Woman in a medallioned dress
Click here to view it larger.
What it is:
Photo (3.75 x 5.75 inches), mounted to a decorative matte (8 x 12 inches, most of which I have cropped from this scan), in a paper folder.
What I know about it:
Photographer is Johnstone Studio of Hartford, Connecticut. Otherwise undated and unidentified.
Comments:
I’m certainly no expert, but I don’t recall seeing a design like this before. My best guess is that these are medallions of lace sewn onto her dress. I’ll admit this overall look is not especially to my taste, but I do find it interesting.
Pics of Then 
It looks like lace to me as well, not my style either.
It’s probably not to very many people’s taste these days. 🙂
She looks quite young. Perhaps proud of the lace she tatted herself and attached to her dress?
Could be, could be. (“Tat” is such a great crossword puzzle word, though for some reason I still have to pause and make sure I’m not confusing it with the Asian holiday “Tet”. Tot, tut and tit don’t give me the same trouble.)
It looks like tatting to me as well. I have never mastered tatting, but it is not easy, so she’s probably quite proud of the result.
I agree. Even if the end result isn’t to my personal taste, I can still admire the craftsmanship.