This may seem exaggerated, but if you examine the expressions, you will find that they are essentially true.

Draw the picture for yourself:  A slim figure, if you like, held in the posture of the caterpillar slouch, a long length of stocking so thin as to give the effect of shaded skin above high-heeled slippers with sparkling buckles of bright jet, a short skirt, a scrappy, thin, low-necked, short-sleeved blouse through which white underclothing shows various edgings of lace and ribbons, and on top of this, a painted face under a long crepe veil!  Yet the wearer of this costume may in nothing but appearance resemble the unmentionable class of women she suggests; as a matter of fact she is very likely a perfectly decent young person and really sad at heart, and her clothes and “make up” not different from countless others who pass unnoticed because their colored clothing suggests no mockery of solemnity.

=MOURNING WEAR FOR MEN=

The necessity of business and affairs which has made withdrawal into seclusion impossible, has also made it customary for the majority of men to go into mourning by the simple expedient of putting a black band on their hat or on the left sleeve of their usual clothes and wearing only white instead of colored linen.

A man never under any circumstances wears crepe.  The band on his hat is of very fine cloth and varies in width according to the degree of mourning from two and a half inches to within half an inch of the top of a high hat.  On other hats the width is fixed at about two and a half or three inches.  The sleeve band, from three and a half to four and a half inches in width, is of dull broadcloth on overcoats or winter clothing, and of serge on summer clothes.  The sleeve band of mourning is sensible for many reasons, the first being that of economy.  Men’s clothes do not come successfully from the encounter with dye vats, nor lend themselves to “alterations,” and an entire new wardrobe is an unwarranted burden to most.

Except for the one black suit bought for the funeral and kept for Sunday church, or other special occasion, only wealthy men or widowers go to the very considerable expense of getting a new wardrobe.  Widowers—­especially if they are elderly—­always go into black (which includes very dark gray mixtures) with a deep black band on the hat, and of course, black ties and socks and shoes and gloves.

=CONVENTIONS OF MOURNING FOR MEN=

Although the etiquette is less exacting, the standards of social observance are much the same for a man as for a woman.  A widower should not be seen at any general entertainment, such as a dance, or in a box at the opera, for a year; a son for six months; a brother for three—­at least!  The length of time a father stays in mourning for a child is more a matter of his own inclination.

=MOURNING LIVERY=

Coachmen and chauffeurs wear black liveries in town.  In the country they wear gray or even their ordinary whipcord with a black band on the left sleeve.