- Joined
- Aug 25, 2012
Both Mary Todd Lincoln and Varina Howell Davis gained reputations for haughtiness and social pretension. Both also seemed to have been known as being stylish and perhaps even a bit vain. Did either or both deserve these reputations? Early in the War Mary Todd Lincoln drew criticism of being "overly" stylish. This changed when she went in to mourning after the death of her son Willie and only wore black. Some people referred to Varina Howell Davis as "Empress Eugenie" I assume Varina Howell Davis went in to mourning in 1864 when her son Joseph Evan Davis died, but I must admit I have never read anything about her only wearing black.