Dyeing for Belonging: Community & Commemoration

A woman of the nineteenth-century often carried the burden of being the visible embodiment of grief for her entire family. Prescribed timelines for dress could cloak her in darkness for years on end as mourning periods to commemorate family members overlapped. But the enforced wardrobe of bereavement also offered a conspicuous signal to caution for all who approached her, radiating a silent power that regulated the actions of others. Mourning dress warned associates to think before speaking; it served as both a reminder of the presence of sorrow and a shield for the vulnerable. Human desire for a community of inclusion and acceptance also exposes our vulnerability. How do we know who to trust? Members of subcultures often choose to dress in a way that drastically separates them from the general public, but one that is often perceived as nearly identical to other members of their community. Within the Goth subculture grim sartorial pieces, reinterpreting the wardrobe of melancholy, serve as identifiers, a means to find others who share an ideology, in this case a frank affirmation of the intertwined dance of life and death. This nonverbal communication not only proclaims an ethos, but is a message to attract others who share a sameness, and when worn as part of a group, forms a protective unified shelter against the incomprehension of the unlike. A community of connection and support is built through visual reflection, and dress becomes a visible claim on belonging, even when imbued with the reminder of death.