…This dress represent what was known as slight mourning, or sometimes as second mourning. Fabrics for both deep and slight mourning were meant to have no shine or sheen, but…

…incorporated additional sentiments — seed pearls signified tears, black enamel for mourning married persons, white enamel for mourning children and unmarried adults. Figure 4, c1790. Familiar allegories and symbols of…

…full and half morning, variously called ordinary mourning, second mourning, or slight mourning. The latter term is most often used in the ladies’ magazines. Slight mourning still required black fabrics,…

…black, these are clearly for half-mourning. The king’s brother, the Duke of Gloucester, had died on August 25, and full court mourning was proclaimed on September 1. Full, deep mourning…

La Belle Assemblée, December 1810. “Evening Dress.” This dress is described as for Second Mourning, which is the equivalent of Half Mourning. It represents mourning for Princess Amelia, the King’s…

…slight mourning or ordinary mourning, not the unrelieved black of full mourning. The description indicates how to change it to half-mourning by use of a grey or white under-dress. The…

…25, and full court mourning was proclaimed on September 1. Full, deep mourning would have been declared for 4-6 weeks for a member of the royal family. By mid-October, half-mourning…

Ackermann’s Repository of Arts, December 1811. “Mourning Dress” When fashion plates show mourning attire, it is generally because of a public mourning for the death of a member of the…

…and the official dates for mourning. They also showed dresses for mourning. In Ackermann’s Repository of Arts, both fashion prints for this month showed mourning attire. Even more indicative of…

…periods explain the abundance of mourning prints at this time. First stages of public mourning would have required all black, but by December, a month after the Princess’s death, gray…