REPORT
dictatorial rules concerning mourning. They represented the respectability of their families, and their dress was a means to display their family’s social status and rank. The position of widows was particularly difficult. In medieval times, widows were believed to be somehow contaminated by their close contact with their deceased husbands. They might be suspected of being the cause of his death or simply of bringing bad luck, and were often ostracised by society, or worse. In 19th-century Britain, a widow was expected to remain at home for at least a year after her husband’s death, only venturing out to attend church. During the
Renaissance, costly funeral rituals were the preserve of royal and noble families. Until the third quarter of the 17th century, sumptuary laws regarding mourning attire in Europe were very strict. Members of the middle classes who copied the mourning customs and dress of the nobility to display their own social standing could expect to be fined heavily. However, by the end of the
century, those
rules no longer held, and the middle classes were free to spend
Crape Victorian mourning dress
as much on mourning clothes as their social superiors, often nearly ruining themselves in the process. While mourning dress had previously been quite sober, it became increasingly fashionable during the 18th century.
Rules for mourning
For a Victorian English widow, the period of First Mourning (also called Full Mourning) lasted twelve months and a day. First mourning wardrobes contained various black dresses and mantles, as
well as petticoats and handkerchiefs hemmed in black, and a complete set of black accessories. Indoors, the widow would wear a white crape cap with streamers at the back. When venturing outside, she would wear a bonnet covered in black crape, with a full-length crape or crape- trimmed veil pinned on top, covering her face and most of her dress. No ornaments were permitted except dull jet or special memorial brooches, and no fur. As a woman in First Mourning was more or less confined to her home, her wardrobe contained no evening clothes or headdresses. Widowers were by no means confined and could go about their business as usual, simply wearing a black crape band around the sleeve, paired with a black hat band. This period was
followed by nine months of Second Mourning, also
known as Half Mourning. A wider range of more elegant millinery materials was available for Second Mourning, especially towards the end of the 19th century: grosgrain silk, dull- finished taffeta or even crêpe de Chine. Some trimmings were also permitted, such as wings, quills, artificial flowers and
foliage, ribbons or jet, as
long as they were black and with a dull finish. But no ostrich feathers
(too frivolous!) or bright ornaments. What followed was a further period of six months of Third or Ordinary Mourning (also, somewhat confusingly, called half-mourning), sometimes prolonged indefinitely, as was the case with Queen Victoria. In the United States, this period was known as ‘going out of mourning’. By the time she had reached the third
stage of mourning, a widow could finally shake off the crape covering her dresses and bonnets, although her clothes would still be made mainly of black fabrics. Towards the end of the Victorian era, the clothes and hats of the third or half-
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No ornaments were permitted
except dull jet or special memorial brooches
mourning period would follow seasonal fashion trends (for those who could afford it), but would be made of fabrics in various shades of grey, slate, mauve and violet softened by white lingerie. Hats worn during this period should contain equal portions of black, white and lavender. For example, this could be a hat with a black
brim, white crown and lavender flowers. A fashionable woman would also require several dinner and evening dresses, as she could now attend social gatherings outside her home once more. These would be worn with headdresses of black lace, velvet or net, trimmed with jet, gold or silver accents. The rules for mothers who mourned
a son or a daughter were the same, while shorter periods of mourning were customary for other relatives, such as siblings or aunts. This meant that during a period of two to two-and-a-half years, a widow or a daughter mourning a parent would need at least three different types of hat and, depending on her social status, several hats of each type. Those who could not afford to buy new mourning clothes but were anxious to maintain appearances took their ordinary clothes to a professional silk dyer to be
Mourning dress advert, 1824
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