Condolences to you... Great picture post! In North America, the only time one wears mourning is at the actual funeral. Even widows no longer wear black after the ceremony.
Apart from the widowhood of Queen Victoria, you must also think about the assassination of President Lincoln on the American side of the Pond, which also happened in the early 1860s.
The culture of mourning reached its zenith in the latter half of the 19th century, with industries catering to every aspect of mourning and its observance: dressmakers and tailors; hearse makers, drivers and professional mourners (mutes); jewellery makers; stationers....the list goes on and on.
Some mourning clothes were sumptuous! The mourning gown worn by Empress Elizabeth (Sisi) of Austria, is a feast for the eyes: opulent black lace and jet beading almost cover the entire bodice! (This was displayed at the Met Museum almost 30 years ago.) For your readers, jet (a type of gemstone) was the appropriate stone for mourning jewelry. (You can also see brooches/jewellery made of the deceased's hair and worn as keepsakes.)
The rules of widowhood were not hard and fast. Benjamin Disraeli (the dandy and British prime minister) started courting his wife in the late 1830s when she was in the first year following the loss of her husband. (She was married to politician Tony Wyndham Lewis, a colleague and mentor of Disraeli.) Wealthy widows often had queues of suitors looking to court them.
Condolences to you... Great
Condolences to you... Great picture post! In North America, the only time one wears mourning is at the actual funeral. Even widows no longer wear black after the ceremony.
Apart from the widowhood of Queen Victoria, you must also think about the assassination of President Lincoln on the American side of the Pond, which also happened in the early 1860s.
The culture of mourning reached its zenith in the latter half of the 19th century, with industries catering to every aspect of mourning and its observance: dressmakers and tailors; hearse makers, drivers and professional mourners (mutes); jewellery makers; stationers....the list goes on and on.
Some mourning clothes were sumptuous! The mourning gown worn by Empress Elizabeth (Sisi) of Austria, is a feast for the eyes: opulent black lace and jet beading almost cover the entire bodice! (This was displayed at the Met Museum almost 30 years ago.) For your readers, jet (a type of gemstone) was the appropriate stone for mourning jewelry. (You can also see brooches/jewellery made of the deceased's hair and worn as keepsakes.)
The rules of widowhood were not hard and fast. Benjamin Disraeli (the dandy and British prime minister) started courting his wife in the late 1830s when she was in the first year following the loss of her husband. (She was married to politician Tony Wyndham Lewis, a colleague and mentor of Disraeli.) Wealthy widows often had queues of suitors looking to court them.