A thread on the influences on women's mourning fashion during the 19thC - my dissertation topic

*Disclaimer: This will be a very short overview of my dissertation, I am not claiming to be an expert on this topic, I just wanted to share my research. This thread also won't go into depth about the historiographical debates on the topic*

Dressing in mourning has been a practice throughout history but it seemed to reach new extremes during the 19thc. There were restrictive rules that sig. impacted women, with widows having to wear dark mourning for 2 yrs! Here's one iconic photo of Victorian mourning c.1860, USA

So why did mourning wear become more excessive during the 19thc? This question is what I tried to answer in my dissertation, and what I will cover over the next few days in this thread

One reason was the influence of fashion magazines, which grew in popularity during this period. Mourning wear was included in magazines when Court was in mourning. As the middle class aimed to be a part of this elite circle & improve their status, they copied these styles

Another factor was the advertisements of mourning warehouses. They presented these extravagant outfits as being necessary for the high status woman, yet cheap in price - appealing to the middle class

I found it really interesting to learn about mourning warehouses. These were grand stores, dedicated solely to selling mourning attire. They sold not only clothes but also stationary and accessories. Two examples from Regent Street London, are Jay’s and Peter Robinson’s.

You can’t mention 19thC mourning without mentioning the ‘widow of Windsor’, Queen Victoria. She has been remembered most for being a widow and living in mourning after the death of her husband Prince Albert

Queen Victoria had a sig. influence on mourning attire, as she set the standard for what widows should strive to be. She brought the Mary Stuart style widow’s cap back into fashion (which she is wearing in the paining below), which was often referenced in fashion magazines.

These were the three main influences that I explored in greater detail in each chapter of my diss! But one factor that kept coming up was the middle class

The m/c wanted to improve their status & looked to guides such as etiquette books to teach them the correct behaviour of the elites. Many etiquette books had sections on mourning and the example below, from ‘Manners & Rules of Good Society’, shows how complicated the rules were!

One debate I’ve encountered is whether or not the m/c were passive in all of this. Did they have all these rules thrust upon them and felt required to follow? Or, did they have some control over the expectations for mourning?

E.g Rebecca Mitchell has argued that widows had some control over the mourning industry. She suggests that mourning allowed widows to indulge in shopping as it was presented as an act of duty. This meant they controlled what clothing was produced through their demand as consumers

Of course, there is also the question of ‘did women actually wear these extravagant outfits?’. This was something I wanted to explore further but lockdown cancelled my visits to museums

Overall, mourning attire in the 19thc became stricter & more extravagant. This was due to a mix of factors which made extravagant mourning appear necessary for the m/c who felt pressured to appear to be a part of elite society and thus improve their status

I hope you all enjoyed this very brief look at my dissertation topic. This thread has had such a great response so far!