Bedikian Sonia A
New York University, USA.
Omega (Westport). 2008;57(1):35-52. doi: 10.2190/OM.57.1.c.
Mourning is a natural response to loss. In the late eighteenth century and throughout the nineteenth century, in England and France, the bereaved was expected to follow a complex set of rules, particularly among the upper classes, with women more bound to adhere to these customs than men. Such customs involved wearing heavy, concealing, black costume and the use of black crepe veils. Special black caps and bonnets were worn with these ensembles. Widows were expected to wear these clothes up to four years after their loss to show their grief. Jewelry often made of dark black jet or the hair of the deceased was used. To remove the costume earlier was thought disrespectful to the deceased. Formal mourning culminated during the reign of Queen Victoria. Her prolonged grief over the death of her husband, Prince Albert, had much to do with the practice. During the succeeding Edwardian rule, the fashions began to be more functional and less restrictive, but the dress protocol for men and women, including that for the period of mourning, was still rigidly adhered to. When World War I began, many women joined the workforce. Most widows attempted to maintain the traditional conventions of mourning, but with an increase in the number of casualties, it became impractical for them to interrupt their work in order to observe the seclusion called for by formal mourning etiquette. Never had the code of mourning been less strictly applied than during this period. The mourning outfits of the time were modest and made of practical materials. Little jewelry and few other accessories were used. Certain aspects of traditional mourning were still followed, such as the use of jet beading, crepe trim, and widows' caps. However, the hemlines fell above the ankle, the veil was used to frame the face instead of cover it, and the v-neckline left the chest and neck bare. During the following decades, gradually the rules were relaxed further and it became acceptable for both sexes to dress in dark colors for up to a year after a death in the family.
哀悼是对失去的一种自然反应。在18世纪末和整个19世纪，在英国和法国，尤其是在上层阶级中，丧亲者需要遵循一系列复杂的规则，女性比男性更受这些习俗的约束。这些习俗包括穿着厚重、隐蔽的黑色服装，使用黑色绉纱面纱。搭配这些服装要佩戴特殊的黑色帽子和无边帽。寡妇在失去亲人后要穿这些衣服长达四年以表达她们的悲痛。常用由深黑色煤玉或死者头发制成的珠宝。过早脱去服装被认为是对死者的不尊重。正式的哀悼在维多利亚女王统治时期达到顶峰。她对丈夫阿尔伯特亲王去世的长期悲痛与这种习俗有很大关系。在随后的爱德华时代，时尚开始更注重实用性且限制更少，但男女的着装规范，包括哀悼期间的规范，仍然被严格遵守。第一次世界大战爆发时，许多女性加入了劳动力大军。大多数寡妇试图维持传统的哀悼习俗，但随着伤亡人数的增加，她们为了遵守正式哀悼礼仪要求的隐居而中断工作变得不切实际。哀悼规范从未像在这个时期那样被如此宽松地执行。当时的哀悼服装朴素，由实用材料制成。很少使用珠宝和其他配饰。传统哀悼的某些方面仍然被遵循，比如使用煤玉珠饰、绉边装饰和寡妇帽。然而，裙摆落在脚踝以上，面纱用于勾勒脸部轮廓而非遮盖脸部，V领露出胸部和颈部。在接下来的几十年里，规则逐渐进一步放宽，在家人去世后长达一年的时间里，男女穿着深色服装都变得可以接受。
