dating of photo from fashions

[Carole A]

I wonder if someone could have a go at dating the attached - the clue may be in the sleeves and bodices of the women. The family are Londoners and lower middle/working class.

Many thanks, Carole

[Niksmum]

Hi Carole

A tidy up for you while you are waiting for a date.


Irene

[Carole A]

Thank you, Irene, they were a bit dusty - appreciate that a lot.

Carole

[chinakay]

Hi Carole, judging by the ladies' hairstyles, called a Loose Pompadour, and the length of the skirt back right, which can just be seen behind the chair the boy is sitting on, I would say about 1905-1910 or so. Nice photo, and a bit unusual in that a couple of the subjects are smiling.

Bumping this up may bring other opinions out of the woodwork

Cheers,
China

[Carole A]

Thanks, China - not sure I know how to bump it up!

I'd be interested in how old people think the women are - I know who they are, and they were born in 1850, '53 and '56. You are right in suggesting the photo might be around 1905 - that is the date that I was told. However (there is always a 'however') another family member has been told that the seated gent is the father of the women, and he died in 1893. I would wonder about this, except for the fact that there is an astonishing family likeness there.

Hence wondering about the fashions - I was pondering the puffed sleeves and wondered if they might have been the 1890s' style...

Anyone else shed light on it?

PS they may have been smiling because it was a family member behind the camera.

[duckweed]

Strange I would have thought the young woman on the left was the big sister of the seated boy. She looks about 16 to me.  It looked like a family group of grandparents, parents and children, like so many I have in my family.

[chinakay]

Hi Carole, what I meant about bumping it up was that when someone replies to a post, it goes to the top of the queue, becoming more prominent if it has sunk out of sight. My reply put it back on top, and look---you have someone else chiming in already

1893 was the height of the fashion called a kickup, a very high poofy rise in the shoulder seam of ladies' dresses. I am not seeing much in the way of a kickup here, nor the next style to come along, the leg of mutton sleeve, in fact none at all. the hairstyle called the pompadour didn't start until about 1897 according to our very reliable top expert here at Rootschat . The earlier pompadour style was pulled back fairly tightly, and then a much looser style became fashionable around 1905 or so, and the lady at the left has a textbook example of the style.

So...I'm not seeing anything in the way of pre-1893 in this photo...could it be another relative instead?

Cheers,
China

[Carole A]

Yes, that all makes sense - assuming that the photo was taken around 1905, I had thought that the seated gent might have been one of the husbands of the three sisters, and the man at the back either their brother (my great grandfather) or another husband. The photographer at that time would have been my grandfather, who took a lot of photos around that time.

It's the men I can't quite place. The family resemblance of the seated one may be fanciful speculation.

Thank you, I appreciate the fashion information, I wasn't too sure when a leg of mutton was a leg of mutton or just a lamb chop.

Carole