First in a series of Curator’s Cache objects, this exquisite black silk dress dates from the early nineteen-teens, probably about 1913. It is both as ornate as a Victorian dress with embroidery and chiffon embellishments; and as simple as an Edwardian dress with clean lines and an absence of corseting superstructure. It may have been a mourning dress as it is all black with no color and the only ornamentation is of jet which was considered the most appropriate trim for mourning.

A small jet specimen

Jet is a mineraloid related to coal. It is formed from decaying wood over several million years. Some of the most famous jet comes from Yorkshire in the north of England. In 1861 when Prince Albert died, Queen Victoria set the fashion for widows to wear jet jewelry. Jet became so popular that the mines and manufacturers could not keep up with the demand and so black glass and obsidian were often substituted. Oddly, fake jet made of other materials such as glass retains its shiny appearance while real jet clouds over with a grayish cast over time. This surface can be rubbed off easily revealing the shiny material underneath. Looking closely at the ornamentation on this dress one can clearly see areas where the tiny jet beads have clouded as well as areas where we have polished them to show how they would have appeared when this dress was new.

The garment’s label gives us a tiny clue