Here is something I wrote recently following one of my weekends in NYC. This was originally published by Seacoast Media Group (Dec. 2014). I also took all of these photos.
Death Becomes Her
By Tammi J Truax
Vanity Fair called it “… a perfect little
black cocktail dress of a show…”, and I highly recommend it too. Now through
February first there is an exhibit at The Metropolitan Museum of Art’s Anna
Wintour Costume Center which I recently visited, and knew many of you would be
interested in it. The exhibit is called Death
Becomes Her: A Century of Mourning Attire.
This exhibit really is a striking artistic as well as cultural display.
The detail and darkness of the garments are contrasted starkly by the white mannequins
wearing white wigs in the all-white gallery. White curtains and panels add a quiet
and slightly sacred softness to the large open space. There are about thirty
ensembles for men, women and children on display, along with accessories, quotes,
fashion plates and historical photographs.
The
history of mourning attire is fascinating as alluringly alluded to in this
quote from the exhibit’s curator Harold Koda, “The predominantly black palette of mourning dramatizes the
evolution of period silhouettes and the increasing absorption of fashion ideals
into this most codified of etiquettes. … The veiled widow could elicit sympathy
as well as predatory male advances. As a woman of sexual experience without
marital constraints, she was often imagined as a potential threat to the social
order.”
While
the wearing of black garments when in mourning dates back to ancient times,
this exhibit covers only a century of the tradition spanning the years from
1815 to 1915. That century, though was a period of time when mourning fashion,
as a part of grief expression, became very serious in our nation in large part
due to the overwhelming loss of life in the Civil War. While across the pond
all time champion mourner and fashion trend setter, Queen Victoria, donned an all-black
ensemble upon the death of her husband Albert in 1859, which she would continue
to do every day until her own death forty-two years later.
The more
common cultural requirement for wearing black during that century was two
years. These demands were focused on the female, but men had some requirements
to follow too. As evidenced by the elaborately designed ensembles in the exhibit
this must have been more than just an emotional drain on the bereaved, but also
a financial one. A considerable amount of money had to be set aside to have a mourning
wardrobe made, which of course, many war widows could ill afford to do. Poor
people would often resort to dyeing their clothes black so as not to defy
convention. There were stages of mourning dress as well; “full mourning” was
followed in due time by “half mourning” when a woman could begin to introduce
one or two other colors into her black outfits as long as they were not bright or
light. Shades of gray were considered safe.
After
the death of her son First Lady Mary Todd Lincoln was once reported to be
wearing “deep black”, the meaning of which seems inexplicable, but helps us to
understand how society judged the person by what she was wearing. There were
even expectations on the fabrics that should be chosen, with a preference for dull,
not shiny ones, such as crape.
I had
always assumed that a widow’s black clothing communicated only that she was
still grieving for the loss of a loved one. I was surprised to learn that these
costumes were also used to communicate her availability for remarriage, and
that suitors and busybodies could interpret when she could be remarried based
on the stage of dress. Veils, generally only worn when leaving the home, had
another variety of meanings for the onlooker to interpret.
While I
am greatly relieved that such harsh expectations have been eased, I do find the
study of them interesting. Unlike most museum exhibits, this one has a little
something for just about everyone. Death
Becomes Her is an enthralling look at our past that will be of interest to
both fashion and history enthusiasts, as well as all ilk of Goth folks and
ghost hunters. The exhibit can be seen seven days a week at the museum’s 1000
Fifth Avenue location in New York City which charges pay-what-you-can
admission.
