In the Victorian era, mourning the death of a family member or friend was a highly structured ritual. Middle-class Victorians embraced these rituals to solidify their class positions in society, as strict rules of dress and etiquette during the mourning period could be used to demonstrate sincerity and piety.
An elaborate black dress such as the one seen here is an example of what would have been worn during the grieving period. Black was traditionally worn for six months, then purple, for three months and then green for the final three months of the grieving year. The materials used for such attire were commonly dull silk and shirt cuffs and collars were edged with black piping, along with black buttons. Most black silk of the time was more of a dark midnight blue due to the instability of black dye. These dresses, however, were often made from an expensive kind of very rich jet black silk, worn only by widows and known as widow’s silk, with the outfits being referred to as widow’s weeds.