A Victorian Mourning Blouse

An antique mourning cabinet card

Happy Sunday dear friends. I hope that you're having a great weekend!

For Christmas my son and daughter-in-law sent me an Etsy gift certificate. They know me too well I think! In any case, I decided to randomly search for something that was a little special and something that I just wouldn't normally buy myself. In honor of my son, who when he last came to visit thought my art studio was a good source of "props" for photo shoots, I decided to by a Victorian mourning blouse. Why? I have no idea. I don't even know how I found it. And I can't really say that I personally like to wear black clothing. Nor am I a fan of  goth or steam-punk fashions. But when I stumbled upon this beauty for a rather-low-on-sale price, I just couldn't resist. So, I now have one more "prop" in my studio. And although I don't really have any morbid curiosities, I did become fascinated with Victorian mourning dress and customs after purchasing this item. I guess I just love all fashions from Victorian times. You know that I like to use some black in my photo collage work, so I also ended up buying some other items which I will share in future posts.

Here she is. 

She likely dates from the 1890's to 1910 or so.

I am sure that this piece,

which is totally hand sewn and

made of silk with velvet accents,

started out as black.

Over time the silk has faded to a 

gun metal-taupish color, 

but the velvet still looks black.

Considering its age,

its in perfect condition,

with only a button missing in the front.

It still even has the boning sewn inside!

Isn't it gorgeous?...

Here is the back.

I love the button detail down at the waist...

...not to mention the lace at the collar

and the velvet inset with the velvet-

covered buttons used on the entire piece...

Here are some detail shots of the

back at the waist...

And I practiced with one of my new

Canon lenses.

Not the macro lens that I told you about

the other day,

but my 50mm fixed lens,

one that has a very short fixed focal length.

"Real photographers" call it 

The Nifty Fifty!

Since you can't focus it

you must move your body to where

you need to be to get the shot.

It's great for closeups and blurring

the background, very lightweight,

and pretty cheap!...

A shot of one of the velvet cuffs...

I found myself wondering who the lady was that had worn this lovely blouse. 

Who did she mourn for, and how old was she?

The waist on this garment is tiny, about 21 to 22 inches.

Was she very young?

Did she mourn for a child? A parent? A husband?

I read that it was considered bad luck to keep morning clothes in the house after mourning ended.

Is that why you can still find these?

We can only wonder about those that have gone before us.

Though I am a little late,

I am linking to Wen's Simply Neutrals Tuesday link party,

and you can find her wonderful blog here.