One of the most fun aspects of collecting old cabinet cards is trying to guess the period in which they were taken, using clothing and small details as clues.

This Italian lady's dress, for example, recalls an 1871 illustration from La Mode Illustrée. The silhouette, with its emphasis on the back of the dress, was achieved through the use of a bustle.

From the Encyclopedia of World Dress and Fashion (2010):

The early 1870s saw the more general use of tournures (bustles). They were created using a wide variety of materials such as metal, cane, or whalebone hoops or woven horsehair flounces. Bustles disappeared after two to three years, only to return to fashion in a more exaggerated form from the early 1880s.