Response By
Nidia Martinez
Mary Jane McClary’s Mourning Dress, about 1890
corded silk Gift of Mrs. J.W. Scarffe, London, 1966Response
The construction, the types of fabrics used, women rights, and the industrial revolution all come to mind when I look at this dress. But what hits me first is the beauty of it. It makes me think of a time when the trend in fashion was an amazing mix of Romance and a morbid obsession with Death. To me a Dress of Mourning, whether you lost a child, spouse or a family member, is a gorgeous representation of Everlasting Love.
Nidia Martinez teaches in the Faculty of Fashion Design at Fanshawe College. A specialist in historical sewing, she has worked as a seamstress and manager at Novak’s in London. Nidia is a member of The Shadowood Collective, a group of multidisciplinary artists with a shared interest in aesthetics of the macabre. She has designed wardrobe for music videos, including Johnny Hollow’s “This Hollow World” and Iskwe’s “Little Star.”