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Dressed: The History of Fashion
Fashioning the Gilded Age: Tariffs, Thieves, and TV with Dr. Elizabeth L. Block (Dressed Classic)
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- [00:01]
April Callahan
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- [00:31]
Cassidy Zachary
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- [00:38]
Elizabeth Block
Well, I'm letting go of the worry that I wouldn't get my new contacts in time for this class. I got them delivered free from 1-800-contacts. Oh my gosh, they're so fast.
- [00:46]
Cassidy Zachary
And breathe. Oh, sorry.
- [00:48]
Elizabeth Block
I almost couldn't breathe when I saw the discount they gave me on my first order. Oh, sorry.
- [00:54]
Cassidy Zachary
Namaste. Visit 1-800-contacts.com today to save on your first order.
- [00:59]
Dr. Elizabeth Block
1-800-Contacts.
- [01:01]
Elizabeth Block
Dress listeners, bonjour from Paris.
- [01:04]
Yes, we are currently on our annual summer hiatus from the show as we conduct our summer fashion history tours of.
- [01:10]
April Callahan
The City of Lights.
- [01:11]
Elizabeth Block
But worry not, we will be back in August with brand new content dedicated to all of the exciting fashion history exhibitions and other behind the scenes experiences we have encountered while here.
- [01:21]
Until then, please enjoy this episode from the Dressed archive of over 500 past shows. The History of Fashion is a production of dressed media. With over 8 billion people in the world, we all have one thing in common. Every day, we all get dressed.
- [01:55]
April Callahan
Welcome to Dressed the History of Fashion, a podcast where we explore the who, what, when of why we wear. We are fashion historians and your hosts, April Callahan and Cassidy Zachary.
- [02:07]
Elizabeth Block
Welcome back dress listeners to part two of our conversation with Dr. Elizabeth Block about the topics at the heart of her book Dressing the Women who Influenced French Fashion. On Tuesday, we met the many movers and shakers responsible for the international success of of the French fashion industry in the late 19th century. Beyond the haute couturiers themselves, we met hairstylists, perfumiers and a few of the couture's wealthy American clientele who in no small part drove the success of the industry at this time.
- [02:36]
April Callahan
And this was big business. Let us tell you as we talked about on Tuesday, haute couture fashion was an important signifier of wealth and status that was used to great effect by the likes of Caroline Astor and Alva Vanderbilt and and it did not come cheap dress listeners. These women, and women like them, spent the equivalent of millions of dollars today on haute couture. For instance, when Alva's daughter Consuelo married the Duke of Marlborough in 1895, she did so in a gown by Charles Frederick Worth. And the cream satin gown came with a 15 foot train. It was embroidered with pearls and silver. And Costa reported $6,720.35 at the time. I love the fact that we have the 35 cents in there.
- [03:26]
Elizabeth Block
It's very specific.
- [03:27]
Cassidy Zachary
Yes, yes, yes.
- [03:29]
April Callahan
This would be approximately a quarter of a million dollars in today's money. So wowzers.
- [03:35]
Elizabeth Block
Yeah. And in the 19th century, let's just say that this sort of expenditure on foreign goods did not escape the notice of the US Government, who in an effort to protect United States industry, put in places a series of tariffs on various foreign luxury goods meant to deter their import. In the fashion world, this included everything from silk fabric to lingerie to haute couture gowns. But as we will learn today, nothing gets between a woman and her fashions. And where there is a will, there is always a way.
- [04:03]
April Callahan
Suffice it to say that taxing imported goods became an important focus of the government and avoiding those import duties in art form. So we read an article from 1875 stating that it was estimated that about $3 billion worth of dutiable merchandise was smuggled in by American tourists returning from Europe. In 1871, it was estimated that the US government lost $272 million in revenue due to undeclared goods of all sorts, including fashion. And late 19th century newspapers are full of articles about people getting stopped at the New York Customs House, which at this time was the second largest government employer. And at one point the house employed more than 1500 people, many of whom were tasked specifically with spotting fashion smugglers.
- [04:58]
Elizabeth Block
Yeah, and this is one of the reasons that women, or inspectresses, inspectresses as they were called, were hired both because of the, you know, those social morales that dictated interactions between men and women, but also because women were presumed to have a large knowledge of fashion. And of course, many of them did. That was part and parcel to, you know, being a woman in the 19th century. And the latter fact seems to have been confirmed by an 1898 article from the Pittsburgh Press that writes about one inspectress, Ms. Anna C. Parks, quote, who on Tuesday caused the arrest of the Italian woman in whose bustle was found a peck of dutiable jewels. When asked why she suspected the culprit, she answered that she marked her out for search because she knew that Italian women don't wear bustles.
- [05:47]
April Callahan
Cass, I'm not sure about this. Maybe this is a little bit of a point of departure for a fashion history mystery for us. Or maybe a myth buster. Did Italian women wear bustles during this time period? Did Italian women not wear bustles during this time period? So Another article from 1898, this time from New Jersey's Daily True American, gives us insights into both the inspection process and also the inspectress profession, which is really fascinating within the context of that time for the fact that it was actually a very well respected public facing government job that was specific to women. This article is headlined Women Detectives. Nine Bright Women Aid Uncle Sam Guarding New York Against Female Smugglers. The article goes on to detail how the inspectress profession was created in direct correlation with the rise of women smugglers over the past 15 years.
- [06:46]
Elizabeth Block
And this article gives us insights into the inspectress's jobs, two of whom were detailed to watch the immigrants who are brought in a tug to the country custom House dock as they pass down the Grand Plank. Their bearing and appearance are noted and any suspicious rotundity of person results in an examination. As a rule, the immigrant woman is lightly clad and an examination is easily and quickly concluded. In cases where the evidence justifies a case of smuggling, the woman suspected is obliged to disrobe.
- [07:16]
April Callahan
So just how were women smuggling goods in their clothing? According to one inspectress, the means by which women smuggle goods into the country, quote, were so ingenious that they compelled admiration.
- [07:28]
Cassidy Zachary
Agreed, quote.
- [07:30]
April Callahan
The bustle was one of the most favorite modes of conveying smuggled goods ashore. And when the very large bustle was used a season or two ago, it was possible for a woman to get in whole pieces of silk and rolls of lace in this way. End quote and cast. Some of our listeners will remember the account in the New York Times that I read for our episode dedicated to this very topic from 2019, entitled Smuggled in the Bustle. Our guest was Hind Abdul Jabbar and we will link to that episode in our show notes. But one woman in this New York Times article was able to conceal beneath her wide hoop skirts. And this is what's listed in the article. A thousand yards of lace, half a dozen bottles of perfume, six lengths of expensive silk, three dozen pairs of gloves, 12 bottles of brandy, 10 ready to wear dresses and other various small items.
- [08:30]
Elizabeth Block
How can you, how can you walk.
- [08:32]
April Callahan
Around with that many bottles of perfume and booze on you?
- [08:37]
Cassidy Zachary
And of course you're with you you're.
- [08:39]
Elizabeth Block
Talking about hoop skirts. So that's probably like the 1850s, 1860s. And I did want to clarify when you were talking about the bustle, because some of our listeners might have been like, they didn't wear bustles in the 1890s. And she's actually that inspectress is actually referring to type of kind of padded bustle that's smaller at the back of the hip. So not the caged bustle that we're so familiar with with 1880s, but more or less small bustle that they could then sew a bunch of stuff into. So back to that 1898 article that.
- [09:05]
Cassidy Zachary
We were just talking about, it actually.
- [09:07]
Elizabeth Block
Cites, quote, the youngest smuggler on record, a woman had apparently wound her 13 month old baby with 50 yards of lace and because of the child's age, she was allowed to go with a reprimand. But I mean, that is just insane. People went to incre lengths, figuratively and literally, April, and people got away with it. Especially if you had a quote unquote respectable appearance, AKA a woman who passed as a, as you know, an upper class woman, a woman from the quote unquote respectable classes that would defy the inquisitor's eye. And this was something dressmakers, as creators of fine clothing, were apparently particularly adept at doing, as they could pass themselves off as upper class women traveling with their own personal wardrobe. They could also masterfully construct garments for concealing.
- [09:56]
April Callahan
But as we will learn today in our continued conversation with Elizabeth Cass, duty dodgers were not reserved to the working classes. The richest, quote unquote respectable women in the US Also aimed to deceive custom officials.
- [10:10]
Elizabeth Block
Yes, they did. So let's jump back into Maya and Elizabeth's conversation to learn more about the art of both smuggling and copying French fashion and Gilded Age era America before talking about the fashions of the Gilded Age TV show in anticipation of season two.
- [10:26]
Cassidy Zachary
So French fashion's vice grip on American women's checkbooks, or rather how much money American women were spending on French fashion and all of its incarnations did not go unnoticed by the American government. And this is something else you address in your book. Can you talk to us about the government's effort to tax the import of French goods?
- [10:49]
The tariffs chapter in this book is one of the surprise hits. I thought, oh gosh, who's going to be interested in this? But it really came alive. So tariffs and fashion are really about the topic of the investment in couture. Now that's a phrase that fashion historian Alexandra Palmer uses, and I love it. The US Government took protectionist efforts to discourage the purchase of foreign goods, and they wanted to encourage domestic production. So two tariffs in particular affected the influx of French fashion. One was from 1890. That's called the McKinley Tariff. And the other is from 1897 called the Dingley Tariff. And these are named after senators. I found it fascinating to look at the reactions of elite customers and the shrewd business owners to these protectionist restrictions. So some customers tried to get around the tariffs by using extreme methods like smuggling. There's a great story in a New York newspaper of April 1893 about how Cornelia Martin, who was the only daughter of Bradley and Cornelia Sherman Martin, had her French wedding gown stopped at the New York Custom House. Now, she and her parents were returning from a trip to Europe, where they acquired her trousseau for her wedding to a British earl. And when they were queried by a customs official, her father lied. And he claimed that the gown was old. It had been previously worn, he said, so it cannot be taxed as new.
- [12:32]
Wow.
- [12:33]
So he did not win, and he was fined for that one. But you got to give him credit for trying. And then in turn, the business owners in Paris, they needed to react to the American tariffs as well. And so they were forced to, to reduce their prices and also to consider licensing their patterns to department stores. So we, we see this, this department, the department stores as a main character come back into the picture. But before a little bit more on department stores, I just have to mention this other fabulous story about two gowns. This is in 1892 gowns that Carolyn Astor had ordered from the Maison Felix in Paris. So she ordered them. They arrived at the US Custom House in New York, and federal officers seized the dresses. They sent them to a local shop for appraisal to see if any taxes or tariffs were owed. The assessment came in at 3,500 francs, or the equivalent of, at the time, almost $700. That was more than the price that Aster had paid. She had paid 2,000 francs, so she felt like she was being overcharged. Now, this became quite a saga. We even have descriptions of these two gowns. One was an embroidered apple and dark green silk and velvet dress, and the second was a sky blue silk dress with ostrich feather trimmings. Now, this saga of these two dresses by Felix for Caroline Astor played out in the international press over the course of 10 months. So the paper speculated as to whether Aster, who had all the money in the world, would pay the remaining duties and the penalties of about 300 to $400. Well, Caroline Astor refused to pay and the gowns were sent to auction. There was competitive bidding between a theater owner and two other men. And the price for the green dress was run up very high. And who won it but the Bloomingdale Brothers of Bloomingdale's Department store. So they won that one. And then the blue dress was won at auction by John Coster of Coster and Biles Music hall and was later put on display there. And by the way, the green dress was put on display in the window of Bloomingdale's just as a beautiful work of art and to inspire shoppers who were coming to Bloomingdale's to buy their own garments.
- [15:23]
Well, and this is before, like People magazine too.
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Elizabeth Block
So if you've been following this saga.
- [15:27]
Cassidy Zachary
For 10 months and this fashion scandal and then you can finally go see the dress in person, I mean, this was entertainment, entertainment at its finest. Something I found really fascinating too is that these tariffs, I had no idea they lasted from 1890 to 1909, which is incredible.
- [15:48]
So many different tariffs and duty could.
- [15:51]
Be as high as 100%.
- [15:53]
Yes.
- [15:54]
And then you, you had this, this entire team of people who, I mean, they're not necessarily fashion professionals who are valuing, gauging the value of these dresses, which I think it's incredibly fascinating, like how they would know the value of these dresses. But again, it speaks to the development of the language of clothing. Right. People, even in this, what you would think would be maybe like a random place, like a tariff's office, are learning how to analyze clothing and value clothing. And you write that they assessed sometimes as many as a thousand dresses per day.
- [16:29]
That's right. These customs officials did become experts in silks and expert couture fashioning.
- [16:37]
It's incredible. You also write about the mint size and power of the Port of New York operations. By 1884, it employed more than 1500 people and received two thirds of the nation's imports. So of course, this was not exclusive to haute couture, but haute couture was certainly one of the like high value items that the US Government could tax. So I really enjoyed your chapter on, quote, the underworld and afterlife of French couture. And I know our listeners are going to love this topic too. Can you talk to us about smuggling, theft, and illicit copying of the haute couture?
- [17:10]
Let's talk more about theft and smuggling for sure. So this relates back to the discussion of the impact of tariffs, which contributed to the widespread availability of counterfeit copies of original patterns. So in the 19th century, piracy of fashion, fashion designs in France was notoriously difficult to prosecute. It was not until the 1902 Law on Artistic and literary property that couture design was securely protected. 1902. In the United States, copyright laws often interpreted clothing as a utilitarian item, not as art. And did not provide. Yeah, and did not provide any protection. Right. I keep thinking about Marcel Duchamp every time I think about this. So what was the result of all this? So in the late 1880s, fake labels began appearing in garments, and to preserve its business, for example, the House of Worth began selling models that could be legally copied by department stores and dry goods stores, and that allowed the local makers to avoid import duties. Worth also sold designs to middle class magazines like Godey's, which in turn made them available to readers to make at home. In the book, I reproduce a copy of a Worth dress, a black dress, in the Fashion History Museum in Ontario, which may either be an illegal copy or a sanctioned one. And it's an extraordinarily rare survival.
- [18:48]
Yeah, it's incredibly fascinating. I mean, I think Even in the 1910s, in the pre world one era, there's this famous story about Poiret coming here and, like, looking at going to a department store on one of his US Tours and finding his names in the hat, you know, unlicensed hat that had his name in it. He was one of the haute couturiers who really, really rallied to kind of battle copying. And you actually referenced Nancy Troy's wonderful book Couture Culture, which is super fascinating in that these haute coutures really wanted you to think that they were artists. Course we think they are, but they were artists who were creating single works of art. Right. And this really speaks to kind of the idea of the like, single creative genius in haute couture. But in reality, they're creating works of art that can be copied and in many ways, as you've just referenced, are copied and are licensed to be copied in the United States, in department stores and fashion magazines, et cetera. So it's really interesting to pull the veil back and look into the inner workings of the haute couture. And our dress listeners will also remember where going way, way back to our first season, we do have an entire episode on smuggled in the bustle and all of the different ways that people smuggled haute couture and different fashion garments into the US during this period. Something you also write about that is really fascinating is theft and the fact that as You've also referenced how these women's purchases were highly publicized and even the ship that they were coming in on, people would know what they were coming in on. And because they were being taxed and inventoried, people like thieves would know exactly what type of clothing people were getting and the value of this clothing. And so you actually write about different examples of theft as well?
- [20:31]
Oh yeah, the newspapers made it really easy for thieves to figure out where to go. I think Edith Kingdon Gould famously had her entire jewelry box, you know, itemized in the newspaper and made it easy for people to figure out where to go and get a diamond tiara if they wanted one.
- [20:51]
Elizabeth Block
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Elizabeth Block
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Cassidy Zachary
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- [22:12]
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- [22:44]
Cassidy Zachary
In closing, I cannot let you go without talking about HBO's TV show the Gilded Age, which is currently returning for its second season. I'd love to talk to you a little bit about the fashions. I think our listeners will probably recognize when you were talking about the rivalry between Aster and Vanderbilt that kind of plays out within the season one of Gilded Age and kind of the differences in money between old versus new and the differences in taste level. And all of that plays out in the costumes in the Gilded Age. And I'm just wondering if you had any thoughts on the season one costumes as we get ready for season two.
- [23:20]
Well, having just completed my full on rewatch of season one, I have a lot to say. I'm super, super excited for season two and I think that Kasia Walika Maimone, who is the costume design for the show, has done and continues to do a fabulous job of creating period appropriate garments that also speak to the individual personalities of the characters. I especially appreciate how Ada Brooke, who is played by Cynthia Nixon, wears bustled dresses in earthy colors that complement her reddish curly up do her hair. I'm sort of obsessed with her up to her curly, frizzy updo. But the dresses are often asymmetric with a tassel or two on one side but not on the other. And that is what we see in dresses of the period that are American made. I think Ada probably is wearing American made dresses in theory, but even better, I think is how the producers have Ada rewear the same dress in multiple episodes. There's a teal one with burnt orange paneling on the shoulders and bust that appears fairly often. And it's indicative of the practicality of many women of the period where they so appreciated fine craftsmanship and durability that there was no shame in rewearing the same dresses.
- [24:51]
Yeah, I had to warm up to the costume design in the show, I have to say, because it's not necessarily all historically accurate. And of course it's not, you know, it's a TV show about a historical period. And as we've talked about many times in the show, designers get paid to take artistic license right with designs and to bring their unique vision. And the costume designers certainly did that here for this show, especially in relationship to Bertha Russell's character who is representative of that Alva Vanderbilt character of the New Money and how she, she really desperately wants to be a part of high society. But there is a difference there between, you know, old and New money. And as I already said, that plays out in the costumes and especially with her costume design, which takes artistic license and which is supposed to display that she has kind of questionable taste, Right?
- [25:45]
Oh, yes. The color combinations are sort of fantastical. The bustles are, you know, a little bit larger than you would see. But it's, you know, as. As you say, it's true. It's a fictional show, it's not a documentary. But with the way that they capture that exuberance that the new moneyed family would be spending, I think they've got that right. And I'm in awe of the work that these costume designers are doing for this show.
- [26:15]
Yeah. And I have to say, too, some of my favorite costumes are in Marian Brooke and Peggy Scott, who are friends, and so they're often featured together in the most impeccably tailored clothing. And their clothing is so drop dead gorgeous. And I think there's. I think it's Peggy or maybe both of them. But there's numerous moments in the show where you see the costume designer has actually worked to recreate historic extant garments for the screen. And so that's really, really fun to watch as well.
- [26:46]
It's great that they've mixed the historical accuracy with some of the exuberance and fantasy of a theatrical costume. I think it's important that we have both. Otherwise we would have kind of dull, maybe muddy colors on some of the older characters. I do love the lemon yellow dress that Marian Brooks wears. It's, as you say, so impeccably tailored to her. It's just gorgeous.
- [27:13]
Yeah. And the hats in this show are incredible. I mean, the. The costume design is just spot on, and I'm so excited to see season two. But something I think the show does really, really well is it just. Just fashion is so central to the narrative, and it has to be right, as your book speaks to. Because fashion was such an important and central part of these women's lives and how they. How they moved through their world. Right. And communicated in their world.
- [27:42]
That's right. And one of the very special moments for me was seeing Aunt Agnes, who was played by Christine Voransky in a dressmaker's shop in her corset. So. So we see her bare armed, and even she goes for fittings, and it's an important part of women's lives.
- [28:04]
Yes, absolutely. As this show does incredibly well and as your beautiful book shows us as well. So thank you so much, Liz, for joining us here. I know our listeners are going to rush out and get your beautiful book as they should, because not only is it beautifully illustrated, it also is just an incredible wealth of information and such a wonderful lens into this, this period and into these women's lives. So thank you so much for being here.
- [28:29]
Thank you for having me. Such a pleasure.
- [28:32]
April Callahan
Elizabeth, thank you so much for joining us and sharing your insights into the 19th century fashion scene and your book Dressing the Women who Influenced French Fashion, which we will link to in our show notes of course. And also thank you for your thoughts on the fashions gracing the screen in the first season of the Gilded Age.
- [28:51]
Elizabeth Block
I am definitely excited to see what costume designer Kasia Valiska Mamon and her team have in store for us for season Season 2 April for the first season, Kasha and her team created over 5, 000 costumes for the show, which is set in and around the year 1882, which is very specific and which fashion lovers will recognize as prime bustle real estate. So this is not the easiest period to recreate on a massive scale and I commend her. She had a team of 65 costumers to help her and they really did incredible work. So I'm very much looking forward to season two, which debuts on October 29th 9th, 2023.
- [29:28]
April Callahan
Well, that does it for us today. Dress listeners, may you consider your own favorite historical costuming shows and films the next time you get dressed. Remember, we love hearing from you, so if you'd like to write to us, you can do so@hellodressedhistory.com DressedHistory.com is our website where you can find more information about our upcoming fashion history tours, any classes or other things that we have up our seats. You can also DM us on Instagram restorepodcast, where you'll find images and reels accompanying each week's episodes. And if you want to find the Instagram content specifically connected with this episode, check out the hashtag dressed329 that's dressed and the numbers 32 9.
- [30:12]
Elizabeth Block
And remember, you can find an array of your favorite and podcast featured fashion history titles on the dressed bookshelf through bookshop.org a purchase from our Bookshelf helps support the author, an independent bookseller, and two of your favorite podcasters. You will find a link to our Bookshelf in our show notes as well as a link to sign up for the ad free version of the show, which is just $3 a month. As always, thank you for your continued support, Dressed listeners. More Dressed coming your way on Tuesday. The History of Fashion is a production of Dressed Media.
- [30:44]
Unknown
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- [31:07]
Elizabeth Block
Have you.
- [31:07]
Dr. Elizabeth Block
Ever wondered how inbred the Habsburgs really were? What women in the past used for birth control? Or what Queen Victoria's nine children got up to? On the History Teatime podcast, I profile remarkable queens and LGBTQ royals, explore royal family trees, and delve into women's medical history and other fascinating topics. Join me every Tuesday for History Teatime wherever fine podcasts are enjoyed.