Crape mourning veil

[madamekat]

This weekend I scored an antique crape mourning veil. It's 17" wide and has a 2" hem at the bottom. Seems kind of short...I always seem to be reading that veils were a yard long with a hem a foot wide! The longer the veil and the deeper the hem, the more respect was shown the dead. I wonder for whom a person would mourn with such a scanty veil

Comments

[chloeandrudy]

Neat! I've never seen real crape before.

[madamekat]

I stalk it on Ebay all the time. Crape bonnets pop up often enough, and recently one sold for a price I could have afforded had I been around at the end of the auction. So mad at myself for not putting in an early bid!

Widow's Weeds made a few great gowns out of some crape she found. I drool over her work all the time!
http://www.flickr.com/photos/8961860@N07/sets/72157606951685316/

[madamekat]

Not bad for 20 bucks, eh?

Thanks for the info on the arsenic! I know that many doctors felt that breathing through the crape veil was bad for a lady's health, and some ended up with respiratory problems (or so I've read). Ladies were told to pin it back from the face at all times unless in public to lessen the possibility of its ill-affects.

I did find some crinkle crepe at Jomar, but it doesn't have the organza-like feel, is soft, and the crinkles are not as deep and noticable. I'd have to starch it a little! I got 4 yards in order to trim a bonnet and pop some trim on a gown one of these days.

[valleyviolet]

It could have been someone in mourning for a person they wouldn't normally go into deep mourning for (like a friend) or someone who wanted to follow the custom but simply could not afford any more than this. Either one seems like a sad story. :(