Mourning Dress to McQueen: How Fashion Has Negotiated Death Across Cultures

Dr. Denise Green, a fashion anthropologist at Cornell University and the director of the Costume and Textile Collection, posits that clothing plays a crucial role in managing mortality, signifying the beginnings and ends of life. Her studies on the Hupacasath people of Vancouver Island reveal that garments of the deceased are incinerated to break connections, while the Toraja of Indonesia utilize layered textiles for funerals, and the Asante of Ghana don adinkra cloths for mourning. Fashion researcher Sephra Lamothe highlights how death can alter an object's narrative. The evolution of Western mourning attire, from the dark wool of ancient Rome to the black garments of the 18th century, was notably shaped by Queen Victoria's grief after Prince Albert's passing in 1861. By 1900, mourning fashion had become a commercial sector, with the strict association of black loosening, especially following Chanel's introduction of the little black dress in 1926. Designers such as Alexander McQueen and Comme des Garçons also delve into themes of mortality within their work.