In 2011, I completed a Master's Degree from London College of Fashion (University of London) in Fashion Curation. During the program I undertook research and wrote academic papers on the topic of clothing collections and exhibitions in museums. With support from my course leaders; Amy de la Haye and Judith Clark, I chose Victorian Mourning Dress in England and the widow's peak cap as my thesis topic.

For my thesis I researched the origins and established practices of mourning during the Victorian period (1837-1901) through dress and attemped to find surviving widow's peak caps in museums throughout England. During my research I found no widow's peak caps in collections that were available to the public. This told me much about the attitude towards mourning dress in the Victorian period. Mourning dress was considered a temporary requirement to fulfill societal expectations. They were not treasured or kept with care.

As fashions changed during this period, only the most conservative Victorian women wore the widow's peak cap in it's original form. New styles of mourning dress were adopted by younger generations, although colours considered appropriate for mourning dress remained throughout the period.

This website is a digital representation of my master's thesis. Included are the research, the exhibition design, the objects in the exhibition and the details about those objects. I have included the texts from the exhibition, images and collection information from the museums they belong to. My entire thesis is not repesented here. I have arranged the pages and content in a way that I hope will be easy to read and understand.

I hope this website will inspire others, provide information to researchers and serve as a representation of a period of time in my life that was dedicated to my passion for historical dress. I am so grateful to everyone who supported me during this time.