Death Becomes Her: A Century of Mourning Attire

This image shows a widow and her daughter in traditional mourning attire.

Death Becomes Her: A Century of Mourning Attire was an exhibition at the Metropolitan Museum of Art that ran from October 21, 2014, to February 1, 2015. The exhibition featured mourning attire from 1815 to 1915, primarily from the collection of the Met's Anna Wintour Costume Center. The exhibit shows 30 outfits which portray how women's mourning attire has evolved over time. There are several types of mourning attire which met specifications. Wives/widows would wear straight black clothing with lace details along with a veil. They were expected to wear full mourning for one to four years. If they did not do this, it was considered scandalous. After 4 years, they are officially done mourning. Grandparents and siblings are expected to mourn for 6 moths. While children mourning their parents or vice versus were expected to mourn for a year. Aunts and uncles are required to mourn for 2 months. Family members and friends were expected to wear clothes which emitted their inner feelings. Children were not expected to wear mourning clothes, but commonly girls would wear white dresses.

Image of the Metropolitan Museum in Manhattan, NY.

Gallery

Death becomes her at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in Manhattan, new York was opened in 2014 to display the mourning attire of women in the 19th century., as well as jewelry. An example which was displayed was an evening gown worn by Queen Alexandra which consisted of silk, tulle, chiffon, purple sequence, etc. This was a display of how the upper class women were expected to dress while mourning. Another example was a display of the middle class which consisted of black silk, crepe, chiffon, taffeta, etc.

Upper class

Middle class

Lower class

Upper Class Wear

The color black has a long history of mourning. It began with the Romans to try and ward off the unwanted spirits and it was a custom that was used in Europe for centuries. People would wear black to either ward off the dead or in this case, commemorate the dead. All groups of people did this but the group that probably did this best were the upper-class Victorians in the 19th and 20th centuries.

Dressing up was a customary activity for all Victorian era families to do after the death of a family member. If the people had the money they would dress in extravagant wear and hold expensive funerals. Some of the wear for the time included dull black outfits with crepe pieces of fabric and mourning jewelry.

Middle Class Wear

For much of history, mourning attire was limited to those of high class only. Sumptuous laws prevented those who were not of a certain status from wearing mourning attire. The price of black dye was also too expensive for those of the middle class too afford. It was not until the 18th century when the middle class began to copy the style of the aristocracy. They paid the fines for the laws they broke. The Industrial Revolution changed the rules of fashion. By the 19th century, it was customary for everyone to wear mourning attire and was seen as a sign of respect for the deceased.

Lower Class Wear

If men and women did not have the traditional mourning attire, they were expected to find whatever fit into their budget. For the lower class, this would consist of dying clothes black. Not all families were able to do this because the price of black dye was expensive.The practice of wearing black was not applied to the lower class at the beginning of this trend, but as time evolved, the lower class began to follow the requirement.