Mary Lincoln's Fashions

[Donna McCreary]

At the reception on Feb.5, 1862, Mary wore a white silk gown with dozens of black flowers to express her sympathy for Queen Victoria due to Prince Albert's death on Dec.14.
Does any picture of this dress exist?

There is not a photograph, but there is an engraving of the gown Mary wore on Feb. 5, 1862. There is not one mention in any contemporary piece that Mary wore "dozens of black flowers" that evening. Her white silk gown was trimmed with flounces of black lace and black bows. In her book, Julia Taft Bayne wrote that even though there were rumors that Mary wore mourning to express sympathy for Queen Victoria, in reality, she did not for to do so would not have been received well by the American public.
For a detailed description of Mary's gown, please see page 73 of Fashionable First Lady: The Victorian Wardrobe of Mary Lincoln.