Five dresses, ca. 1860
Item 11568 info
Brick Store Museum
Godey's Lady's Book contained special advice on the intricacies of mourning etiquette and carried information on the latest styles, fabrics and accessories of mourning.
Some women dyed their dresses, and many continued to pack away mourning clothes to take out when needed, but most articles encouraged the belief that it was bad luck to keep such clothes on hand.
The wealthy chose the most elegant and socially correct styles, causing every new fashion detail to be reflected in mourning dress. Many women made their own costumes, and even the less fortunate could rent the proper mourning attire from exploitive entrepreneurs.
In another mourning ritual, jewelry made of woven human hair became immensely popular in the 1860s and 70s. Instruction on hair weaving was found in Godey's and ready-made hair jewelry was commercially available.
The idea of incorporating one's handicraft skills into the process of mourning demonstrated further devotion to the deceased.
Such overwhelming preoccupation with death and dying was encouraged by the prevailing spiritualism and sentimental melancholy of the mid-19th century. But literature and poetry also carried messages of reassurance of the heavenly rewards of paradise.
Item 12 of 24
