Purple Mourning Dress (2 Pieces)

Date1878 - 1880

Credit LineGift of Brescia University College, Western University, London, Ontario, 2002

Object number2002.009.1085

Label TextMourning dresses, veils, and bonnets were staples of women’s wardrobes in the mid-to-late 19th century. Queen Victoria had popularized the practice following the 1861 death of her husband, Prince Albert. Copying the queen, women of all classes “put on mourning,” after the death of a spouse or other family member. These garments often borrowed from popular fashions of their time. Before and during the First World War (1914-1918), expectations around mourning began to loosen. For many women, mourning wear continued to be a comforting public expression of grief. Others found it impractical, expensive, or even unpatriotic. As one advice columnist wrote, mourning wear had become a “matter of individual opinion and feeling.”

NameDress, Mourning