More on Mrs. Lincoln's [non] faux pas

[Gene C]

Also, I don't think that the professor noted whether President Lincoln was wearing black at the funeral. Maybe Professor Burlingame should devote a whole book to the funeral of Colonel Baker.

So much attention has been given to what Mary Lincoln wore, I'm a bit curious as to what Abraham wore. From what I can tell of the old black and white photo's, Mary wore a lot of color in her dresses. From the old black and white photo's of Abraham, he seems to wear a lot of black. I certainly can't picture him wearing a lavender coat to a funeral, or even to a more festive activity, like a night at the theater. Anyway, my absurd point is, if the fashion trend setting Abraham Lincoln knew what to wear to a funeral, surely his wife and dressmaker knew too. My theory is maybe she had somewhere important to go to immediately after the funeral (like a Bar Mitzvah) and didn't have time to change.