FADDISH...: DEATH BECOMES HER.

"There is a charm and fascination in the manner and conversation of a widow which is known and appreciated by the other sex," Martha Louise Rayne.

Mourning is, in the simplest sense, is synonymous with grief over the death of someone; But the world is also used to describe a cultural complex of behaviors, in which the bereaved participate or are expected to participate.
Customs vary between different cultures and evolve over the time, although many of the basic behaviors are maintained constant.

Mourning it is also the central theme of inspiration from this interesting exhibition, named Death Becomes Her: A Century of Mourning Attire, on view through February 1, 2015, about the mourning costume and their social history, composed of about thirty pieces, accessories, often made of jet, and photographs related to the subject.

Focusing on the Victorian Era of the 19th Century in the United Kingdom and North America where mourning generally followed English forms, the exhibit is organized chronologically and features mourning dresses, from 1985 to 1915 and located by specific time periods: stages knows by such terms as "full mourning" when raven-black was the only color option and "half mourning" when dark, muted colors like gray and lavender could be introduced, exhibition which also includes mourning gowns by Queen Victoria and Queen Alexandra.

Special caps and bonnets, usually in black or other dark colors, went with these ensembles. There was special mourning jewelry to complement the outfit as cameos or lockets designed to hold a lock of the deceased's hair or some similar relic that the wealthy would wear.

Formal mourning culminated during the reign of Queen Victoria, whose long and conspicuous grief over the death of her husband, Prince Albert, may have had much to do with it. Although fashions began to be more functional and less restrictive for the succeeding Edwardians.

Besides the costumes, props, photographs on the theme, the exhibition is complemented by informative contributions to inform the visiting about the subject, and famous quotes dynamically projected on the walls as one who Martha Louise Rayne wrote in her 1881 book "Gems of Deportment and Hints of Etiquette" that called me particularly attention and says: "There is a charm and fascination in the manner and conversation of a widow which is known and appreciated by the other sex".

I have to say that before visiting this exhibit I was very curious about it, because for nobody it's a secret that I love raven-black color, my favorite and present in all my collections, even becoming my regular daily uniform for me and many others around the world.

Fortunately for us who love raven-black color, by the early 20th century, the black color as a rule only for mourning clothes was no longer to applied. And if we do memory the responsible for this change was the infallible Chanel that in 1926 brought the color black out of mourning away from the clergy, away from the shadows, turning it into the very essence of Parisian Chic, considered today the most chic, timeless and the most flattering of all colors. Not in vane Suzy Menkes wrote on December 12, 1983, at the Yves Saint Laurent exhibition staged by the Metropolitan Museum of Art: "Dressing in black means simplicity of line, perfection of cut and a touch of spirit".

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