Tintype of a Young Woman, ca. 1870

This studio portrait of a young woman illustrates popular accessories of the early 1870s. She wears long dangling earrings, a black velvet ribbon around her neck with a charm, bracelets, a brooch, and a straw boater hat. Her hair is curled and pulled to the back in a style popular in the late 1860s called “hair à l’ingénue,” which featured girlish long ringlets (Severa 1995: 311). The bodice’s V-neck is accentuated by a white collar and two long, wide ribbons.

References

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