Historians mark the period of 1850 - 1890 as the height of the "cult of mourning". Perhaps the strongest influence on this was Queen Victoria who went into deepest mourning after the death of Prince Albert in 1861 and retained it until her death in 1901. Mourning became in many ways the ultimate status symbol. Women were the most affected by the elaborate mourning practices. Men and children were to a large extent, exempted from most of the complicated rules.

Until the early 19th century black was not the sole color of mourning - it showed equal status with white. But beginning in the early 1800's black superceded all other colors as the primary color of mourning. Gray, shades of lavender and mauve were also used but expressed lesser degrees of grief.

Equally important as the color was the fabric. The fabric that expressed the deepest mourning was 'crape' a type of black crimped silk. Crape in the 19th century was vastly different from today's fashion fabric of the same name. This crape was closely associated with mourning because of its matte finish and dull surface. It was used to cover clothing fabric, as well as veiling,
armbands and trim.

A widow's dress for instance was made of black bombazine which did not shine or reflect light, then covered with a layer of crape. Her bonnet was covered in crape and a crape veil covered her face. As the period of mourning decreased
so did her crape.

The time of mourning was strictly regulated as was the type depending upon the degree of kinship to the deceased. In general there were four stages of mourning: deep mourning, second mourning, ordinary mourning and half-mourning.

The most difficult burden of mourning fell on the widow. It was the most closely regulated and the lengthiest of all the periods of mourning. Widowers were free to remarry without any restrictions and were often encouraged to do so. Widows were in deep mourning for two years. No Jewelry, ribbon or even shiny buttons were to be worn. After a year and a day she could lessen the crape for nine more months but her dress still had to include some crape.