Occasion: Mourning

In nineteenth-century Western culture, as now, the color black was often associated with mourning. Elaborate mourning customs and rituals extended to personal attire and adornment. While widowers might wear a black armband, widows wore specific mourning clothes for two or more years. As the mourning period progressed, widows could add fancier trims and subdued colors, such as purple and lilac, to their attire. Some children would wear black for six months to signal mourning for a deceased parent.