Tracking yesterday's fashion trends could solve your picture puzzles. We'll show you how to analyze your ancestors' dress for successful photo identification.
When we think of milestones in US history, the Revolutionary War, Civil War and civil rights movement immediately come to mind. Knowing the details of events such as these puts your ancestors into historical context. But turning points in American fashion history — for instance, the first riveted blue jeans (1873), sunglasses (1885) and nylon stockings (1940) — matter too. Match them with clothing and accessories in old photos, and you can identify those mystery faces.
Fashion constantly evolves, and our photographs reflect the changing styles. By examining the clothing clues in your unidentified images, you can narrow their time frames to just a few years, and determine which relatives peer back at you. Even a single accessory could tell you whether you're looking at your great-grandmother or your great-great-grandmother.
For example, during the 1840s, women wore daycaps (bonnets made of starched white cotton) for everyday and special occasions. By the 1850s, this headgear had fallen out of fashion, though elderly women continued to wear them for several more decades. If you have a picture of a relative wearing one of these hats in her youth, the image likely dates back to the 1840s. (Of course, you'll have to examine other clothing clues to be certain.) Once you've narrowed the photo's time frame, you should consult your genealogical records to determine whether your female ancestors' ages at that time correspond to the age of the picture's subject. With luck, you'll find a match.
You don't have to be a fashion maven to spot clothing clues in photographs. Just follow these identification tips and our 19th-century fashion-trend timelines, and you'll be putting names to those mystery faces in no time.