Fashionable Friday - 1880's Woman from Cazenovia, NY

This photograph of a lovely young woman from Cazenovia, New York is quite interesting to me as I find myself increasingly fascinated with the fashions of prior generations. There is nothing written on this cabinet card to identity this woman or when it was taken but there are a few clues to perhaps help date the photo. The card is a dark maroon color with the backside being grey which was popular starting around 1884. The dress on this young woman is so common to the 1880's woman with the very fitted, bustled dress. Note the ruching surrounded by buttons from neckline to waistline and a very trim waistline it is! The sleeves on her dress have ruched cuffs that match that bodice. Her beautiful dress has a high neckline with lace and is adorned with a pin or brooch of some sort. Her hairstyle was quite common of the 1886-1888 woman and it is with all these clues that I date this photo with this time frame.

The photographer was Marshall Bros. of Cazenovia, N.Y., most likely Charles Marshall, however I could find very little to identify and date Charles Marshall and nothing in Ancestry.com.  Also note his monogram at the bottom center of the card; these started around 1886.  There was a very short mention of him on this page:  

http://www.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~nyccazen/MscLists/Photographers.html

To give you some similar mid-1880 fashions to compare with this photograph I have included the following:

http://pinterest.com/pin/16114511137125915/

Although not an exact match to our subject's dress, this dress is from the 1884 Peterson's Magazine and is in the same era.