Mourning hat 1886 - 1890

This mourning hat was made by West’s, likely in the late 19th or early 20th century, using a somber palette of textiles and feathers. The hat is constructed from black crape, velvet, feathers and ribbons, shaped over a stiff buckram frame. Mourning attire, especially hats, were a strict social requirement for women during the Victorian era, signalling their grief and status to the wider world. This particular hat's velvet trim and elaborate feather arrangement signals a degree of wealth, or at least social standing. The crape, a crimped silk gauze, was particularly symbolic of mourning. The production of these hats, and the materials they comprised, involved specialized trades, from silk weaving to feather dressing, which were often gendered and divided along class lines. So in viewing this hat, we are considering the wearer, her class, and the many hands and skills that contributed to its making. This hat becomes more than an object of fashion. It is a cultural artifact embodying rituals, labour, and social distinctions.