Cabinet Card Closeup

A woman’s dress is a permanent revelation of her most secret thoughts, a language, and a symbol.

Dress is a sort of symbolical language. During a time when women were yet to have formal identities within society, and were sanctioned to the role of daughter, bridge, or mother – clothing was the ability to reflect your innermost self and the hard work (or lack thereof) it took to get the clothes on your back. For many years in America fashion has been an outwardly expression of worthiness; in a country increasingly becoming divided by status and wealth clothing presented one's status and place within society. 

The silhouette of 1860s fashion can be defined by the hoop skirt or caged crinoline. Whereas prior to the rise of crinoline woman had to layer heavy petticoats to achieve the full, wide skirted look they desired. The cage crinoline was worn over a chemise, drawers, and a corset. The size of skirts made waists look smaller so corsets were not as tightly fitted as they soon would come to be. A major allure to wearing crinoline was the supplemental effect it had on a woman’s body language. One had to gracefully swing the skirt around avoiding small tables with bric a brac and certain death, as mentioned below in The Brooklyn Daily in September of 1867. 

---

Pictured below is the cabinet card that inspired this post and the February 2022 programming Reframing Photography and Fashion in partnership with the Amistad Center for Art & Culture. This is a tintype introduced in America between 1856 and 1860. Easier to produce and more durable than glass daguerreotypes. During the Civil War period 1861-1865 sending tintypes became popular as soldiers wanted their portrait taken and mailed to their loved ones. They could also be colorized easily by being hand painted. We see this image has been lightly touched with paint. Light blush pink on her lips, gold on her left index finger, and gold at the brooch on the bow at her neck. Noting these embellishments with colorization indicate a certain level of wealth for the period. 

She also appears to be wearing a bangle bracelet on her right wrist at her side. It can’t be gold or it would be colorized. The sheen it gives off indicates it likely is an ebony wood bangle. Ebony Wood is dense hardwood that can be found in West Africa, India, and Sri Lanka. You've likely encountered it as the black keys on a piano. A fashion magazine from 1865 noted that “Light dresses of thin costly materials are to be seen more frequently than in former seasons.” The dress this young lady is wearing is a day dress which are characteristic of high necklines and long semi-fitted sleeves and are belted at the waist. Her skirt indicates the crinoline shape mentioned above and appears to be constructed of a wool gauze.