Following the remodelling of the Sisi Museum in 2009 a number of highly valuable items of clothing and mourning jewellery once worn by Empress Elisabeth have been given a new and permanent place in the exhibition.

Although the empress wore mourning from the time of her son’s death onwards, this did not mean that her dresses were unfashionable; despite its severity, her clothing was always relieved by modish details and accessories. The plainer the dress, the more suitable mourning jewellery was as an accessory. Gold and coloured gemstones were considered unsuitable and often replaced by jet, a kind of polished black lignite. The deep black, opaque colour of this material was ideal for showing restraint when in mourning. Black wooden or glass beads were also popular.

Hats were another important accessory. A model hat belonging to the empress and made of bast flowers and heron’s feathers is among the most beautiful objects from the empress’s “Schwarzzeug” (“blacks”) as her mourning wardrobe was known. Both the mourning jewellery and some of the items of mourning costume derive from the personal ownership of the empress’s youngest daughter, Archduchess Marie Valerie.

Another highlight among the new exhibits in the museum is the empress’s black coat. Made of silk twill with a woven pattern of leaves and heron’s feathers, this coat has a particularly tragic history. It was part of Empress Elisabeth’s wardrobe on her final journey to Geneva. After the attack by the anarchist Luigi Lucheni the empress was covered with this coat and carried back unconscious on a stretcher from the ship to her Hotel Beau Rivage, where she died of her injuries.