I would say 1930s by the hat and that collar. And the hairdo. Forties (wartime) women usually wore their hair down, long and soft and tied with a ribbon or pinned. Their shoulders were padded. I have many family photos from that era and women really dressed beautifully then. However and having said that I have a picture of a grandmother wearing a late-1890s dress -- in the 1910s.
Carroll Rossi Hmm. You have a point. Maybe it was taken indoors on a special occasion? My grandma would have loved those polka dots! She had a dress with that exact pattern (no fancy collar).
Hair has been called a woman's "crowning glory" - it's certainly been a mode of expression over the centuries.
In the 1800's, brushing your hair 100 times a day was a popular way to beautify it - but hair was usually washed only once a month. And shampoo wasn't invented until the end of the 1800's. For women, ...