Rate the Dress: Mid Century Mourning The Dreamstress Mourning dress. Culture: American. Date: ca. 1845. During the first half of the nineteenth century, the growing circulation of fashion magazines offering guidance on appropriate mourning styles increased demand for mourning attire, Black Cotton Victorian Mourning Dress Steampunk Historical Halloween Funeral Costume Mourning Walking Dress, December 1818 CandiceHern.com