In the long history of the mourning dresses, the Industrial Revolution affected the practice of wearing mourning dress. It created the new rules of fashion especially in the middle class which was brought by the technological advances. By the mid 19th century, the wearing of appropriate mourning dress was a sign of respectability.
Queen Victoria had an influence on this fashions of mourning dress from the mid to the late 1800's. After the death of her husband, Queen Victoria wore clothes in black color until her own death in 1901. During Victorian times, the type of mourning dress and the length of time one wore it was circumscribed by etiquette instead of sumtuary laws. A widow wore mourning dress for more than two years.
Full mourning lasted a full year and consisted of clothing made of dull black fabrics without embellishment or jewelry. A women in full mourning wore a veil to cover her face when she left the house. She avoided balls and frivolous events during that time.
After a year had passed, the widow added small trimmings and simple jewelry. Later, that second year, the widow would add some color. Gray, mauve, and duller shades of purple and violet were suitable at that time. But in most cases, the mourning dresses are in the black which would show the solemnness and the respect.
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