The black band....ladies did not wear an armband. They still don't.
A lady would wear varying degrees of mourning attire beginning with total black including, in some cases, black underwear and bedding. This could pose a considerable nuisance especially in England, as the dyes used (from inedible plums) were not colourfast and if damp the clothing could stain anything it touched. The only non-black item of apparel was usually a white hankie, and perhaps a strip of cloth on the hem of the skirt to avoid leaching the dye out of a wet hem.
The secondary phase of mourning was mostly black, with some items of purple substituted. After two years (actually various time periods depending on the relationship to the departed), normal colours were again permitted.
Gentlemen wore black in everyday life, so a black armband and later, a hatband, were customarily worn.
Ladies did not wear armbands, ever. I think the dark strip on this lady's dress was just part of the outfit.
But as it's not a colour photo, we'll never know. It could be any dark colour. We see this often on the photo board...the lady's wearing a black dress, is she in mourning? Well, how do we know it's black?
I don't think it's mourning.
Cheers,
China
