Mourning dress during the regency period (1811-1820) followed strict rules. Given the time frames as listed below, it was possible for some individuals with large extended families to not quite emerge from mourning for a number of years:
- Widows and widowers mourned their spouses for two years.
- Parents mourned their children for a year.
- Children mourned their parents for a year.
- Brothers and sisters mourned their siblings for six months.
- Grandparents were mourned for six months,
- Aunts and uncles were mourned three months
- First cousins were mourned for six weeks.
Purchasing or Making Mourning Clothes
There were three distinct periods of mourning: Heavy or deep mourning, half mourning, and light or second mourning. It is important to note that only the wealthy could afford to purchase custom-made mourning clothes. The middle class or people of more moderate means made do with what they had, or purchased ready-made clothes. Jane Austen's mother, for example, picked her old silk pelisse to pieces and dyed it black for a gown. After her sister in law, Elizabeth Knight died in childbirth, Jane Austen wrote to her sister, Cassandra, “ I am to be in bombazine and crape, according to what we are told is universal ...My mourning, however, will not impoverish me, for by having my velvet pelisse fresh lined and made up...I take my cloak for the lining, and shall send yours on the chance of its doing something of the same for you...One Miss Baker makes my gown and the other my bonnet, which is to be silk covered with crape.” Some widows elected to wear heavy widow's weeds for life, but this decision was voluntary and not dictated by custom.
Heavy Mourning, Half Mourning, and Light Mourning
During heavy or deep mourning, widows wore all black mourning clothes (widow's weeds) for at least a year and no jewelry. Dresses were made of matte materials like crepe or black bombazine silk, which did not reflect light. Hems were at least 3 inches deep. She wore no jewelry except pieces made of jet, and moderate headgear. Widows could switch to half-mourning fashions after a year, in which white touches, such as a white lace collar, could be added. After two years, a widow could start wearing light mourning clothes made of subdued colors to help her transition to the brighter colors of regular clothes. Half mourning colors included grays; mauve; lavender; a black and white mixture, such as a pinstripe; violet, or patterned clothes made up of similar subdued colors. White, a color of mourning since the medieval period, was also permitted, especially in the country. An 1819 Ackermann fashion plate showed an all-white half mourning dress. Within these mourning periods, the distinctions of regency dress were followed.
Mourning Clothes for Men and Children
The rules of mourning for men were more relaxed. Due to Beau Brummel's influence, men tended to wear black or somber clothes as a matter of course. During heavy mourning, men wore black jackets, black cravats, and black armbands. They carried black bordered handkerchiefs and placed a black ornament on their hats. Very young children also showed their respect by wearing clothes made of somber colors or that were edged in black, as fashion plates of the era depicted. (See image in Jane Austen's World article, link below.)
Mourning Clothes for the Lower Classes
Most of the lower classes remade their mourning clothes, adding a new lining to cloaks, dying their dresses black, and adding crepe to bonnets. The very poor could not afford even to remake their clothes. At most they could add only a black ribbon or black armband to their outfits.
Regency Era Mourning Jewelry
Jewelry or memento mori, which honored the dead, included rings, brooches, chains, and pendants. Designs showed a skull or skeleton, classical urns, and weeping willows. Finely plaited hair from the deceased would be incorporated into the design. Materials included ivory, enamel, pearls, and jet.
Sources
Sanborn, Vic. "Regency Mourning," Jane Austen's World. Web. 6 April. 2010
Boyle, Laura. "Dressing for Mourning in the Regency," Jane Austen Centre Online Magazine, Web. 6 April. 2010.
Vic Sanborn - I oversee two blogs: Jane Austen's World and Jane Austen Today, and write about Jane Austen and the Regency World and its manners and ...
