Natural Form Mourning Dress

From the seller:

4 matching pieces of Victorian mourning clothing.. a small tie on hat, a shrouding veil, a fitted long sleeved jacket and a bustle skirt. The hat has label as shown; J ROTHSCHILD, Importer, Paris, Rue D' Enshien; New York, Fourteenth St; Brooklyn, Fulton St; Philadelphia, Chestnut St;
Boston, Boylston St. The other pieces do not have labels, but they are an absolute match...I believe with restoration, this would be museum quality or close to it. Unsure but I think the material is a silk faille with accents of crinkly silk crape or crepe. The hat is in excellent condition and measures 5.5" x 6", with approx 28" grosgrain ribbon ties and rosette. The shrouding veil measures approx 44 x 50 inches with a 7 inch hem, made of the crinkly silk crepe, with a few tiny holes. The jacket measures shoulder to shoulder - 14.5 inches, neck to longest 'tail' - 26 inches, waist approx 22" and sleeve 18.6 ". There is one heavy ball button missing, there are several tan spots on the front and a small hole on a back "tail" flap...smaller than a pea. The jacket is lined with brown material and accented with more of the crepe material. The skirt waist is approx 23 inches and needs repair; the length is about 38 inches. There are copious layers and pleats and bustle ruffles, also heavily accented with silk crepe. lined with same brown material - with some stains. The make and details are incredible, please see photos which will help explain my description....ask questions as needed and more pix available. This is wrinkled and rumply... it was packed in an old suitcase...it has an odor of very slight caramel...not mold or musty..it has been aired out on the line and I did not dare attempt to clean spots or press the wrinkles.

From Me:

1879 Peterson's Via Pintuck Style

I thought this was the most appropriate to post in light of what happen in Paris.  There are times I wish some of the Victorian dress codes would come back - this is one of them.  All those who understand that intentionally targeting innocent civilians, particularly a few thousand miles outside a declared theater of operations, is beyond repulsive and monstrous would have worn black.  It would not necessarily have been to the lengths of this extant dress - the crepe indicates a family member had passed- but dark, drab colors for national (or world) mourning was also expected.   Some would wear just a band of black around the sleeve of their uniform while others would wear full black or even full mourning attire.

There is an excellent post over on Adventures in Cemetery Hopping regarding mourning in the Victorian age.