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Civics & Coffee: A History Podcast
The Power of the Dress: Dr. Elizabeth Block on Gilded Age Fashion
00:19:07
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- [00:01]
A
Welcome to Civics and Coffee, a history podcast. The show all about United States history delivered to you in the time it takes to enjoy your morning cup of coffee. I'm your host, Alicia, a historian trained in United States history with a passion for telling both the known and unknown parts of America's past. So grab your coffee and get ready for some bite sized history. Hey everyone. Welcome back. On the final day of March, I am so excited to present one last interview. This week I sit down with Dr. Elizabeth Block to discuss her book Gilded Age Fashion, which is actually releasing today. So when you are done listening to our conversation, I hope you consider heading over to your favorite bookseller and buying your copy. And with that, I hope you all enjoy the conversation. Hey everyone. Joining me today is Dr. Elizabeth Block. She is an art and culture historian who is a senior editor in the publications and editorial department at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York. She is an author who's written several books including her latest project, Gilded Age fashion. More than 50 iconic looks and the stories behind them which will be the focus of our conversation today. Welcome Dr. Block.
- [01:28]
B
Thanks for having me.
- [01:29]
A
Thank you so much for coming on. Let's dive into this incredible and beautiful book. What motivated you to craft a book analyzing and highlighting women's Gilded Age fashions?
- [01:42]
B
Well, I'm endlessly fascinated by women of this era, the late 19th century and the power that these women had with commissioning fashion from the finest houses in Paris and New York and London. The amount of interest that they had in clothing themselves in the finest fabrics with the finest designs and custom made it just I could. And I do spend hours looking at these dresses and reading letters and diaries from these women.
- [02:16]
A
Yeah, they're, I mean, it's beautiful and, and people who pick up the book will, will see just how ornate and, and how gorgeous these, these dresses truly are. And you highlight in the book how the social calendar kind of really drove the fashion decisions of the day. So what was the relationship between fashion and socializing during the Gilded Age?
- [02:38]
B
Yes. Well, women of the upper classes and the up most echelon of society in all of the major urban centers in the United States, like New York, Chicago, Cleveland, you name it. They ran their days according to the social calendar, as you say, so they were paying social calls. Visiting was a practice that was important to society and to upholding respectability within these classes. And there were any number of activities from morning, noon and night. So you might have visitors come to see you in the morning hours and you would talk about the, the news that you've read in the newspaper and the philanthropies that you're involved in. And then you might have a luncheon date, and then you might have an afternoon tea date, a dinner event in the evening, and then possibly going to the opera or to a ball. And each of these events required special sartorial choices. So a tea gown, a morning gown, a luncheon, afternoon gown, a strolling gown with long sleeves. If you were going through one of the parks, a dinner dress. And then for balls, you know, it was as fancy as you could get, as ornate as you could get. And then the opera had its own lexicon of clothing and what to wear. So not just the, the opera gown, but you would have your opera glasses, you would have your long gloves that came up to the elbow and any number of capes and accessories.
- [04:18]
A
Yeah. And throughout the book is, includes like several photos of these gowns and all of the accessories as you were just talking about. And so my, as I was flipping through, I think one of the questions that I had was kind of how did you parse out which dresses and accessories, accessories you would include to highlight in the book and kind of which ones had to remain on the quote unquote, cutting room floor?
- [04:44]
B
Oh, yes. Well, there are a number on the cutting room floor which in my working process is equal to a Google sheet with dresses that I promise to come back to in future projects. It was a difficult selection, but what I wanted to do was represent the range of designers, couturiers, who are making these wonderful confections. The house House of Worth is probably the best known house out of Paris. They were in business for many decades, well into the 20th century. And there were other houses that I love to highlight. So I have the Maison Felix, which is another one of my favorite houses in Paris, as well as the House of Doucet and Pingott are represented. But then I also wanted to make sure that I was not just showing the best known dressmakers, but some of the dressmakers who we don't have very much information about yet. So one of those is Antoinette Grapanche. There's a beautiful tomato red bustle gown in the book. It's in the Metropolitan Museum of Art's collection and we don't know anything about Crapanche yet. There's the mysteries and the puzzles. There's so much more work to do and that's exciting to me. I also, when I was making selections, was very conscious of bringing in dresses from Cleveland, Ohio. Cleveland had a bustling Gilded Age society and still the city has the rewards of the philanthropists and titans of industry and their families who invested in the opera and in the art museum there. And they have incredible collections at one of the historical societies, the Cleveland Reserve. And I wanted to show dresses from that collection that have never been reproduced before. And it's very gratifying to have several of those. I think up to five of them are in the book.
- [06:42]
A
Well, and so I. I mentioned at the introduction that you do work with the Metropolitan Museum of Art. This is a book that really highlights this material culture. So were you lucky enough to see any of these beautiful pieces in person?
- [06:58]
B
I have seen some of the dresses.
- [07:01]
A
So jealous.
- [07:02]
B
I know there was a wonderful exhibition last year called Heavenly Bodies, and there were a couple of dresses by the House of Worth in that show. The concept of that exhibition was that many of the gowns that have come down to us are too fragile to be on mannequins. And so to keep them safe, we must view them while they're laying flat. And one of the highlights of seeing the dresses laid flat, in a case, of course, behind plexiglass, was that you got to see the fabrics up close in a way, horizontally rather than vertically, which was such a revelation to me to see some of these florals on these silks from Lyon. So, yes, I have seen some of the dresses in person. I was able to see one of the dresses by the Maison Felix at an exhibition in Cleveland last year and a few others that have been put on display.
- [07:59]
A
Oh, my gosh, I'm so jealous. And I guess how does reviewing the material culture of the era really help us better understand the Gilded Age?
- [08:12]
B
Well, I think one of the ways that the objects and the things that people touched all day long and that they cared for, that they so, so brilliantly selected from stores and from custom made ateliers are. They're. They're fascinating to me, not just for the beauty in the craftsmanship, but also in the beauty of the use that the women made of them over the course of a day. So I'm very interested in women's. Women's history, but women's rituals. So how women spent their time and many of the ways that they spent their time in this era was to focus on looking beautiful and owning the finest objects and gowns. And so the material culture, to me, it's notoriously difficult term to define, but are the objects that. That people use day in and day out as part of their daily rituals? Yeah.
- [09:16]
A
And I think too, you know, you kind of touched on this in. In your previous answer. But the material culture kind of helps us understand what was important to, to folks. And so how did women use fashion to. To kind of communicate with each other, with the public? I feel like fashion in this sense was, was a wee bit political. So how did they use fashion to communicate?
- [09:40]
B
Sure. Well, fashion is, and clothing in general is always about communication. And what these women of the, the. I mean, it's really the 0.0001% of the population at that time. Let's not, you know, forget that there was downtown, down Lower east side in New York especially, and the chasm between the lower classes and newer immigrants and the upper classes was vast. But the communication of these garments is really through respectability politics. I would say any woman of the upper middle or upper classes would not leave their home without being properly attired. They would make sure that they were appropriately dressed from head to toe. Women would go outdoors, they would be wearing a hat, they would be wearing gloves, they would be wearing a coat regardless of the temperature. Outdoors, they would be wearing the finest shoes, they might be wearing, holding a small handbag. Just the attention to detail is what would convey the respect for society that they were showing. And there was, you know, a language between women who were in the know, who. Women who were not in the know. I think that at the time, upper class women would have been able to spot a House of Worth dress by the fabrics. Um, the House of Worth in Paris had very strong relationships with the finest purveyors of silks in Lyon. And, and I think that the women would have been able to identify the quality of the silks and, and they, they would have known the thousands of dollars that a woman would have spent on the dresses by looking at them and you know, just sort of like that nod, like a nod being in the know. Yes.
- [11:31]
A
Well, and you also talk about in the book the fashion requirements of the day. So there were also some fashion faux pas of the era. So what were some of those fashion faux pas?
- [11:47]
B
So you did not want to. Again, this is part of the respectability politics of the mid to late 19th century, is that you, if you are a respectable woman, you did not show too much skin. It was considered a faux pas to have your ankles showing. So if you were entering into a carriage, you would be very careful to gently lift up the bottom of your skirt so that it wouldn't get dirty. But also that just the silk of your shoes, many of those were dyed to match the dress. I have a couple of those in the book. There's beautifully dyed yellow silk slippers is what they called them, even though they're what we would call pumps today. But you would just. Every little movement was very thoughtful. And you would be very careful not to show skin that was considered to be too tempting to men, but also to women. You know, if you were showing something you weren't supposed to be showing, your sort of, your perception of your stature would drop. The same with arms, the same with shoulders. Although in the evening in the ball gowns, you'll see in the book that in the evening it was okay to show some decolletage. So you could have sort of a low cut dress that might show a little bit or tease toward the, toward the, the bodice being low and toward where the corset would be. So there were these sort of flirtatious hints, but it all was prescribed. And that's given in the prescriptive literature, which are the conduct books and the etiquette books, which were published in the hundreds and thousands at the time.
- [13:22]
A
Well, and then I think, you know, this book is coming, is coming at such a great time because we have the HBO series the Gilded Age that is incredibly popular. And I think one of the reasons why it is so incredibly popular is that it is beautifully filmed. Costumes are amazing. I think it's gotten many, many accolades for its costumes and for its set design. And so given your background, given your expertise from your perspective, how accurate are the fashion choices the producers are making and what fashion choices would you like to, to see them make?
- [14:02]
B
I think the costume designers and the producers are doing a fabulous job on this television show. They've received so, so many accolades. I just, I'm so in awe of the artistry and the choices. Someone told me that up to 400 costumes are made for the season. And then they do rotate some of them and reuse. But that investment in getting the costumes right, I think they do a terrific job. Now, they do use some poetic license, some artistic license with some of the dresses. So there's some color combinations that I, you know, you don't see in the FA That I don't see in the fashion plates when I'm flipping through the Parisian magazines. So there is there, you know, there's some lemon yellows that are shown on Louisa Jacobson's character Marian that I don't see too much of. And then every once in a while, Gladys Daughter will come through with a very puffy sleeve scenario that you would only see in the late 1890s. But the show takes place in the mid-1880s. So there's a little bit of exaggeration, but I think that's to be expected in any television show because, of course, these dresses are being made with different fabrics than they had at the time because the colors need to show up on screen, and it's just. It's very different. But I think they're doing a terrific job. Terrific, thoughtful job.
- [15:29]
A
I have a friend who is, like me, a very, very big fan of the show. And one of her. One of the reasons why she loves the show is she loves the costume. So I knew I had to ask you about it.
- [15:39]
B
Oh, yes. I mean, we all are, you know, rewinding and rewatching and taking it all in. They're really beautiful works of art.
- [15:48]
A
And so, you know, what do you hope people take away from this book?
- [15:54]
B
I would like readers to take in that the dresses were not just these stiff objects that were sort of, you know, behind plexiglass back in their own day. They were, in my mind, living, breathing entities that were up against the skin of these women, worn, in a way, by these just incredibly brilliant women who were navigating society, who were charitable, who were making philanthropic decisions, who were teaching, who were having daughters, who would become nurses. These were important objects at the time and not frivolous.
- [16:38]
A
Well, and, you know, you. You have this book, but you are also omnipresent, I feel like, on. On the Interwebs. And so when people have finished this book and they just. They fashion, they want more material culture, history, where should they go to follow you and learn more about the work that you do and subscribe to all of the things that. That you provide?
- [17:01]
B
Well, please come find me at my Gilded Age fashion newsletter on sub stock. I would love to see you there. And also on Instagram, I post many of these gowns, some that you will not have seen in the book or elsewhere on my Instagram account. And that's Elizabeth L. Block.
- [17:21]
A
And is there anything before I let you go, is there anything that we haven't covered that you want future readers to know?
- [17:28]
B
I would love to remind readers that these dresses still are out there. Dresses we have not found yet. So if you have a trunk from an ancestor in your attic or if you are heavily involved with your local historical society and you know that they have a drawer full of, say, hairbrushes or accessories or a closet that has dresses that have not been cataloged yet, please reach out. There's so many of us out here who would love to see the garments that have not made it into the public sphere yet.
- [18:04]
A
Wonderful. And they'll take very good care of them, I'm sure.
- [18:07]
B
Yes, indeed.
- [18:09]
A
All right, well, to the listeners out there, be sure to grab yourself a copy of Gilded Age Fashion. It is honestly one of the most beautiful books I think you'll ever own. And you also get the added benefit of learning about one of the most visually iconic eras in American history. And of course, be sure to follow Dr. Block on all of your social media channels of choice to keep up on the fashion and culture history. Thank you again, Dr. Block. This was a fantastic conversation.
- [18:39]
B
Thanks so much.
- [18:41]
A
My thanks again to Dr. Block for coming on and sharing her expertise with me. And grab yourself a copy of Gilded Age Fashion Today. Thanks, peeps. I'll see you next time. Thanks for sitting down with me as I explored this chapter of American history. If you liked what you heard, be sure to subscribe and share with your friends. I look forward to our next cup of coffee together.