Death Becomes Her @ The MET

Worth a visit to the Metropolitan Museum, the exhibition - www.metmuseum.org/deathbecomesher - explores the aesthetic development and cultural implications of mourning fashions of the 19th and early 20th centuries. Approximately 30 ensembles, many of which are being exhibited for the first time, reveal the impact of high-fashion standards on the dictates of bereavement rituals as they evolved over a century.  

The exhibition is organized chronologically and features mourning dress from 1815 to 1915, primarily from The Costume Institute’s collection. The calendar of bereavement’s evolution and cultural implications are illuminated through women’s clothing and accessories - some fabulous shawls and jewelry - showing the progression of appropriate fabrics from mourning crape/crepe to corded silks, and the later introduction of color with shades of gray and mauve. 

On view now at the MET through to February 1, 2015.