Mourning attire, clothing and accessories meant to demonstrate a person’s period of grieving after the death of a loved one, is an ancient practice. Starting in the Victorian era, the length of that mourning period and its intricate rules and practices became more extreme and began spreading down to the middle class.
This was especially true after the death of Queen Victoria’s husband, Prince Albert, which threw the queen into a lifelong state of mourning that set the tone especially for women in England and the United States.
This period of elaborate rules about types of textiles, length of wear and even the type of accessories one wore was most apparent in women’s fashion, and that idea is explored in a new exhibit through Sept. 20 at the Corvallis Museum, 411 S.W. Second St. “Death Becomes Her: Women’s Mourning Dress, 1860 to 1919” features pieces and information supplied by experts from the historical society and College of Business experts.
The exhibit was curated with support from Jennifer Mower, OSU design instructor and collection manager, and Jake Wright, a College of Business apparel design student and collections assistant.
The exhibit includes mourning gowns, shawls, bonnets, parasols, jewelry, gloves and even Victorian hair wreaths, elaborate framed pieces of art crafted from the hair of loved ones which often took years to assemble. Advertisements for mourning attire from local newspapers and photographs of local women in mourning are also part of the exhibit.
A free closing reception will take place Sept. 18 and will include themed mocktails, a Market for the Strange and remarks by the artists and curators responsible for the exhibit.
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Oregon State University
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