Fashion Victims - Arsenic Dyes and the Victorians

[Donna McCreary]

In addition to arsenic, other chemicals were used in fashion. When a woman went into mourning, she was required to wear dull, black clothing. The color was "dead black." A veil made of crepe was worn on top of her bonnet and over her face -- for privacy. People were not suppose to speak to a woman with a veil over her face. Crepe was made of silk, which had been repeatedly twisted and treated with a gum residue to reduce its glossiness. It was then soaked in water, rubbed with ash, and allowed to dry and crimp to increase the dullness of its texture. The final step was another gumming or shellacking process. It was not only dull – it was scratchy and smelly.
It soon became discolored due to the shellacking process. It is thought that formaldehyde was used to create crepe. Therefore, when a woman covered her face with a veil, she was breathing in toxic fumes. It gives an entire new meaning to the phrase ‘getting the vapors.”