Ok, now we jump back 80 years! This is Victorian black crepe, an actual “long black veil”, if you know what I mean. Wow. The hem is 10” deep. This is Serious Mourning. - ThreadSky

megueyb.bsky.social • 19 hours ago

Ok, now we jump back 80 years! This is Victorian black crepe, an actual “long black veil”, if you know what I mean. Wow. The hem is 10” deep. This is Serious Mourning.

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braceofpeacocks.bsky.social•14 hours ago

Oh, this is incredible 😍 what a find!

megueyb.bsky.social•7 hours ago

I’ve only seen ones like this in museum collections before, and it would be SO easy for someone to glance at it, decide it was a curtain, & away it would go. Except there’s no curtain rod pocket, so then someone would get frustrated, and then it would wind up in the trash.

braceofpeacocks.bsky.social•6 hours ago

I'm so glad someone stuffed it in a bag until it could find its way to you instead of throwing it out 😭 I love that texture, the way texture stands out in mourning textiles due to the absence of other decoration is one of my favorite things about studying it.

megueyb.bsky.social•6 hours ago

It’s so distinctive! I’ve always thought mourning crepe was meant to look like rain.

megueyb.bsky.social•19 hours ago

(Please note: I’m describing the images in the text, so there’s no alt text. If there is one with alt text, I’ll say so!)

megueyb.bsky.social•19 hours ago

The donor said these were all in her grandmother’s estate, and she’s had them for decades. The donor is 78, so born in 1947. So her grandmother was probably born around 1900. The veil is probably the donor’s great-grandmother’s, possibly great-great-grandmother’s.

megueyb.bsky.social•18 hours ago

Next layer: a 1950s version of the earlier commercially stamped cloth for the home needleworker to finish. (Description in alt text)

braceofpeacocks.bsky.social•14 hours ago

I see the designer didn't want to draw hands any more than the rest of us ever do (unless they're actually outline there and were just never sewn)

megueyb.bsky.social•7 hours ago

You are correct, there are no hands! Her right is tucked behind her skirt and her left is behind the pillar beside her.

megueyb.bsky.social•18 hours ago

Check out the ruffle on this bedspread: little bonnets in pink, blue, and yellow, on pale blue. Soooo “little girls room c 1952” Either you went space-age, or you went retro. That’s just the way it was.

megueyb.bsky.social•18 hours ago

Fully modern iron on patches, of stars, an heart, a daisy, a red hat with a purple ribbon, and the word “varsity” on a blue banner. These cannot be older than 2000, as they have a web address on the back. The donor must have tucked these in at a later date.

megueyb.bsky.social•18 hours ago

A little under a yard of shear white organza with a deep band of white embroidered roses at the edge - left over from a wedding dress?

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