Mourning dress
Not on view
On this gown, undulating bands of transparent mourning crape were applied to diaphanous mousseline de soie, gathered and pleated into fluidly draped flounces across bodice and skirt. This layering of delicate fabric to create subtle contrasts in texture typifies fashions of the early twentieth century, when ethereal textiles often belied the rigid understructures that morphed the body into the fashionable S-curve silhouette. The use of black silk mousseline and taffeta indicates that the wearer has transitioned into the second period of mourning, when a broader range of fabrics became permissible.
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