The exhibition looks at the way black has been used in women’s dress over the last two centuries. As the colour of mourning, its sobriety expressed social condition as widow’s weeds, particularly in the High Victorian Era after the death of Prince Albert. However, in the Twentieth Century mourning became less of a strict social necessity after the Great War, and black began to be seen as a statement of style and sophistication, epitomised by the simple ‘little black dress’. The exhibition also shows how black is used by costume designers to create mood or character on the screen.
