Hello All!
We’re excited to announce our “second” episode of Fashion History with American Duchess! Today, we are chatting with the lovely Samantha McCarty of The Couture Courtesan all about mourning dress during the American Civil War. I (Abby) have been lucky enough to listen to Samantha lecture on this subject on two separate occasions, and I still was completely enthralled by the wealth of knowledge that Samantha shared on the subject for the podcast.
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| Samantha in Half-Mourning while attending Gettysburg Remembrance Day |
Here are some example images & links to fabrics so you can make your own mourning attire:
Click Here to buy a modern (silk) crape substitute that Samantha recommends.
For worsted wool you can check out – Burnley & Trowbridge & Mood Fabrics
Full or Deep Mourning
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| Woman in Full Mourning. Courtesy of Samantha |
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| Woman in Full Mourning with widow’s cap and lappets (Courtesy of Samantha) |
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| Woman in Full Mourning from New York. (Ebay) |
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| English woman wearing a widow’s cap with crape “folds” around the skirt of her dress, you can also see her white collar like what Samantha mentions! (Here) |
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| Samantha wearing Full Mourning with her veil pulled down. |
Examples of Half or Light Mourning
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| Samantha in a cotton Half Mourning Dress |
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| Samantha in a silk taffeta half-mourning dress (Here) |
Mourning Accessories
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| Mourning Corsage of Abraham Lincoln, April 1865, Met Museum |
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| Framed in Memorial Hair Art, 1850, French, Etsy |
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| Victorian Gutta-Percha & Gold Mourning Earrings, Ruby Lane |
We hope you enjoy the episode!
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4 Comments
Unknown
May 13, 2017 at 1:10 PMThis was a lot of fun. I really enjoyed listening to it.
Time Traveling in Costume
May 15, 2017 at 11:39 PMI enjoyed listening while I was sewing.
Val
Mylene Richard
May 17, 2017 at 1:20 AMAbout the purple color, it's the darkest color, opposite to the sunny yellow. It might be why it was a good choice for half-mourning.
Also, in 1857 the first man-made dye became available, mauveine. It was a lot cheaper than getting purple pigment out of a specific shells in Europe, so it get really popular. Even the queen Victoria was wearing a dress dyed with it at the Royal Exhibition in 1862.
It fell out of fashion at the end of the 1860's so at the time of the civil war, 1861 to 1865, it was all the rage.
More info : http://www.ch.ic.ac.uk/motm/perkin.html
Château de Brouillon
October 24, 2019 at 11:28 AMAs for the symbolism of purple, could it have been the most appropriate color for half mourning because of the fact that it's the color of healing bruises and wounds ?