“Black is more than ever the favorite color of fashion. There was a time—our mothers will remember it—when the sole fact of wearing a black dress when one was not in mourning was sufficient to call forth a kind of reprobation, and to cause the wearer to be classed among the dangerously eccentric women.” —Harperʼs Bazaar (August 9, 1879)
Itʼs 2014, and any color looks good—as long as itʼs black. After seeing Death Becomes Her: A Century of Mourning Attire, a new exhibition at the Metropolitan Museum of Artʼs newly-christened Anna Wintour Costume Center, you learn pretty quickly that weʼve got nothing on the Victorians. This show, the center's first fall exhibition in seven years, examines the bygone era between 1815 and 1915, when fashion and culture were informed by death, religion, and media, and where life after death was spent in various shades of black.
Until the 19th century, mourning had been almost exclusively reserved for aristocracy. With the emergence of a post-industrial middle class in England and America, as well as the birth of fashion media including Harperʼs Bazaar and Vogue, mourning—and looking good doing it—became a business. Bereavement gowns (30 in this exhibition, assembled through the gimlet eye of curator Harold Koda) boomed in an era where life was extremely religious and few made it past their mid-50s. It became such a focus that department stores like Lord & Taylor developed special mourning departments to keep up with demand, and colorless clothing, albeit rendered in silk taffeta and adorned with pearls, was its own marked fashion statement.
From gowns worn by Queen Victoria and Queen Alexandra to department store ensembles, Death Becomes Her gives a fascinating look into a time when rigid social and gender roles began to evolve, largely due to the influence of this new, style-conscious middle class. In the end, Death Becomes Her is like the wake of the Victorian era: a view into a life that used to be.
Death Becomes Her: A Century of Mourning Attire opens tomorrow and runs until February 1
The Metropolitan Museum of Art
1000 Fifth Avenue
New York, NY 10028
Map
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Death Becomes Her examines mourning attire during the Victorian era, when the color black became newly fashionable. Photos by James Derek Sapienza![]()
Until the 19th century, mourning had been almost exclusively reserved for aristocracy. ![]()
With the emergence of a post-industrial middle class in England and America, as well as the birth of fashion media including Harperʼs Bazaar and Vogue, mourning—and looking good doing it—became aspirational.![]()
Business boomed in an era where life was extremely religious and few made it past their mid-50s.![]()
Itʼs 2014, and any color looks good—as long as itʼs black. After seeing Death Becomes Her: A Century of Mourning Attire, a new exhibition at the Metropolitan Museum of Artʼs newly-christened Anna Wintour Costume Center, you learn pretty quickly that weʼve got nothing on the Victorians. This show, the center's first fall exhibition in seven years, examines the bygone era between 1815 and 1915, when fashion and culture were informed by death, religion, and media, and where life after death was spent in various shades of black.
Until the 19th century, mourning had been almost exclusively reserved for aristocracy. With the emergence of a post-industrial middle class in England and America, as well as the birth of fashion media including Harperʼs Bazaar and Vogue, mourning—and looking good doing it—became a business. Bereavement gowns (30 in this exhibition, assembled through the gimlet eye of curator Harold Koda) boomed in an era where life was extremely religious and few made it past their mid-50s. It became such a focus that department stores like Lord & Taylor developed special mourning departments to keep up with demand, and colorless clothing, albeit rendered in silk taffeta and adorned with pearls, was its own marked fashion statement.
From gowns worn by Queen Victoria and Queen Alexandra to department store ensembles, Death Becomes Her gives a fascinating look into a time when rigid social and gender roles began to evolve, largely due to the influence of this new, style-conscious middle class. In the end, Death Becomes Her is like the wake of the Victorian era: a view into a life that used to be.
Death Becomes Her: A Century of Mourning Attire opens tomorrow and runs until February 1
The Metropolitan Museum of Art
1000 Fifth Avenue
New York, NY 10028
Map
Death Becomes Her examines mourning attire during the Victorian era, when the color black became newly fashionable. Photos by James Derek Sapienza
Until the 19th century, mourning had been almost exclusively reserved for aristocracy. 
With the emergence of a post-industrial middle class in England and America, as well as the birth of fashion media including Harperʼs Bazaar and Vogue, mourning—and looking good doing it—became aspirational.
Business boomed in an era where life was extremely religious and few made it past their mid-50s.
