Posted on 10/21/2014 10:46:02 AM PDT by C19fan
All-black attire hasn’t always been reserved for coffee shop poets and champagne-sipping fashionistas. Up until the turn of the 20th century, it was almost exclusively a sign of mourning: women publicly showing respect for the loss of a loved one.
But, somewhere between the fury of the industrial revolution and women’s liberation, the tradition itself died out, leaving only a brief implication that lingers in graveyards and funeral services with fleeting significance.
Now, the Metropolitan Museum of Art is revisiting the trend, taking visitors back to black with the debut of the Anna Wintour Costume Institute’s first fall exhibition in seven years. Death Becomes Her: A Century of Mourning Attire, which opens today (Tuesday), explores the custom of mourning dress from 1815 to 1915.
(Excerpt) Read more at thedailybeast.com ...
Well the tradition did offer women a brief respite from having to worry about what to wear that day.
What did they wear in the evening?
Nuttin’, honey.
You don’t need to go to the Met. You just need to watch Downton Abbey!
Written like a man. How little you understand the complexities! There was "Full Mourning" and "Half Mourning" and "Mourning gloves" and "Mourning hats". You would understand all that if you watched Downton Abbey, or The English verson of Antiques Roadshow.
There was even “Mourning jewelry”.
We still wear black at funerals.
It’s considered disrespectful to wear bright colors and splashy prints to a funeral.
I would love to bring back hats and gloves into fashion! Might also help stop germs from spreading too...
So THAT'S where she gets those bizarre outfits!
Presumably they cut her hair into that ridiculous dyed bob.
Oh...I thought this was about what the Dems plan to wear after they lose the elections!
We don’t. Personally, I’d like to see people wear white at funerals.
Where does “The Man in Black” fit in to all this?
It’s considered disrespectful to wear bright colors and splashy prints to a funeral.
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I can think of a few where that would be appropriate.
Does this death shroud make me look fat?
I wear all black at weddings. More appropriate these days, as they are never going to last.
More than that, it told everyone around you that your emotions may be brittle and fragile.
a brilliant friend told me that and it was true and helpful, when the time came.
I’ve told my friends and family that I want them to wear Hawaiian shirts at mine. Please don’t cry.
I agree, but I sometimes see shorts and flipflops at funerals, never mind ties and skirts.
And Mourning Handkerchiefs. They go for a pretty penny on ebay.
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