1860's Black Dress with Sheer Overlay and overskirt

Civil War Era / Victorian Black Mourning Dress SM AS IS

From the Seller

This CW Era dress has a bodice made from black silk, lined in tan cotton, it has light boning and hooks down the front. The bodice has an over laying fabric of sheer, light weight gauze with a small window pane woven pattern. This silk over laying fabric is in terrible condition. It has dome shaped, crochet buttons over the hooks down the front, The black silk has repairs under the arms, some small tears and frays as well. The skirt has the window pane fabric over cotton, there's numerous tears in the skirt as well and what isn't torn is very fragile. There are 3 panels attached at the waist of the sheer fabric trimmed around the edges with a border of silk taffeta. These panels are not bad, there's a longer, wider one in back and shorter ones on the sides. they are backed with a cotton gauze fabric. The dress has dropped shoulders with self piping in the seam and ivory lace collar and cuffs which are good. Overall condition is very poor, sold as is. It measures 35 inches around the bust, waist is 27 and is 54 3/4 inches long. AS IS   

From the Industrious Lady 

OH dear, this poor dress has been through a lot hasn't it. At one point I'm sure it was a ladies best dress but now it lies unloved and in tatters. It would have a home in my own collection but it looks like it will fall apart pretty easily. It does have a nice example of late war fashion, and since black was such a common fashion color, it most likely was not a purely mourning dress. The net overlay would have been a huge fashion no no for the stages of mourning, except maybe light mourning. The idea was that the wearer who put on their mourning wear would appear as demure and bleak aas much as possible which sounds crazy to us in the modern age, since black tends to stick out like a sore thumb against natural settings, but fashion and traditions aren't always about making sense. A true black mourning dress for the deepest mourning stages would only be decorated with crepe. As the months went by certain colors and fabrics were considered still mourning and acceptable to use, none of whcih included the netting overlayed on silk like above.  It also was not dyed black, the net would keep the black dye from reaching the fabric underneath and with all the different fiber contents of the net, the silk, and the cotton, each piece would take the black dye differently and be very noticeable.  Black home dyes from the era were also very unreliable and did not hold their color well, and in such a worn dress we would be able to see where the color had rubbed off in areas. I think we can safely puts aside the idea that this was a mourning dress. Since the skirt is so well balanced around the full wasist, but it still has an overskirt that puts more emphasis on the back, it most likely comes from 1863 or so. 

a black dress with a sheer or net neckline and sleeves. Clearly a fashion dress, not mourning

An 1861 English dress showing a lady who has just entered indoors and taken off her lace shawl or bonnet veil. Very clearly a visiting or promenade dress, not mourning