Victorian mourning customs got a lot of press in the 20th century. Everybody who’s read Gone With the Wind has the idea that mourners, especially widows, were subject to stringent expectations for proper dress and behavior. But like any cliché, our image of Victorian mourning always needs re-examination. Gone with the Wind portrayed pre-Civil War Southern plantation owners, a class of people determined to imitate the nobility of Europe in all things, including mourning customs; behavior was by no means consistent or universal.


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When shopping antique wedding dress racks, people see a lot of black. From the 20th century, they see little black dresses, trimmed black felt hats, black velvet evening coats, beaded black bags. And from Victorian times, they see little feathered black bonnets, boned black bodices, and black silk shirtwaists.

"When we say we’re looking for antique and vintage clothing, we mean we’re looking for the reality, not reproductions, and the high survival rate of black is part of the reality."

Glenna Christen and Bill Kepler demonstrated 19th-century mourning attire and customs for the North Star Chapter of the Victorian Society in America at a St. Paul, Minnesota, cemetery. After modeling the full, heavily veiled widow's ensemble, Glenna described the point in the mourning period when the face could be unveiled and white details introduced to the costume.

Sometimes customers complain about all the black: they admire the styles, but weren’t these worn at a funeral? Victorian black antique clothing still carries connotations of gloom and severity, and sooner or later the subject of mourning and widows comes up.