For the life of me, this lady’s hairstyle looks like she has a hat on, but I know it’s just her hair. She has quite a lot of embellishment to her dress, actually, with lace cuffs, a frilly jabot and lace collar, plus the buttons on either side of the bodice. Such a lot of buttons! I count nine functional ones on the right and there are probably more hidden by her arm, plus the other side is likely decorative. There must be 24 or more buttons just on her bodice. At a time when buttons were individually made that’s quite a statement!
She is shown in the 3/4 profile with one hand pretending to hold her chin and make her look thoughtful. The photographer was Boyle or Goyle in Monticello, IA. So many from Iowa lately.
UPDATED: Iggy found the photographer was Frank A Coyle. Thanks Iggy!!
Who Were They? 
The mystery photographer was Frank A Coyle. He is listed as 25 years old in the 1880 US census, listed in the 1885 Iowa census but is gone by the 1895 Iowa census.
https://www.familysearch.org/search/recordDetails/show?uri=https://api.familysearch.org/records/pal:/MM9.1.r/MH48-KNR/p_308446216
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Her hair is perfect for a hat..perhaps she took it off for the photo. That is some jabot..very frilly at first I thought it might be flowers:)
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Yes it does look like a hat with curls sticking out. I’m trying to imagine putting this hairdo together. What did she look like when the curls weren’t so curly. I’m imagining one of those stick-it-in-the-fire curling rods and I can almost smell the hair burning.
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