Old Rags

Mourning dress for women, teens and children, 1917 France, Le Petit Echo de la Mode

The elaborate rituals of public mourning were in decline by 1917, mainly because WWI had given people way too many reasons to mourn and because it was impractical for women, who were just beginning to enter the workforce.  Previously, wealthy women were expected to buy a new wardrobe adhering to strict rules for full mourning, which usually lasted a year.  Afterwards, this clothing just sat around taking up space until there was another death in the family.  Women who could not afford to do this dyed their regular clothing black.  I can’t find anything to support this but I imagine that people during WWI saw buying clothing you rarely wore as wasteful, especially since good citizens were supposed to be conserving fabric.