Grieving in the Victorian era involved many rules, spoken and unspoken, about how survivors behaved in public, what they wore, and how they communicated. This fashion for prolonged grief was inspired by Queen Victoria, who remained in deep mourning for her husband Prince Albert after his death in 1861. Join Robert B. Dimmick, Etiquetteer, for a look at mourning customs of the 19th century, including jewelry, fashion, correspondence, censure, and kindness.

Costume  exhibition courtesy of the National Society of the Colonial Dames of  America in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts (NSCDA-MA).