Daguerreotype of a Seated Young Woman, 1850s

The woman posing in the photograph is fashionably dressed for a daytime outing. She wears a bonnet and a pair of fingerless lace gloves. Her bonnet ties under the chin with a long, draping bow. The bonnet has a bavolet which functioned to keep the sun off of her neck when out of doors. Her hair is parted in the center and is styled up and away from her face as was fashionable in the 1850s. Joan Severa’s Dressed for the Photographer explains that hairstyles like the one shown help to date photographs.

The woman’s sleeves are in the pagoda style, and undersleeves cover her forearms. Open necklines and off-the-shoulder looks were only appropriate to wear for more formal evening styles.

The photograph appears to be retouched as her fingers seem exceptionally long.

References 

Joan Severa, Dressed for the Photographer: Ordinary Americans and Fashion, 1840-1900. Kent, OH: Kent State University Press, 1995.