Date of Award
2023
Degree Type
Thesis
Degree Name
Master of Science in Textiles, Fashion Merchandising and Design
Specialization
Historic Costume and Textiles, Textile Conservation, and Cultural Analysis
Department
Textiles, Fashion Merchandising and Design
First Advisor
Susan Hannel
Abstract
Mourning dress during the nineteenth century had prescribed rules that were forced to change in the twentieth century due to societal pressures and changing values about death and mourning. The goal of this study was to examine the changes and the results of those changes in upper and upper-middle class mourning dress in the United States of America during the first quarter of the twentieth century. To do this, two garments believed to be mourning dress from the early twentieth century were examined and compared as a case study. Two questions were researched and answered in this study. How did mourning dress visually and materially change during the first twenty-five years of the twentieth century? Do the garments selected for study reflect those changes? Mourning dress changed visually to align with the trends in non-mourning fashion. Additionally, a wider variety of materials became acceptable as mourning crepe fell out of fashion and mourning etiquette became less formal. Overall, the garments selected for this case study did reflect the visual and material changes.
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
Recommended Citation
Bejin, Eli, "PUTTING ON A GRAVE FACE: THE TRANSITION OF MOURNING DRESS FROM 1900 TO 1920" (2023). Open Access Master's Theses. Paper 2383.
https://digitalcommons.uri.edu/theses/2383