Ladies Funeral Attire 1880s-1930s

Among the well-to-do classes, of course, the amount of money spent on mourning dress has not to be considered; but in any such family where there are several ladies, it is usual to find the sense of loss is almost overlooked and forgotten in questions of head-wear and trimmings.

This dress of a widow may be said to possess every bad, and unhygienic quality of women’s apparel (and these genuinely are neither few nor unimportant) intensified fourfold. It is always made both extra-long and clinging, so that exercise is even more impossible than ever.

Mourning Costume Fashions

Mourning Costumes -- English And French Styles - 1889

Mourning Costumes -- English And French Styles - 1889

The regulation of mourning for a widow differs little from previous seasons. The dress for mid-summer or mid-winter is Henrietta cloth, or bombazine trimmed with deep folds of crape or made with an entire skirt of crape.

 

Fashionable Mourning Outfits - View 1

Ladies Fashionable Mourning Attire 158-160 T - 1900

This mourning dress is of graceful shaping and is admirable for practical outdoor wear. Fine black Cheviot was used in the development with Persian lamb for facing the collar and fronts of the jacket.

 

Fashionable Mourning Outfits - View 2

Ladies Fashionable Mourning Attire 161-163 T - 1900

Notwithstanding its long popularity, the bolero is still receiving flattering attention and promises to appear in many attractive styles during the present season.

 

Mourning Hats and Bonnets

Ladies Mourning Hats and Bonnets - Plate 2 - 1900-10

Illustrated Pâté of an array of mourning hats and bonnets worn in the autumn of 1900. Exquisite styles keep with the somber remembrance during this period of mourning.

 

Mourning Costumes 1900

The Conventions of Mourning in America - 1910

The question of mourning in this country is one that nine people out of ten answers according to their feelings and preferences. While almost everyone recognizes certain conventions, they are by no means so universally observed as they are in England.

Mourning Customs and Etiquette

The Widow Consults with a Friend.

Etiquette of Mourning - 1887

There is no possibility of touching upon the subject of death and burial, and the conditions under which funerals should be conducted, without hurting someone's feelings.

 

Mourning Clothes and Customs 1889

Mourning Clothes and Customs 1889

A comprehensive article discusses the history of mourning and focuses on the relationship of mourning activities to the types of dress worn by women during the mourning period. The article explains many of the quirks and traditions still in use today.

 

Fashionable Mourning Costumes 1, 2, and 3.

Mourning Fashions Etiquette – June 1900

The mourning customs of different countries vary distinctly, each following its particular code or rules, though that of England and France largely influences American usage. A widow wears deep mourning for a more significant period in America than she does in Europe, where two years is considered sufficient.

 

Mourning Dress for Women - 1902

Mourning Dress for Women - 1902

The first mourning dress for a widow consists of a black worsted skirt and waist, trimmed very simply with folds of gowns. continue to wear none but black dresses, with white muslin wrist and throat bands, black gloves, and purse; and use only a little jewelry, and that very simple.

 

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