worn by the young woman third from left at the back confirm that the date range of this scene is c.1904-09.

Jayne Shrimpton

The man seated between the maids has brass buttons to his jacket, suggesting that he could also be a domestic servant, for example, a footman. Two other young women are dressed more plainly in regular blouses, skirts and the practical headscarves or shawls often worn by country women or those working in outdoor occupations. A slightly older lady wears an old-fashioned but fine-looking paisley shawl and a rural sun bonnet.

Clearly this group represents two or more domestic servants so perhaps all of these people comprised the staff of a country house, enjoying a day out in the local countryside. You may well be correct about the geographical location but the timeframe means that unfortunately one of the maids cannot be your grandmother, who had left service by 1886.

This photograph is a generation later and so I wonder whether one of her children may perhaps be present here? Do please let us know if the date range and other picture clues give you any ideas as to who might be depicted in this interesting photograph.’

If you’d like to send your photo to Jayne Shrimpton, please register or opt to receive newsletters in ‘my account’. Jayne only has time to analyse two photos each month, but if yours wasn’t chosen this time, you could be lucky next month!

Ask the photo expert – ‘coming of age’ portrait

Our photo dating expert, Jayne Shrimpton, analyses your family photos.

Anne Lo Forte Willson sent us her photo and asked:

‘This image is a scan my cousin made some years ago and we do not know which family member owns the original photograph now. There was reportedly no photographer’s stamp on the image but written on the back is: ‘Mary, half-sister to Charles.’

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One person that I spoke with mentioned that a pendant on a black velvet ribbon came into vogue after King William’s death in 1837. What I understand about clothing says that this girl’s dress must be around 1875-1880, yet clearly Mary Collis Taylor (b.1846) would not have been as young as this girl at that time. Mary married Edward Francis Dickins in 1880; they had no daughters and their three sons were born 1882-1886. This photograph was in my family’s possession when they emigrated to the US in 1885. Can you verify the date of this image and the age of this girl as matching – or not matching – the woman she is attributed to be?’

Jayne says:

‘This query raises the tricky but important question concerning how far we can trust hand-written information on the backs of old photographs. Quite often a past family member has named the subject of a picture but we should treat their identification with caution. I often work on photographs that have been ‘named’, but accurate dating of the image reveals that in a large number of cases, the identification can’t possibly be correct.

Of course, the writer was trying to be helpful, but perhaps they were elderly and their powers of recognition were failing, or they had ‘remembered’ the wrong person – or maybe they were themselves given the wrong information. When inheriting a photograph with a name written on the back, it is always best to start by having the photograph accurately dated and then consider whether that ancestor could conceivably fit the timeframe.

Your estimate of the date of this photograph, based on the fashion clues, is spot on. We see here the fashionable narrow silhouette that evolved following the introduction of the elongated cuirass bodice or corset in 1874/5. Tightly encasing the body and creating a smooth line that extended over the hips, this new, elongated foundation garment effectively forced downwards the early-1870s bustle but leaving a residual cascade of drapery at the back, as seen here. This back drapery extended into a long train behind the skirt (not visible here), until c.1880 when the train began to disappear from day wear, leaving a narrow skirt. The fashionable look is well established here, so I would suggest that the earliest likely year is 1876, while the latest is 1880, so we have a probable date range of c.1876-80 for this photograph.

Jayne Shrimpton

This ancestor looks rather young, evidently still in her ‘teens’, although she is dressed in adult clothing. It seems very likely that this was her ‘coming of age’ photographic portrait, taken to mark the point at which she officially progressed from adolescent styles to full adult dress. This important Victorian and Edwardian rite of passage usually occurred when a girl was aged about 15 or 16 years old and that sort of age seems to fit well the appearance of this girl. As you point out, therefore, she cannot be Charles’s half-sister, Mary Collis Taylor, born in 1846, but must be an ancestor born c.1860-65.

Reading through the family story – and bearing in mind that this photograph is closely linked to your great-great-grandfather, Charles Taylor (born in 1868) – it seems possible to me that this girl was one of Charles’ full sisters, born to the same father and mother as he: Charles senior and his second wife, Mary Ann Moore. Often children were named after a parent, so did Charles perhaps have a slightly older full sister named Mary, after her mother? Another Mary might explain the confusion over identity. Since this photograph was taken to the US in 1885, I believe it could represent another sister who did not accompany Charles and two sisters overseas. Often family photographs travelled far and wide across continents, to keep relatives in touch with one another and to stand in for absent loved ones.’

If you’d like to send your photo to Jayne Shrimpton, please register or opt to receive newsletters in ‘my account’. Jayne only has time to analyse two photos each month, but if yours wasn’t chosen this time, you could be lucky next month!

Ask the photo expert – mysterious carte de visite

Our photo expert, Jayne Shrimpton, analyses your family photos.

John Pettifer sent us his photo and asked:

‘I should be most grateful if you could comment on the attached photograph. As you will see, I have also included a scanned view of the reverse. I have written 1874-87 on this as these were the dates I found some years ago on a website for when RH Tear was in business. If these dates are correct, it seems unlikely that the lady was in fact Charlotte Kenyon (born 1800) as she does not appear to be as old as 74. Any help you can offer would be much appreciated.’

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Jayne says:

‘Like most surviving Victorian photographs in family collections, this is a professional studio portrait – probably an example of the small carte de visite photographic print measuring around 10 x 6.5cms and popular from c.1860 until the early 20th century. This was the most common type of card-mounted photograph until the 1880s/1890s, when the larger cabinet print became increasingly fashionable.

Cartes, cabinets and other non-standard mounts were usually printed on the reverse of the card with the photographer’s name and studio address and in theory it’s possible to discover when a photographer was working at a stated address. There is a useful database of early London photographers – www.photolondon.org.uk – but sadly there is no entry for RH Tear of Kingston Road, New Wimbledon, S.W., perhaps because Wimbledon was officially located in Surrey until the 20th century. You mention that you have established his operational dates as 1874-87 from a website. I have been unable to verify this, but can confirm that the reverse design, displaying central lettering and filigree decoration was common during the late 1860s and 1870s.

Let’s look more closely at the image now. Ancestors visiting their local photographer would dress up in their best clothing and pose in a contrived studio setting with pieces of strategically-placed furniture and ‘props’. Every aspect of the scene was controlled by the photographer, who wished to create as attractive a picture as possible. The book on the table may possibly have been the lady’s own volume, but is more likely to have been a ‘prop’, used to convey a genteel impression and imply literacy, at a time when not everyone could read!

The lady’s appearance gives us the best clue as to when the photograph was taken, her layered outfit with flounced edges typical of the 1870s. During the first half of the 1870s, fashion dictated a protruding bustle pad behind the waist, with drapery piled up over the projection. After mid-decade, when the bustle declined, some residual fullness remained at the back of the skirt. Unfortunately we can’t see the precise shape of her skirt from her seated position, so the exact style isn’t clear and to include all possible years, I would suggest that we consider a date range of c.1870-77. Her hairstyle, dressed in a low chignon, is rather old-fashioned for that period and she wears the narrow day cap of a mature married woman or widow.

Jayne Shrimpton

I would judge this lady to be aged in her 40s or thereabouts, so, as you suspected, she can’t possibly be Charlotte Kenyon, born in 1800. The boy looks to be aged about nine or 10 years old and could be her son, or even a grandson. Since there is no male adult in the scene it seems possible that the lady was a widow. Hopefully the date range, along with these clues, will help you to work out these ancestors’ identities.’

If you’d like to send your photo to Jayne Shrimpton, please register or opt to receive newsletters in My Account. Jayne only has time to analyse two photos each month, but if yours wasn’t chosen this time, you could be lucky next month!

Family photos: what are they wearing?

Welcome to the fifth in our series of blogs about how to understand and interpret your old family photos. In this series, Jayne Shrimpton, internationally recognised dress historian, portrait specialist, photo detective and regular contributor to Family Tree, Your Family History and Family History Monthly magazines, dates and analyses different types of photographs and helps you to add context to your old family pictures.

Jayne Shrimpton

Having learned in the previous blog how photograph compositions and studio settings changed over the years, we now look closely at what our forebears are wearing in old photographs. In any kind of portrait it is often the subject’s clothing that engages us most: fashion history is a fascinating topic and recognising the modes of different eras is an invaluable tool when trying to date unlabelled photographs. Dress is a vast and complex subject, but here are some pointers to help with understanding, identifying and dating the clothing styles of those family members from the past who stood before the camera in their ‘Sunday best’.

Fashion in photographs

It was understood that clients visiting the photographer’s studio (or, less commonly, those inviting a photographer to their home) would be dressed in their best quality, most fashionable clothing. Wealthy subjects had many fashionable ensembles to choose from, whereas ordinary working-class ancestors usually donned their best outfit, kept for church on Sundays and special occasions.

Everyone wished to create a good impression in the treasured photographs that would later be shown to family and friends and might be displayed in an album, or hung on the wall. Family historians often wonder whether their poorer forebears would have been able to dress very fashionably. This is a good question but photographic evidence suggests that in many cases even humbler working ancestors followed the latest styles.

By the time photography reached a mass market in the 1860s, the concept of fashion was already well-established and was widely understood across the social spectrum. Information about new trends was plentiful and old garments were often re-styled to bring them up to date. A wide array of materials of varying textures and prices was available to suit different pockets and needs. It was, therefore, the quality of fabric and extravagance of trimmings that distinguished the dress of the affluent from that of the poorer classes – not in general its basic cut or shape. A domestic servant, for example, could appear superficially similar to her more affluent mistress.

Of course, there were exceptions to this general principle. Like today, some of our forebears were more interested in their personal appearance than others, spending proportionately more of their income on new clothes and accessories. Age was especially significant when it came to dress. Many young adults followed fashion closely, while the more mature might wear a modest, toned-down version of the most extreme styles and the elderly generally dressed much more conservatively than the youth of their day.

Occasionally certain regional differences are apparent in 19th century photographs, for example, in the case of Welsh, Scottish and Irish ancestors. There may also have been a time lag of a few years between new fashions first being worn in urban areas and their adoption in remoter country districts. Ideally we should consider all these criteria when considering the clothing of family members as seen in old photographs. For dating purposes, however, we can broadly assume that (unless they are wearing an occupational uniform or other specialised forms of dress) their ‘Sunday best’ garments largely followed, to a recognisable extent, the prevailing style of the era.

Photographs were ultimately designed to show off good taste and a pleasing appearance. Sadly, those unwaged or destitute family members who were so impoverished as to own only old-fashioned, ill-fitting or ragged clothing were unlikely to have had their photograph taken very often, if at all.

Dating dress

Dress historians and others with a keen eye for detail can accurately pinpoint 19th and early 20th century women’s dress to within five or 10 years, by recognising the different components of a particular ‘look’ – garments, jewellery, accessories and hairstyles – and knowing when it was in vogue.

The succession of distinctive, dateable styles that characterised female dress centred on a changing silhouette formed by the corsets, crinolines, bustles and other under structures worn beneath clothing, along with the complimentary sleeve shapes, dress trimmings and hairstyles of each period.

Men’s attire, on the other hand, is often only dateable to about a decade or thereabouts, as male modes reflected more subtle shifts in tailoring and slow-changing features such as styles of neckwear and fashions in facial hair, as well as the occasional appearance of new garments.

Children’s dress, which echoed adult clothing to a degree, but also followed its own conventions, may also be harder to pinpoint very precisely. That said, it should always be possible to gain a reasonable date range for a photograph, based on the appearance of its subject’s clothing, especially when this technique is combined with the other photo dating methods already covered in previous blogs. Essentially here we are aiming to use fashion clues cautiously but positively – to establish a realistic time frame for an undated and/or unidentified image that will help to rule in, or out, certain branches and individual members of the family.

In the following sections are some basic, practical tips for recognising the main stylistic changes in female, male and children’s dress, with illustrated examples. For more detailed advice and to see further dated images for comparison, it is worth checking back over some of the photographs used to illustrate previous blogs in this series and also consulting some of the books listed in further reading.

Women’s dress

1840s-1890s

Between the 1840s and late 1860s, essentially the fashionable female silhouette comprised a fitted bodice attached to a bell-shaped skirt, which became even wider in circumference after the introduction of the domed crinoline frame in 1856 (fig.3).

Throughout the later 1860s, the front of the skirt became progressively flatter, with the emphasis growing increasingly on the back. By 1869/70 the material behind was being draped up over a projecting bustle – a pad worn under the clothes behind the waist – and garments were often layered and flounced to accentuate the full, bouncy effect (fig.6).

The distinctive bustle silhouette prevailed until around 1875, when it began to become outmoded. The new, elongated cuirass bodice effectively forced the bustle downwards and in the late 1870s the excess drapery fell into a long train behind (fig.7).

In around 1880, the train was abandoned for day wear and outfits of the early 1880s were narrow and sheath-like: long, tight-fitting bodices formed an unbroken line over the hips, while shoe-length skirts were wrapped closely around the legs (fig.8).

In around 1884 the bustle returned, this time a more severe and extreme version that often projected sharply like a shelf behind the waist, remaining in vogue until around 1889/90 (fig.9).

By the 1890s, naturally-shaped skirts were fitting closely over the hips, the main dating feature of this decade being the bodice or blouse sleeve. In 1890/91 a vertical puff appeared at the sleeve head (fig.10) and this gradually expanded in the upper arm to form the distinctive ‘leg-o’-mutton’ or gigot sleeve. At its widest in 1895 and 1896, the puff gradually withdrew back up the arm during the later 1890s (fig.11), resulting in a tight puffball shape or shoulder frill by the end of the decade.

1900s-1930s

Female fashion of the early 1900s favoured an hourglass silhouette – a small waist and skirt that fitted the hips smoothly, flaring out towards a sweeping hemline. Blouses and bodices for formal wear could be very feminine: often decorated with tucks, ruches and lace panels, they were made full in front to emphasise the bust (fig.12).

Plainer, shirt-like blouses were becoming usual for everyday wear, the ‘tailor made’ suit comprising fitted jacket and matching skirt providing a practical outfit for the modern woman of the new century. During the 1910s – the decade now regarded as heralding the start of modern fashion – a more natural line evolved. Slender one-piece or tunic-style layered dresses were worn for ‘best’ but for ordinary day wear a calf-length skirt and blouse were usual: after 1910 the high choker-like Edwardian neckline began to lower and by around 1914 an open blouse neckline with a collar was common (fig.13).

Briefly, between around 1918 and 1920, a slightly high-waisted barrel-shape defined fashionable dress and during the early 1920s styles were typically rather straight and shapeless, dress and skirt hemlines still worn around mid-calf level (fig.14).

In 1926 a dramatic change occurred and fashionable skirts rose to just below or on the knee, these shorter hemlines remaining in vogue until at least 1930 and offering a firm dating guide. In the early 1930s hems lengthened to the calf again, becoming fuller and more feminine, fluid, draped fabrics creating the soft, clinging styles that were fashionable for much of this decade.

By around 1936/7, daytime hemlines were starting to rise again, shoulders were becoming padded and a neat, sharp style was emerging – the forerunner of the military-inspired utility look associated with the Second World War.

Men’s dress

1840s-1890s

In early photographs of the 1840s and 1850s, men are usually portrayed wearing the dark, knee-length frock coat of the mid-19th century, teamed with a close-fitting, deep V-fronted waistcoat and narrow trousers (fig.1). During the 1860s, several new male garments were introduced, most notably the comfortable lounging jacket that was shorter than the stately frock coat and often worn with loose, contrasting trousers (fig.2).

Over time this combination evolved into the lounge suit – an outfit that became acceptable for all but the most formal occasions and was soon the ‘Sunday best’ dress of working class men. By the 1870s, usually all three pieces of the lounge suit matched and early in the decade the lapels of the lounge jacket were usually made quite wide (fig.5).

During the later 1870s and 1880s the male suit was tailored more narrowly, the jacket developing high, neat lapels and a handkerchief often worn in the breast pocket. The conservative, dignified frock coat was still favoured by the upper classes, but the stylish morning coat, with its distinctive sloping front edges, was popular with the business classes and for semi-formal wear, often worn with narrow pin-striped trousers (fig.10).

1900s-1930s

By the turn of the century, a greater variety of male garments may possibly appear in photographs, including some items of sportswear and the casual blazer, popular for weekends and leisure activities.

The most common outfit seen in studio photographs, however, is still the familiar three-piece lounge suit, which remained the regular respectable outfit for ordinary working men and did not change significantly for the first 20 years or so of the 20th century.

The typical lounge suit of the Edwardian era was slender or easy in cut, the lounge jacket made to around hip length and usually featuring neat lapels (fig.12). During the 1910s and 1920s, the jacket lapels were often longer, while trousers sometimes show a centre front crease and may have turn-ups (fig.13).

During this decade and for most of the 1920s, trousers often appear very short and decidedly narrow around the ankle, exposing either old-fashioned laced boots or the more modern, lower cut shoes. Men’s styles of the 1930s are generally very easy to spot as the suit was cut much wider, the boxy lounge jacket – either single- or double-breasted – having broad padded shoulders and trousers being worn longer and looser in the leg.

Girls’ dress

1840s-1880s

Between the 1840s and 1860s, young girls’ frocks followed the shape of their mothers’ outfits, having a fitted bodice and a full skirt. Their hemlines were much shorter, however, beginning at knee-length and steadily lowering as the child grew older, until she was ready to dress like a woman at some point between the ages of 15 and 18.

The arrangement of the bodice fabric followed prevailing female fashions and sleeves were usually short and puffed, perhaps trimmed with ribbons or frills (fig.4). During the early 1870s, young girls did not wear the fashionable bustle but skirts were often layered and flounced, polonaise-style, echoing the appearance of adult modes. In around 1880 female children began to wear narrower dresses, again mirroring wider fashion trends, their clothing ornamented with high frilled necklines and fashionable ruches and pleats and the sleeves invariably long.

Another helpful dating feature of the 1880s was the brief vogue for bobbed hair, worn with a short fringe – a style that drifted over into the early 1890s, before long hair became fashionable again (fig.10).

1890s-1930s

During the 1890s the popular smock dress was introduced, the fullness of the fabric falling freely from a fitted chest panel or yoke (fig.11). This loose dress style with wide puffed sleeves, sometimes worn with a protective pinafore on top, continued throughout the Edwardian era and into the 1910s, but the growing trend was for greater simplicity in girls’ dress, following the lead of women’s wear.

By around the WWI era, many girls were wearing plainer dresses that ended above the knee (often showing long knickers underneath!), were fitted at the waist and had three-quarter length sleeves. By the 1920s very short, shift-like dresses were all the rage for young girls, these simple styles continuing into the early 1930s, although embroidered or smocked blouses and skirts were also becoming popular.

A new trend was also developing for more elaborate party-style dresses with puffed sleeves, influenced by child film star Shirley Temple and the royal princesses, Elizabeth and Margaret.

Boys’ dress

1840s-1890s

In the 19th and early 20th centuries, male infants were dressed in petticoats and frocks like tiny girls, so it is usually difficult to tell them apart in photographs. At around the age of four, boys were ‘breeched’ and donned their first bifurcated garments – a pair of trousers or ‘shorts’. In early photographs of the 1840s and 1850s, they usually wear a long tunic top or full-skirted dress, over wide ankle-length or shorter trousers.

By the 1860s the picturesque ‘zouave’ ensemble was popular – a compact little suit comprising a short bolero-style jacket with rounded edges, waistcoat beneath and either gathered knickerbockers or open shorts ending below the knee (fig.4). Variations on the knickerbockers suit continued throughout the later 19th century, some rather masculine versions made just like a miniature man’s three-piece lounge suit.

Fanciful costumes also developed for small boys, such as the ‘historical’ velvet suit with lace or frilled collar and the more functional sailor’s suit, which remained very popular between the 1880s and 1910s. By the 1890s, the ‘Norfolk’ suit was also a fashionable choice, its distinctive jacket characterised by a cloth belt and stitched down vertical pleats. This style and plain jacket and knickerbockers suits with starched white ‘Eton’ collars were common for school and formal wear (fig.11).

1900s-1930s

By the end of the 1890s early signs of a more ‘uniform’ look for older schoolboys were emerging, complete with round peaked cap in the school’s colours (fig.11), and during the early 1900s and 1910s a regulation uniform gradually became established for many high schools. This led to the archetypal schoolboy look of the interwar period and beyond, many boys wearing their blazers and grey flannel shorts out of school too.

Early 20th century developments otherwise centred upon growing informality and practicality in boys’ dress. Tiny boys often wore loose blouse-like tops or tunics and open shorts, around the turn of the century (fig.11) and by the 1910s there was a pronounced interest in stretchy knitted fabric for comfortable play clothes for boys.

By the 1920s, the plain knitted jersey with a collar – and sometimes a long knitted tie attached – was widely worn by younger boys. Later, in the 1930s and 1940s, hand-knitted Fair Isle and other patterned knitwear was popular for jerseys and sleeveless vests.

Fig.1 Ambrotype, late 1850s - click to enlarge. In photographs of the 1840s and 1850s men usually wear a dark frock coat with deep V-fronted waistcoat exposing the shirt beneath, narrow trousers and a black cravat. (http://www.flickr.com/photos/whatsthatpicture/4828070224/)

Fig.2 Carte de visite, c.1863-4 - click to enlarge. During the 1860s the loose lounging jacket came into vogue and was often worn with contrasting, paler trousers. A silk top hat was still usual, although the less formal bowler hat was becoming fashionable. (Jayne Shrimpton)

Fig.3 Carte de visite, mid-1860s - click to enlarge. A close-fitting bodice and full, bell-shaped skirt defined women’s dress during the 1840s-1860s. After 1856 the crinoline frame often supported skirts. Older married women usually wore a day cap indoors. (Jayne Shrimpton)

Fig.4 Carte de visite, 1860s - click to enlarge. The ‘zouave’ suit comprising short bolero-style jacket, waistcoat and below-the-knee shorts or gathered knickerbockers was fashionable for small boys in the 1860s. Little girls wore knee-length dresses with short puffed sleeves and full skirts. (Jon Easter)

Fig.5 Carte de visite, early 1870s - click to enlarge. By the 1870s the three-piece lounge suit was widely worn, the suit pieces usually matching. In the early-mid 1870s jacket lapels were usually wide, as seen here. (Jayne Shrimpton)

Fig.6 Carte de visite, c.1873-5 - click to enlarge. Between c.1869 and c.1875 women’s dress was distinguished by a bustle projection at the back of the skirt. Clothing was layered and often decorated with flounces and hair was worn high on the head in an elaborate chignon. (Jon Easter)

Fig.7 Carte de visite, c.1876-80 - click to enlarge. Following the collapse of the bustle c.1875, the female silhouette grew more elongated. In the late 1870s the skirt retained residual drapery behind, ending in a long train. (Jayne Shrimpton)

Fig.8 Carte de visite c.1880-83 - click to enlarge. A narrow, sheath-like look was fashionable in the early-1880s. The skirt train disappeared for daywear and hemlines were worn just off the ground. Pleats, gathers and ruches were all typical decorative details. (Jayne Shrimpton)

Fig.9 Carte de visite, c.1885-8 - click to enlarge. By 1884 the bustle had returned, the back projection of the skirt often very prominent, as seen here, while bodices were close-fitting with high necklines. Some of these daughters were domestic servants. Their father, a coastguard, wears his fisherman’s jersey. (Beryl Venn)

Fig.10 Cabinet print, c.1890-92 - click to enlarge. The morning coat with sloping fronts was fashionable for men in the late 19th century, often worn with narrow pin-striped trousers. Women’s bodices and blouses began to show a puffed sleeve head c.1890. Girls might wear short fringed hair during the 1880s/early 90s. (Fiona Adams)

Fig.11 Outdoor family group, c.1896-8 - click to enlarge. This mixed group shows women’s full ‘leg-o’-mutton’ sleeves, the puff retreating up the arm from c.1896 onwards. Girls wore loose smock dresses with full sleeves, little girls sashed frocks. An early version of the school uniform was evolving for boys. (Patrick Davison)

Fig.12 Wedding photograph, 1907 - click to enlarge. In the Edwardian era the blouse or bodice was the most decorative element of female dress, the sweeping skirt generally plain. Men’s lounge suits had short lapels and the stiffly-starched, turned-down collar was the usual neckwear style of the decade. (Patrick Davison)

Fig.13 Possibly betrothal photograph, c.1914-17 - click to enlarge. During the 1910s a plain blouse and calf-length skirt were typical women’s wear, a tailored jacket being added for outdoors. Men’s lounge jacket lapels were often longer by this decade, the winged shirt collar seen here a formal choice. (Katharine Williams)

Fig.14 Four generations photograph c.1925 - click to enlarge. By the early 1920s young and middle-aged women’s dresses were rather shapeless and made to mid-calf length, the scooped neckline typically strung with beads. Elderly ladies often retained the dark, floor-length clothes of the Victorian era. (John Easter)

Further reading

Fashion in Photographs, 1860-1880, Miles Lambert (1991)
Fashion in Photographs, 1880-1900, Sarah Levitt (1991)
Fashion in Photographs, 1900-1920, Katrina Rolley (1992)
Fashion in Photographs, 1920-1940, Elizabeth Owen (1993)
Victorian and Edwardian Fashion: A Photographic Survey, Alison Gernsheim (Dover Publications, 1963)
Everyday Fashions of the 20th Century, Avril Lansdell (Shire Publications, 1999)
Family Photographs and How to Date Them, Jayne Shrimpton (Countryside Books, 2008)
How to Get the Most from Family Photographs, Jayne Shrimpton (Society of Genealogists, 2011)