Reading the Regency

Mourning - An Introduction

The poorest in society, who sometimes only had one or two sets of clothes to their name, might only be able to pin a piece of black ribbon or a scrap of crape to their everyday dress. Slightly better off working families could dye an existing item of clothing or buy something second-hand.

Those that could afford it would order brand new mourning clothes for the whole family. It was considered bad luck to keep mourning dresses and bonnets in the house ready to be used again, although reusing old cloaks and pelisses seems to have been acceptable. In cases where a death occurs while the family was still in mourning from a previous loss, new mourning clothes would not have been expected. They would just wear their current mourning for longer.

Cassell's Household Guide of 1869 mentions that "...it has been customary for mourning apparel not to be put on until the day of the funeral but at the present time it is more usual to wear it as soon as possible."

I haven't yet found an early 19th-century source to confirm whether the "customary" practice existed during the Regency period but it makes sense, given that there was no ready-made mourning available at the beginning of the century, and all items of clothing were then stitched by hand.

If a family went into mourning, it would take a few days to have black clothes ready to wear. For a large family, it might easily take a week for everyone to have something ready for the funeral, so I wouldn't be at all surprised that mourning clothes were worn for the first time on the day of the funeral.

Men's mourning was far less onerous and noticeable, compared to women. Men might wear black coats and trousers or breeches even when they were not in mourning, while women rarely wore black unless they were in mourning. The main exception to this seems to be older widows who either continued wearing black long after their official mourning had ended, or those mature ladies who even then appreciated how flattering black could be to a fuller figure.

Black Armbands were only worn in military circles during the Regency period, as men who had to remain in uniform could not choose the colour of their coat. During this time, a piece of black crape was worn below the elbow, on the left forearm. They also wore crape on their sword knot and upon the cockade on their hat. This instruction seems to have originated with Court mourning, which frequently advised that "his Majesty does not require, that the officers of the army or navy should wear any other mourning on the present melancholy Occasion than a black crape round their left arm, with their uniforms."

In Britain, armbands were not commonly worn by non-military mourners until the Victorian era. However, in America, a band of black crape around the arm had been used to identify a man in mourning since the Revolutionary war, while ladies wore a black ribbon in their head dress. One writer in England commented on how much easier and cheaper the business of mourning would be if we followed the example of our American cousins!

Materials used for Mourning Dress

"Families going into mourning are requested to inspect their very extensive stock of black goods, viz. Italian Muslins, Bombazeens, Rasdimores for Widows; Armorzeens, Dress Barcelona Serges, Lutestrings, Double and Single Taffeties, Cyprus Sarsnets, &c. Warranted for wear, and Bombazets for servants, from 1s to 2s 6d per yard."
[Advertisement from Robarts & Plowman, Chandos Street, Covent Garden, Chester Chronicle, pub. 1st February 1799]

Different types of material were used for mourning wear. Dull, flat materials with no shine were used for first mourning, while shiny or glossy material, such as black silk or satin, was more suitable for second or court mourning. Black Chamois leather (often written as Chamoy) was used for shoes and gloves.