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==Mourning black== [[File:The royal children in mourning Mar 1862.jpg|thumb|Victoria's five daughters (Alice, Helena, Beatrice, Victoria and Louise), photographed wearing mourning black beneath a bust of their late father, Prince Albert (1862)]] [[File:Mourning dress MET 50.40.3a-b front CP4.jpg|alt=Black Victorian mourning dress|thumb|Mourning Dress, 1894β95]] In Britain, black is the colour traditionally associated with mourning for the dead. The customs and etiquette expected of men, and especially women, were rigid during much of the Victorian era. The expectations depended on a complex hierarchy of close or distant relationship with the deceased. The closer the relationship, the longer the mourning period and the wearing of black. The wearing of full black was known as First Mourning, which had its own expected attire, including fabrics, and an expected duration of 4 to 18 months. Following the initial period of First Mourning, the mourner would progress to Second Mourning, a transition period of wearing less black, which was followed by Ordinary Mourning, and then Half-mourning. Some of these stages of mourning were shortened or skipped completely if the mourner's relationship to the deceased was more distant. Half-mourning was a transition period when black was replaced by acceptable colours such as lavender and mauve, possibly considered acceptable transition colours because of the tradition of [[Church of England]] (and [[Catholic Church|Catholic]]) clergy wearing lavender or mauve [[Stole (vestment)|stoles]] for funeral services, to represent the [[Passion (Christianity)|Passion of Christ]].<ref>{{cite web|title=The Colors of the Church Year|url=http://fullhomelydivinity.org/articles/colors.htm|publisher=Consortium of Country Churches|access-date=6 November 2011}}</ref> The mourning dress on the right was worn by Queen Victoria, "it shows the traditional touches of mourning attire, which she wore from the death of her husband, Prince Albert (1819β1861), until her own death."<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/155839?&searchField=All&sortBy=Relevance&deptids=8&ft=queen+victoria&offset=0&rpp=20&pos=2|title=Mourning Dress, 1894β95|last=The Metropolitan Museum of Art|date=7 September 2019|website=The Metropolitan Museum of Art|access-date=7 September 2019}}</ref> === Norms for mourning=== ''Manners and Rules of Good Society, or, Solecisms to be Avoided'' (London, Frederick Warne & Co., 1887) gives clear instructions, such as the following:<ref>{{cite book|last=Flanders|first=Judith|title=The Victorian House|year=2003|publisher=Harper Perennial|location=London|isbn=0-00-713189-5|pages=378β83}}</ref> {| class="wikitable" |- ! Relationship to deceased !! First mourning !! Second mourning !! Ordinary mourning !! Half-mourning |- | Wife for husband || 1-year, 1-month; [[bombazine]] fabric covered with [[Crape|crepe]]; [[widow's cap]], [[lawn cuff]]s, collars || 6 months: less crepe || 6 months: no crepe, silk or wool replaces bombazine; in last 3 months jet jewellery and ribbons can be added || 6 months: colours permitted are grey, lavender, mauve, and black-and-grey |- | Daughter for parent || 6 months: black with black or white crepe (for young girls); no linen cuffs and collars; no jewellery for first 2 months || 4 months: less crepe || β || 2 months as above |- | Wife for husband's parents || 18 months in black bombazine with crepe || β || 3 months in black || 3 months as above |- | Parent for son- or daughter-in-law's parent || β Black armband in representation of someone lost || β || 1-month black || β |- | Second wife for parent of a first wife || β || β || 3 months black || β |} The complexity of these etiquette rules extends to specific mourning periods and attire for siblings, step-parents, aunts and uncles distinguished by blood and by marriage, nieces, nephews, first and second cousins, children, infants, and "connections" (who were entitled to ordinary mourning for a period of "1β3 weeks, depending on level of intimacy"). Men were expected to wear mourning black to a lesser extent than women, and for a shorter mourning period. After the mid-19th century, men would wear a black hatband and black suit, but for only half the prescribed period of mourning expected of women. Widowers were expected to mourn for a mere three months, whereas the proper mourning period expected for widows was up to four years.<ref>{{cite book|last=Flanders|first=Judith|title=The Victorian House|year=2003|publisher=Harper Perennial|location=London|isbn=0-00-713189-5|pages=378β9}}</ref> Women who mourned in black for longer periods were accorded great respect in public for their devotion to the departed, the most prominent example being Queen Victoria herself. Women with lesser financial means tried to keep up with the example being set by the middle and upper classes by dyeing their daily dress. Dyers made most of their income during the Victorian period by dyeing clothes black for mourning.<ref>{{cite book|last=Flanders|first=Judith|title=The Victorian House|year=2003|publisher=Harper Perennial|location=London|isbn=0-00-713189-5|page=341}}</ref>
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