Unboxing Victorian Mourning: Dress, Human Hair Jewellery & Postmortem Photos

Video Description

Step into the fascinating and eerie world of Victorian mourning traditions. In this unboxing video, Curators Ruth and Lydia reveal a real Victorian mourning outfit, intricate jewellery made from human hair, and haunting postmortem photographs once used to memorialise the dead. Discover how grief, love, and art intertwined during the 19th century — from jet jewellery and veils to specific mourning cards and their meanings. We'll also explore the touching (and sometimes unsettling) practice of Victorian postmortem photography, where families captured their final memories with the departed. #VictorianMourning #HairJewellery #PostmortemPhotography #VictorianFashion #MourningDress #DarkHistory #AntiqueUnboxing #VictorianEra #MacabreAntiques #historicalfashion Dedicated to the memory of Andy Luckett-Duffill (1967 – 2025) 🖤 Timestamps: 00:00 The Victorian cult of mourning 00:47 Unboxing Victorian mourning clothing 02:30 Victorian mourning jewellery – jet brooch, necklaces, tiara 04:44 Human hair jewellery and its symbolism 08:45 Postmortem photography explained 09:32 Mourning cards 12:50 How mourning customs have changed 🔔 Subscribe for unboxing and historical fashion content ‪@vamuseum 💀 See more spooky objects https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLe2ihXndm5jvB5U9p2LZkErXqD7H26ur6&si=Na4Ylj_cEZ9ES6Ru 👗 Dive deeper into fashion from across time, with our Fashion Unpicked series https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLe2ihXndm5jvJsAP3AOHQz4FcgUki-nLx&si=sfq3gFQhygT3PVn7 📷 See how Victorian Ghost Photography relates to today over on mused: https://www.vam.ac.uk/mused/random/victorian-ghost-photography-to-drake-in-six-steps/