Dating a picture by the clothes

[TheIsleOfTheLost]

My dad has just sent me an image of a photo that he believes is his great grandmother. He hasn't seen the picture before and it was found by another family member. I don't know when his great grandmother was born, but his grandmother was born in 1894, so probably 20-40 years before that. Can anyone tell roughly what time period this is based on the dress and shoes? That would help rule her in or out.

I think this photo is much later than that. Maybe 1920s?

I would say 1920’s too

the dress is above the ankle and the shoes suggest 1920s. I would go with that, an older woman from a time when dresses were floor length but now in a more modern time.

I agree. Showing her ankles and strappy shoes, 1920s.

I’d say that was a photo of a women in her 60’s around 1910/1920. Skirt length is a bit short for before 1900.
Doesn’t look Victorian to me. More Edwardian.
So a woman born around 1860. Maybe earlier.

I thought 1920s too judging by our own family photos and the long string of beads round her neck. Not an expert though only an amateur.

I think 1920s, by the shoes and the fact that you can see ankles!

Which fits your dates, say she was born in 1870, she’s be in her 50s here.

That was my take ie. Edwardian before I read everyone's replies! Mainly the shoes that did it.

A lady in her 60's around 1920 would fit. Dad's grandmother became mother during world War one, so around 60 would be a respectable age to be a grandmother. This certainly strengthens the case .

The chair looks Edwardian, and photographers usually dressed their set in the latest fashion. A woman of more senior years would probably have worn her 'Sunday Best' outfit, probably some years old, and in this case maybe dating from the late Victorian era when black was very much the done thing.

She's also wearing a necklace with black beads, possibly either jet or ebony.

So I'm thinking immediately prior to WW1.

I think the skirt is too short for prior to WW1

Thank you everyone, my dad was so pleased when I told him.

Absence of corset also supports a date in the 1920s. That's a pretty fashionable silhouette for a woman her age.

If you do a google search for clothes of the 1910s/ 1920s. You will see there is a very clear change in silhouette after the war. This picture is definitely a lost war dress in my opinion.