A pretty young woman poses for her cabinet card portrait at the studio of Augusto Baroni in Riva, Italy. The town of Riva is located in northern Italy in the province of Trentino. The town is formally known as Riva del Garda. The subject of this photograph is wearing a heavy chain necklace with a locket. She is wearing a beautiful dress. Her very thin waist is likely the result of a corset.
In the 1890s dresses began to have boning in them but a corset was worn as the main foundation under garment through the entire 19th century. Stays in the early portion of the century, then bone and reed corsets later on. Children wore stays from about age 6-8 to prepare their bodies for corsets later on.