"Close mourning, more commonly called _deep_ mourning, is usually worn only for the nearest relations--a husband, parents, child, brother, or sister. A widow's mourning, called 'weeds' in England, is not so distinct in this country. There the close tarleton or muslin cap, with its crimped border, is its accompaniment for a year at least. The fashion has of late years been adopted in this country, particularly in New York, where it is so common as not longer to excite the curiosity it called out at first, when worn by young persons. Bombazine, trimmed with folds of crape (the dress, mantilla, and bonnet), with a veil of double Italian or heavy English crape, is considered the deepest mourning. Nothing white, as collar, cuffs, or undersleeves, is worn by those who thus follow the dictates of fashion, even in their sorrow, through the first six months or year. "Another style--also considered deep, and usually worn for parents or children--allows of a variety of material, as black cashmere, mousseline, Tamese cloth, alpaca, etc. etc., trimmed with silk or ribbon, even plain braids and galloons. Undersleeves and collars of Swiss muslin, tarleton, or linen, relieve the sombre shade, and add a neatness to the dress which it can never have where black crape is used for the purpose. This is the most general style. "A lighter mourning is black silk trimmed lightly with crape, mode bonnet, etc. etc. "Again, half mourning admits of as great a variety in shade and material as colors; lead and stone colors being considered appropriate; lavender, and even deep purple, are often used. What is thus denominated 'dressy black,' or, by the witty author of 'How to get Married,' 'mitigated grief,' seems to us to lose the sacredness with which sorrow usually invests the dress of a mourner. "In choosing mourning goods, the first essential, _even before quality_, is a good shade of black, neither blue nor rusty; a dead, solid color is considered most desirable. If possible, have the dress, mantle, and bonnet from the same piece, either in bombazine or silk. It gives the whole dress the same shade, and will wear alike. Never get a cheap material in black; it will be sure to fade or grow rusty. Here, especially, _the dearest is always the cheapest in the end_. For constant wear, we prefer cashmeres, or even plain mousselines, to bombazines. Black English chintzes make nice morning-dresses, and fade very little in washing. For summer wear, _barèges_, silk tissues, and grenadines are considered deep mourning. The cross-barred _barège_ is the strongest, and grenadines of good quality will wear several years. "Although not exactly belonging to our present purpose, we would mention that drawn hats of crape and grenadine, or even black straws trimmed with crape, are appropriate to the second style of dress we have mentioned, when the heat of the weather is too great for bombazine and silk.