Mourning periods in nineteenth-century Brazilian magazines

ABSTRACT

The rules of mourning attire during the second half of the nineteenth century were very elaborate and stipulated which materials or colors should be used in what type of clothes and for how long. Mastering these details was a complicated task, made more difficult because information changed from one source to another. This article, which is part of a larger study on the mourning attire in nineteenth-century Brazil, intends to clarify one of its most problematic aspects: its duration. This article will look at publications from that era in Rio de Janeiro - the ones that periodically outlined the rules of mourning attire - discuss their divergences, and show one of the consequences of the long mourning periods: the desire to diminish them, despite their significance.

Keywords:
mourning; mourning attire; nineteenth century; publications