Mourning Attire

In Memoriam  by Alfred Émile Léopold Stevens, c. 1861

"The chief use of mourning attire is to express our grief and humiliation, and to remind us of our bereavement on those occasions, when we are liable to be gay and thoughtless. It is also a caution to others, not to converse on light or mirthful topics in our presence; yet we should not speak of death to one who wears a weed." 
-George W. Hervey, The Principles of Courtesy (1856)

Victorian mourning, with its reputation as a morbid and baroque social institution, piques the interest of public and reenactor alike.  Living historians may chose to adopt mourning impressions as a teaching tool, to commemorate their own losses, or for any number of other reasons.  For those not mourning in modern life, I would recommend reading Miss Connolly On Mourning Impressions before assuming period mourning attire.

Mourning Dress, 1850s, from the Met

There are numerous terms and gradations used to describe nineteenth century mourning attire. Carolann Schmidt gives a good overview of the different types of mourning: "full", "second", "half", and so on. Generally speaking, one starts by wearing matte black fabrics (especially crepe/crape and bombazine), and slowly adds in white, more lustrous blacks, black and white ornaments, then shades of purple and grey, easing back into full color over time.

"Among all civilized modem nations there is a great similarity in mourning customs, and black is universally considered the proper color to be worn, although in the fashions for ladies' dresses modern refinement has gone so far as to symbolize the gradual change from the depth of affliction to a normal state of cheerfulness by a gradual return from black to the gay colors through the intermediate hues of purple and violet, which are recognized as 'second mourning.' The material of a mourning dress is also prescribed by fashion, being for ladies generally crape. The time varies, according to the degree of relationship of the deceased, from a week to a year, the latter being the period fixed by custom for a widow." -The New American Cyclopedia (1861)

Crepe/crape is a matte fabric, generally silk, with a distinct diagonal texture

How long one wears the different degrees of mourning varies based on age, relationship to the deceased, means, place of residence, and personal sentiment.  The most comprehensive period reference I've found is in Godey's, 1854.  It emphasizes the need for one's own sentiments to dictate the terms of mourning apparel, and suggests that white be worn both to mourn children and by children in mourning.  Though condemning codified mourning, it give as an example "one year for a parent, husband, brother, sister, or child.  Six months for grandparents, uncles, or aunts.  Three months or six weeks as a token of respect to the memory of a cousin, friend, or remote relative, or anyone who leaves the wearer a legacy." For public figures, or classmates, or fellow members of clubs, or for soldiers attending officers' funerals, mourning badges, mourning rosettes, and/or crape armbands might be adopted. In other public instances, as for royalty, slight mourning may be worn ("court mourning", for those attending on the royal family, can be highly formalized).

Reproduction of an original mourning badge/cockade
honoring Abraham Lincoln.

The Art of Dressing Well (1870) advises that "Ladies invited to funeral ceremonies should always wear a black dress, even if they are not in mourning, and it is bad taste to appear with a gay bonnet or shawl, as if it were a festive occasion." While I've found no solid description of what women who are not otherwise wearing mourning wear to funerals before 1870, there are some clues. The Principles of Courtesy (1856) confirms that female relatives and non-relatives attended funerals; it also mentions visits of condolence being paid to the bereaved in the week after the death or funeral (The Young Lady's Friend also offers tips on these paying these visits, while The Habits of Good Society deplores them).  Etiquette, Social Ethics, and the Courtesies of Society (1854) recommends the visitor on such an occasion wear "black silk, or plain-coloured apparel" to show sympathy with the family. Contrary to the above references The Hand-Book of Etiquette (1860) claims that "according to modern etiquette, ladies do not attend funerals", before describing female relatives (gentry and working-class) wearing black hoods and capes when they do attend funerals.  This is also one of the books which explains how undertakers provide black gloves and hat-bands to male mourners (white if worn for children or unmarried persons).  An account of British nurses in the Crimea mentions them attending another nurse's funeral in their "black capes and hoods", some even acting as pall-bearers.  Taking all of that together--the wearing of black to show sympathy with mourners outside of the funeral, the wearing of black by female relatives (or co-workers) at funerals, the effort and expense undertaken to put all male mourners in appropriate black mourning accessories--I feel quite comfortable assuming that the 1870 advice is not inappropriate for the preceding decade.

Funeral of a Child (1863) by Albert Anker.  All of the adults wear black, excepting
the grave-digger's shirtsleeves and tan vest, and one man's beige jacket.  Some children
wear black, but most are dressed in plain normal colors.

The Workwoman's Guide (1840) is one of few sources I've found with actual concrete guidelines for the duration of wearing mourning clothing: 1-2 years for a spouse, 6 months to 1 year for a parent or a child over 10 (3-6 months for one younger, and 6 weeks or more for an infant), 6-8 months for a sibling, 3-6 months for an aunt or uncle, six weeks to 3 months for a cousin or an aunt/uncle by marriage, and three weeks or more for friends and more distant relatives; servants may be given mourning clothing to mark deaths in the employer's family. By 1870, the recommended duration will have doubled for widows, according to The Art of Dressing Well.  It specifies that widows should wear mourning for two years (one in deepest black, half a year in less severe black, and half a year in grays and purples). It's worn for one year for parents and children; six months for grandparents, siblings, and friends who left bequests; three months for aunts, uncles, nephews and nieces.  The last is done in second mourning (white, black, gray and purples), while the the longer durations start in deepest black and progressively lighten.

From Graham's Illustrated Magazine, 1857

"Full Mourning. --Bonnets for full mourning are in the usual full-dress shape--made of crape and grenadine, trimmed with black blonde and a crape veil, with transparent crape strings; it is relieved with jets and bugle ornaments on the outside, which also mix with the blonde underneath. 

Second Mourning.--Bonnets for second mourning are composed of quadrilles of black and gray ribbons with straw. Purple has been the fashion to mix with black in the composition of second mournings; but it is now considered too heavy, and more appropriate for winter--the colors of gray, straw and lilac being in better taste for the spring season. The flower ornaments are generally lilac and mignonnette, mixing with the white blonde underneath, and with the foliage and ribbons on the sides..."

-Graham's Illustrated Magazine, 1856

Godey's informed us earlier, of course, that "the plainest mourning is also the most ladylike", and most sources agree to this for the earliest periods of mourning--the fashionable twists comes later if at all. "It is absolutely necessary that it should be severely plain (emphasis original)", says The Courant (1862). Initially, one dons all dull black attire, including dress, bonnet, outwear, and even the "white accessories" (collar and cuffs/undersleeves); trims are kept to a minimum, and little or no jewelry is worn.  The Lady's Self-Instructor in Millinery and Mantua-making (1853) recommends making collars and cuffs of book muslin, and then covering them with black crape, while bonnets are to be made of black silk with crape trims (including the ties), or to be covered with crape for deepest mourning; white muslin, crape, or net are used for later mourning collars.  Whatever may be said of fashionable grades of mourning, the plain black attire, and the black trimmed in white are staples of period literature:

"She was dressed in the deepest and plainest mourning, totally without ornament..."

 Littel's Living Age, 1866

"... He admired the softening effect which the plain white collar and cuffs had upon Annie's dress. When he was home before, everything about her was black of the deepest dye; but now the sombreness of her attire was relieved somewhat..."

- Rose Mather, an 1868 novel about the war.

Arthur's Home Magazine, 1860

As mentioned before, this addition of white accessories to the plain black dress begins a transformation, in which the black is made more decorative and slowly superseded by other colors. "Fashions for Mourning" are outlined in Peterson's, May 1862, recommending different materials for the different stages of mourning (including barege, a sheer wool, for deep mourning in the summer). Black straw bonnets trimmed with crape or ribbon as also suggested; for lighter mourning, there are white straw bonnets with black, purple, or white trim, and purple pansies or violets.

This "comfortable and elegant wrapper" can be made up for mourning wear
in "black delaine, with a trimming of black silk quilted in white."
Peterson's, 1862

 In 1861, Godey's even mentions gold thread applique being used in  first mourning in England (but insists that the women of Philadephia will never adopt such a custom, even if the women in New York might do so).

While black is agreed to be the primary color of mourning, second mourning can get more ambiguous.  In 1858, for instance, a description of second mourning in Godey's admits only black and white for second mourning colors, insisting that purple and lilac are not and have not ever been real mourning colors "though admitted to general wear the past five years."  Two years earlier,  Graham's Illustrated Magazine mentions that "half mourning bonnets are made of black and purple crape, and trimmed with lace" and that "black and green is becoming the union of colors for second mourning."  The next year, 1857, Arthur's Illustrated Home Magazine names 'purple and mixtures of black and white', or 'black and purple' the colors of half-mourning; it also prescribes black gloves for mourning wear and purple or lilac for second mourning.  Frank Leslie's Monthly praises small "grey, lavender and lilac" prints on black, which are apparently popular in 1860, and discourages the mixing of second mourning colors in general; the example given is that a bonnet with gray ribbons (not lilac) should accompany a gray and black dress.  The July 1860 issue of Peterson's notes that lighter mourning changes with the fashions, and that "a lady may dress very much as her fancy dictates, provided she adheres to black, white, or the shades of purple and lilac, of lead-color and grey, or of pearl-color."

Two possible examples of "lighter mourning" show up the 1861 "In Memoriam" paintings by Alfred Stevens.  The first (above) features one woman all in white and bareheaded--perhaps in second mourning, wearing white on account of her youth, wearing lighter mourning on account of a distant relationship with the deceased, or simply wearing white without it being mourning attire. Her two companions, by contrast, are in full mourning: unadorned black gowns with black bonnets and veils.  In the other painting (below), we see another woman in deep black mourning with a long veil; intriguingly, the second woman wears a black dress and bonnet, but the bonnet has blue ties, and she wears a bright paisley shawl.  What exactly she's wearing is unclear: she might be a sympathetic friend who is not in mourning at all, but has worn her darkest dress and bonnet to show respect for the mourner; she might be wearing blue as a second mourning color, though I've seen no other mention of it; perhaps she is in mourning, but can't afford a full suit of new clothes, and is using a bonnet and shawl already owned (though I wonder at the paisley in that case, as they could get very expensive).

In Memoriam by Alfred Émile Léopold Stevens, 1861

On the subject of already-owned black dresses and bonnets, it is good to remember that not all black attire meant for mourning.  "We must promise that the combination of black and white is not at all confined to mourning, but, on the contrary, is one of the most fashionable of costumes." -Peterson's, April 1862  In 1867, Godey's will also remind readers that "black is fashionable at all seasons, and particularly for street wear, even when not necessitated by bereavement."

The plain aesthetic of mourning clothing carries over into mourning jewelry. In 1862, Peterson's notes that "in mourning, the ornaments must be only of jet, or of black enamel, set very plainly. A pin to hold hair, and set in pearls, is admissible, however."  Additionally, in second mourning, "tortoiseshell, plain gold, or pearl ornaments, are allowable."  Two years before, Frank Leslie's mentions "vulcanized Indian rubber" set in gold as a new material for mourning jewelry, in addition to jet.  Hair jewelry, though not strictly for mourning use, can also be made and worn to remember the dead.

The funeral scene depicted in this c. 1850-80 hair brooch indicates that it is a
mourning piece. Hair jewelry could also be made and worn for sentimental reasons.

In 1862, Frank Leslie's Ladies' Magazine gives extensive descriptions of the different articles available for mourning wear; it contrasts rather sharply with the sentiment-focused tone of the Godey's article from eight years earlier. "The unfortunate war in which our country is now plunged, and the general mourning to which it has given rise, induces us to offer the following hints in relation to mourning fashions..."  These include the usual advice about keeping deep mourning attire plain or trimming it with crepe, but also describe white undersleeves and collars with black embroidery, and dinner, evening, ball dresses in black or white mourning.

Mourning collar and cuffs, 1862; to be made of white 'book muslin'
with black and white embroidery and white braid.

These highly fashionable approaches to mourning attire seem to be the stuff which draws hostility to mourning clothing in general.  An 1857 article in The Religious Monthly Magazine makes such complaints in moderate terms, finding fault in the excessive execution of a noble intent. Other sources will be less circumspect in mocking formalized mourning periods or fashionable mourning clothing.  Even books addressed to the grieving remark upon the more extreme mourning worn by fashionable city-dwellers than simple country folk, much in the same vein as Godey's earlier remarks on "half mourning" really being "fashionable mourning."  Nor is this the only strange (to me) juxtaposition of serious mourning sentiment with condemnation of mourning fashions:  in 1864, The Family Friend runs a joke about "Gradations in Mourning" right next to a "Rhyme for The Children" about the death of "Little Jane".

Arthur's Home Magazine published an article on "Going Into Mourning" in 1855 (originally excerpted from Susannah Moodie's 1853 Life in the Clearings Versus the Bush), which condemned the practice of wearing mourning at all. More specifically, it reiterates the idea that sentiment and fashion should not be conflated in the public eye, and in doing so offers examples of poor, sincere people either not being able to don mourning, or wasting their little means trying to do so, while richer, shallow people wear fashionable mourning garments for vanity rather than honest emotion.  For instance:

"We once heard a very beautiful volatile young lady exclaim, with something very like glee in her look and tone, after reading a letter she had received by the post, with its ominous black bordering and seal--'Grandmamma is dead! We shall have to go into deep mourning. I am so glad, for black is so becoming to me!'" 

Another example in that piece describes (and condemns) a man attending a ball within a week of burying a child. Apparently this wasn't a singular case: some people in mourning (and even in mourning attire!) apparently attended balls.  In addition to the 1862 fashion notes previously mentioned in Frank Leslie's, The Fashionable Dancer's Casket (1856) states that:

"Mourning in any stage--full mourning or half mourning--has always a somber appearance, and is, therefore, unbecoming in a ballroom; but since the custom of decorating it with scarlet has come into vogue, an air of cheerfulness has been imparted to its melancholy appearance."

Even people who are truly mourning might not wear mourning.  In addition to the cost factor addressed above, some people eschewed mourning clothing at the request of the dying, on account of age, for religious or patriotic reasons, or because they did not care for the custom. The Society of Friends (Quakers) did not wear mourning in the mid-nineteenth century, and some other individuals also found mourning for the righteous dead incompatible with Christian theology.  Mourning attire was curtailed during the American Revolution, forbidden during the Crimean War, and abandoned by some during the Civil War, for various reasons of morale, patriotism, and later scarcity of material. At least one (fictitious) woman who lost a son in the war forbore wearing mourning, instead spending the money to aid soldiers.

Not that everyone stopped wearing mourning due to the war; Frank Leslie's (1862) mentions that "the disastrous war now raging...make[s] black, white, violet, and mauve the prevailing colors".  In the south, particularly, such things could be difficult to come by:

"I gave $375 for my mourning, which consists of a black alpaca dress and a crape veil. With bonnet gloves and all it came to $500. Before the blockade such things as I have would not have been thought fit for a chamber maid." 

-Mary Chestnut, A Diary from Dixie, March 15, 1864

This is the current extent of my research into mourning clothing of the mid-19th century, which I hope may prove useful to the reader in his or her own.

The Soldier's Memorial, c. 1863