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DVD: Fashion for the Theatre DVD

Victorian Costume for Ladies

The Well-Dressed Child: Children's Clothing, 1820-1940

Dating Old Photographs 1840-1929

Victorian Fashion in America : 264 Vintage Photographs

Victorian & Edwardian Fashions for Women, 1840 to 1919

Victorian Fashion Designs CD-ROM and Book

Wedding Fashions, 1860-1980

Victorian and Edwardian Fashions from 'LA Mode Illustree

Wedding Fashions 1862-1912 : 380 Costume Designs from 'LA Mode Illustree'

What are the dates of these Victorian German photos as far as you can guess from their clothes?  

I have two photos of dresses of the 1850s - 1870s(?). Should I send them
to you (I have a scanner).

If you like! Do you want me to help you figure out their dates? --Tara

That would be very kind of you!

Here they are:

  Picture A Picture B

  Ok, this one I think is from 1857-1862.
 

I have not got an exact match to this garment, but this sleeve style (see below) was most popular in 1858.
 
Les Modes Parisienne 1858. Image courtesy of Aquarian Gallery Antique Prints and Maps

This dress worn by Queen Victoria in 1861 shows a similar fabric.  
   
This c.1862 English dress shows bodice details, hair style and main skirt pattern similarity with the gown in picture A.
 

 
Picture B I think dates from c.1868-1870

 
This similar dress from 1868 is in a museum in Denmark.

This issue of Dagmar Magazine (also Danish) of 1869 shows some gowns with similar features.

 
These two photos of English women, c. 1870 show them wearing suits of similar cut.  The lady at right wears a similar hairstyle.

However, there is something indefinable about photo B that suggests that the wearer is not the crack of fashion.  It is possible that this person has adopted this fashion rather later than the time it was "in" or retained it long after it was "out".  Another picture (below) shows a stage production of "The Doll's House" of 1879, where the poor widow "Mrs. Lind" (in the background of the picture) is costumed very much like the woman in Photo B.  It is possible, even likely, that the person in Photo B was wearing a fashion of 1870 a few years after that fashion was "out".