Interesting. The description makes it clear that this is in fact a half-mourning dress, as a full-mourning dress (one worn in the first weeks or months of mourning) would not allow for any color except black.
Long time no see. My attention has been diverted to other pursuits. But I've just come across a post about neckties in the 19th century and remembered the old discussion about them here.http://dresslikeagrownup.blogspot.fr/2012/08/taking-stock-of-cravat.html?m=1Apparently, the modern tie as we know it took hold in the 1890s.
The death of Prince Albert ushered in the Great Victorian Gloom, the Blackening of just about everything for the next half-century. Clothes got a great deal more monochromatic, and the only acceptable cheeriness of white details in one's clothing suddenly achieved a new importance.
I'm glad to have this rumor confirmed:I'd heard this was the case but couldn't find anything in print. Weird that this British trend would take hold universally, but apparently, we're all mourners now (and have been for more than a century-and-a-half). Yes, we've had Prince Albert in a can, but we've also had him, all this time, on our backs. Why can't we quit the guy?