Usage

• A veil is an accessory almost always worn by women. Widows sometimes wear a veil to her husband's wake and funeral services and may continue to wear it for a period of mourning. Other close female relatives, such as fiancees, mothers, daughters and sisters, may also to wear one.
  
  

Significance

• Wearing a veil signifies deep mourning. It also gives the wearer a measure of privacy when she has to appear in public during a deeply emotional time.
  
  

Styles

• In modern America, funeral veils tend to modest in length. Some are eye or chin length and come attached to a hat. They may also be a chin-, shoulder- or waist-length piece of material that is simply draped over the top of the head. Veils can cover the face or they can be designed to cover the head, ears and neck, leaving the face exposed.
  
  

Protocol

• Today, whether a woman wears a veil depends on her personal preference and whether her religious customs decree it. However, there have been times when society dictated that veils be worn no matter what. For example, during the Victorian Era, between 1837 and 1901, the detailed etiquette for mourning required that a crepe veil be attached to the front and back of a woman's bonnet.
  
  

Corpse Veil

• A corpse veil covers the body of the deceased when it's lying in a casket. These veils can be rectangular or shoulder-shaped, and come in such colors as white, beige, green, salmon and grey. There are religions, such as the Muslim faith, where a face veil is a required as part of the shroud for females.
  
  

Materials

• Shoulder-length veils that sit over the top of the head are usually made of sheer black silk and can be edged with lace or beading. Veils attached to hats are made of silk or black netting. Crepe was a popular material for mourning clothes during the Victorian Era.
  
  

Fun Fact

• The mourning attire worn by Scarlett O'Hara, the heroine in the classic story "Gone With the Wind," demonstrated the extreme length of the veil worn by Southern widows. When Viviene Leigh played the character in the movie, she wore a bonnet with a cascading floor-length veil attached to the back when in mourning for her first husband, Charles Hamilton. Trying to win Scarlett's affections, Rhett Butler, her future third husband, tempted her with a new green bonnett without a veil.