 The term "Mauve" in the late 19th century could refer to either the deep, rich color of the dye or the light color of the flower.Mauve (meaning Mauveine) came into great vogue when in 1862 Queen Victoria appeared at the Royal Exhibition in a mauve silk gown—dyed with mauveine.By 1890, this color had become so pervasive in fashion that author Thomas Beer used it in the title of his book about the 1890s, "The Mauve Decade".