7 Fascinating Facts about Victorian Women

The Victorian Era was an interesting time in history. We still admire the fashion and what people looked like based on the pictures and paintings we see from that time. But it was also a very strange time, and once you dig deeper you find out that all those pretty pictures are just the top layer that’s hiding a whole bunch of fascinating and sometimes bizarre things. So let’s talk about some of these things.

1. Black Clothing Was Super Popular

You might think that it looked very chic, but the real reason behind black clothing was high levels of pollution. There was so much dust in the air, mostly from coal, that it simply didn’t make sense to wear light colors. If you wore a white dress, it would become grey very quickly, so most women opted for black dresses.

2. Mourning Rings

Another strange thing that Victorians did was wearing mourning jewelry. Women would often have rings made of black onyx to symbolize mourning for the deceased person, and what’s even weirder they would often have a piece of hair encapsulated instead of a gem, to remember the person who passed away.

3. Crying Actresses For Funerals

It was very common for people to hire women to cry at funerals, especially in cases when the deceased didn’t have much family or a wife. So people would hire women to cry hysterically at funerals to make the person who died seem loved and sorely missed.