The clothes knows: How to tell that old photograph's era

0 Comments | Oakland Tribune, Jan 31, 2004 | by Elizabeth Jardina, STAFF WRITER

By the end of the 1870s, women's skirts were quite narrow. The bustle returned by the 1880s, but it was lower and stuck straight out.

"They say you could put a tea service on it," Jolliff says.

Bodices were tighter and more masculine, often with a long row of buttons on the front.

Cowan also brought in a photo of her grandmother's family, which had the date 1889 written all over it. The most fashionable people in the photo are her grandmother's older sisters, who stand in the back with a large row of buttons down the front of their dresses.

Cutting buttonholes in dresses, Jolliff explained, made it hard to reuse the fabric when you had to cut up last year's dress and re- make it into the fashion of the moment. So buttons were often decorative; the fasteners were often hooks and eyes.

In the 1890s, puffed sleeves were the most distinctive characteristic of women's clothing. Also, men were wearing suits that looked almost indistinguishable from modern suits.

Women's hats were getting larger and more decorative. "You'd see hats with entire seagulls on them," Jolliff says. "By the 1910s, skirts went tubular and hats went huge."

If you have a photo that you want to identify and don't know where to start, a costume book such as "American Victorian Costumes in Early Photographs" is a good beginning. Also, genealogy societies, such as the San Francisco Genealogy Society, may be of some help. Their Web site is www.sfgenealogy.com

Studying the photo carefully is probably your most valuable tool. Look at the people -- what they're wearing, what their shoes and hair look like -- and then compare it to photographs in books. Also, you may see glimmers of personality past the generally staid faces in 19th-century photography.

"Those people are no different than the people of today," Jolliff says.

Try to forgive the grim faces. Remember that in order to be photographed, people would have to sit still for 30 seconds or more, even in the latter part of the century.

"People started smiling when photography got faster," Jolliff says.

You can e-mail Elizabeth Jardina at ejardina@sanmateocounty-

times.com or call (650) 348-4327.