The first technique covers use of a live fashion model.
There are similiar card-type photographs, such as the smaller which was introduced in the 1850s, but if your old photo is about 4x6 in size then chances are it is a cabinet card.
A style of photograph first introduced in 1863 by Windsor & Bridge in London, the cabinet card is a photographic print mounted on card stock.
With almost 600 pages in large 8.5 x 11 format, this tome is not light reading in any sense.
The material Severa presents is far too complex and detailed for me to include it all here, but I'll try to point out some of the more obvious stylistic changes through the years.
Ladies' styles of the 1790s - 1820s were 'Empire' dresses, having a high waist line and a pleated skirt which was fuller in the back than the front.
At the center front of the skirt, there was a special tuck designed to raise the skirt over the toes.
The sleeves on the dresses formed the shoulders and were fitted down the arms.
The French influenced the styles in the American colonies during that era.
It is important to note, however, that these dating methods aren't always accurate.
The photographer may have been using up old card stock, or the cabinet card may have been a re-printed copy made many years after the original photo was taken.