Fashion Historian Fact Checks HBO's The Gilded Age | Glamour
Vložit
- čas přidán 28. 09. 2022
- Fashion historian Raissa Bretaña fact checks the historical accuracy of the costumes from HBO's The Gilded Age. Watch as Raissa breaks down every facet of Bertha Russell and Agnes van Rhijn's wardrobes including afternoon wear, undergarments, ballgowns and makeup.
Still haven’t subscribed to Glamour on CZcams? ►► bit.ly/2gYlQqe - Zábava
What I particularly love about this series is that the costumers weren't afraid to have characters wear clothes twice, which felt much more accurate
Definitely agree!
Its the old story of the Astors and the Vndebuilts which everyone already knows. Complete with when Vanderbuilt wouldn't let Astor's daughter dance at her ball, so she went over there.
So they would rewear the dresses? I was wondering about that.
@@Irish.liquorice Perhaps... For Day wear, they might. I mean, middle class and Poor peeps need to (thus making the practice common, but they can do it optionally...
def agree 100%
It really showed how angry Agnes was when she crossed the street at 6:32 Despite going outdoors she did not bother putting on her hat & gloves first, she just stomped right out!
EXACTLY MY THOUGHT!! She didn't also changed her skirt for another one without a train as those were for indoor wearing!!! COSTUMES TELL A LOT OF THE STORY!! THEY'RE SO IMPORTANT!!
I never actually noticed this, as i'm not too knowledgeable on the costuming & culture of this period (though i'm fascinated by it) but OMG what a delightful detail. Thanks for mentioning it. As if i didn't already appreciate this show enough....i think i need to rewatch it
That and she went out without a man 😮
This is what the met gala should have looked like
Yes I am sill mad about that
The whole point was to do modern interpretations that evoked that, which many people did. Designers obviously aren't going to create stuffy 1870s gowns that cost 50 thousand dollars to make... They are going to create something which reflect their brands and or the people for which they are designing. The House of Worth exists again and should have sponsored someone for the event and created something but to my knowledge, I don't think they did. Not a single major person was wearing Worth. Billie Eilish was best dressed IMO.
Strongly agree...
A breakdown of Peggy's outfits would have been interesting too especially with the emancipation and emerging black middle class. How different were African American clothing to that of white Americans
I too would love to see that 😊
Omg yes! That would have been interesting, especially considering how Marian assumed she was poor, and how they might not be able to dress as they wanted.
I love it when costume designers use existing garments in museums as a template. It's so interesting to see the pieces worn on an actual person, in a context similar to the one they might have been worn in originally.
A perfect example of that is seen in the movie Barry Lyndon where some actual original clothing was used.
I cried tears of joy when I saw the women wearing chemises under their corsets! That'a such a small detail, but so important for accuracy!
Purses weren’t just because women were ‘more autonomous’- women had always had their own ways to carry things! 17th century ladies pockets could be big enough to carry a whole chicken, and dresses still often had pockets in this period, although the fashions at the time meant they couldn’t be as big or in the same places
Also the corset was not just for silhouette, it was also to support the weight of the skirts/bustle/crinoline/petticoat! Having all of that weight resting on your bare hips would be quite painful
The corset also supported the bust, which I wish they had mentioned because bras wouldn't make an appearance until decades later!
I've been watching The Gilded Age alongside 1883. The contrasts are astounding. Not just the difference between the rich and the poor.. That existed in New York City alone. But the comparison of "civilized" New York versus the frontier towns, and especially the wilderness beyond.
In real life, the daughter event that Mrs Vanderbilt schemed to get Mrs Astor to attend the ball is factual. My point to make here is to let people know that when Mrs Astor realized she had been out maneuvered she accepted her defeat with grace and dignity. There was no lingering bitterness and rancor. In the movie when she says, "I could ruin you if I wanted to after tonight" was for dramatic intensity for the film. In real life she accepted Mrs Vanderbilt and never attempted to get even. Testimony how she was a warm wonderful person once you were in her circle. It's why everyone adored her; which everyone who knew her did.
They may have patterned after Mrs Vanderbilt but you noticed they did not use that name.....
I have a background in production design(not specifically costumes/fashion) but I love these historical analysis of costumes. Also...Raissa is so cool!
Without analyzing why this was "required"
Yeah, she did a good job.
I am so pleased to hear someone finally address the “natural silhouette” of the late 70s. I feel like this short lived fad often gets ignored in favor of the first and second bustle periods. Except for, of course, in Scorsese’s Age of Innocence where almost the entire film is set during this era.
I LOVED this show!! The outfits were stunning- truly a treat for the eyes
There are things that I really like about this series,
1. The architecture of the buildings.
2. The Fashion.
3. And the storyline of course.
LOVE Raissa and I loved the costumes on this show - looking at the people in the background is interesting enough in every scene. I always love it when period dramas do colorful and exciting fabrics.
Visually this show was like Lucy and Ethel at the candy factory for me. My eyes could NOT keep up with every treat they threw at us.
Between the costumes, jewelry & sets, it was a total feast for the eyes!! Absolutely wonderful and I can't wait for Season 2.
I would wonder if the rise of purses is less about more autonomy and more about changing dress styles. Until the mid 1800s, dresses might have tie on pockets that could hold a truly surprising amount of items. However, the more fitted and tailored styles of dresses didn't have space for them, and slits in the seams might ruin the drape of the garment.
I guess we're not addressing the issue of zippers being visible at the back of dresses that should have buttons or front fastening, especially since zippers aren't even invented and priced until the early 20th century!
Must we, I think she understands that they aren't planning on being historically accurate to it's fullest extent. Do we need proper stitching forms, and band tabs/buttons on every wardrobe. It's a show, not the real thing. It still gets the job done incredibly well, this show never once made me question the outfits, I felt for the most part like I was really in the 1880s, especially with the no nonsense plot that stays on the story, and doesn't make this a propaganda/ or past hating show.
One of the things I noticed was that they didn't always wear corset covers and there was a line at the top of the corset showing through on the bodices.
I noticed that too. But better to have missed a corset cover than the Tudor era dramas that pretty much never put the main female characters in shifts or chemises. No wonder those actresses always complain about how uncomfortable corsets are! They’re on bare skin!
Raissa back at it again with matching her outfits with the films look 💗💗💗💗💗💗💗💗
The peacock embroidered day dress that Mrs. Russell wore had me wishing, albeit VERY briefly, for an occasion to wear something similar. It was beautiful!
I worked in a library going through old newspapers one of the years I covered was 1888
the clothing and hairstyles in this show looks pretty accurate in this show
I really like this show
I'm so jealous...a job going through old newspapers! I would have loved to do something like that, but I would imagine there was a time constraint on how much of it you could read. Still....so cool!
This show was filmed in Troy, NY, round Soldiers and the Sailor Monument. it was so awesome to walk around and see the set up. The style of store front, brick road, sand walkways, and horse carriages. It was beautiful sett up. Cant wait for season 2 and see Troy, NY set up in this time period.
Berthas dress at the ball stood out more than everyone. Maybe that is why they chose that dress
I'm obsessed with these types of videos! Raissa is so articulate and knowledgable, I hope we get more soon.
"Whores rouge, ladies pinch" (hard enough to break a few blood vessels for the rosy cheek look) was still touted in the 80's when I grew up. Visible make up was a hard won privilege by the end of the 70's.
Raissa did an awesome job, but this lipstick color is EVERYTHING!
Suggestions for the next episode
Hairspray (1988)
To Kill A Mockingbird (1962)
The Music Man (1962)
The Journey For Natty Gann (1985)
That 70s Show
Remember the Titans (2000)
Definitely Hairspray (1988) !
Can you please do this for the costume shown in ''Die Kaiserin'' about empress Elizabeth of Austria? I think it would be very interesting to hear your take on it!
The costumes and hair styles in Die Kaiserin are generally very inaccurate to the point of being jarring to see when you've got a background in historical dress.
The costuming is a fantasy version of the styles worn in the mid-1850s. This is supposed to be a historical drama; so, why is the costuming not historically accurate? It's the only thing that I don't like about the series. ~ Anastacia in Cleveland
it sounds so painful to change *those* type of clothings at least 4 times a day 😭
I'm glad someone mentioned that the lower necklines being worn during the day by some characters was not exactly in keeping with the customs of the upper class at that time. I'd always read that that was strictly an evening look. Otherwise, the costumes, (with one of two exceptions) are a real feast for the eyes. I would also note that many of the female characters stride around in long steps when smaller steps were the order of high society at that time. I can see the main woman of the new money crowd doing that, as it played into her big, bold character who is taking New York Society by storm, but some other characters also amble a long rather loosely, which was not what finishing school taught. I imagine that, as the series progresses, there will be at least one or two of the Hobble Skirts included in the dresses. (I've only binged Season One so far). The Hobble Skirt came shortly after the period shown in Season One, I believe, but it had a lower hemline so constricting that the women had to, quite literally, Hobble along with mincing little steps to wear it. It looked fantastic in the still 'fashion plates' but would have been extremely hindering on any outing that wasn't strictly a social call or a simple outing to a tea room or something. Oh well...years ago Asian women had their feet bound, but we had our Hobble Skirt, didn't we? (I sense a disturbing similarity of purpose, but maybe that's just me.)
Also it's good to keep in mind the "old money" folk had attire in the more traditional English style, whereas the "new money" aesthetic was more French.
Don't forget the American style.
Love so much this! Please do Gentleman Jack and BBC's 1995 Pride and Prejudice.
Imagine wearing all of this in New York in the summer.
I can't imagine wearing all of it in the WINTER, let alone summer!
It’s a lot but it was much cooler back then.
Weather wasn’t that bad back then
This is why the wealthy moved to Newport where they built seaside mansions and entertained on a lavish scale for three months every summer
Natural fibers are cooler than modern synthetic fibers
It's a pleasure finding a review that isn't clutching its antique pearls over Bertha's Temple St Clair jewelry and grasps that it isn't screaming inaccuracy but characterization when she is out of period, leaning towards the future.
Yeah I hate it when they get all huffy about historical inaccuracies. It's a TV show not a documentary. Like point it out by all means but don't cry about it.
Many Temple St Clair jewelry designs have a historical inspiration anyway though... I mean didn't they do a whole Georgian inspired look not that long ago? They do a lot of renaissance inspired stuff too and that sort of stuff was really popular in the 19th century with Carlo Guiliano being especially gorgeous.
The late 1870s/early 1880s is known as the Natural Form era, FYI.
Omg I loved the series! I’m a huge fan of these Costume Breakdown videos.
The make up standards didn’t change for quite a while. My great-grandfather gave my mother a hard time when she used blush. He thought it was for prostitutes.
I LOVE these videos! Keep them coming!
Aniline dies were invented in this period, so a lot of colors women of this period wore were actually quite wild, acid greens and yellows, extremely vibrant purples, etc. I haven’t haven’t seen the series, but I will, I love historical costumes and settings.
Oh, I don't know...there was that one Acid Green number (which I HATED, btw...). And I did notice one of the young blonde woman's dresses (the younger Miss Brook), that had a big drape of purple sash tacked onto an otherwise demure dress, that looked like a last minute add-on gone very wrong. I wondered if maybe they realized they were a look short one day, so just stuck a brilliant purple sash onto something they already had.
Raisa's gorgeous manicure worthy of a shoutout 💅 too❗️
This is what the met gala should have looked like. This is what the met gala should have looked like.
I wish you had done Bertha's peacock dress & hat. I adore that costume - even if it's not entirely historically accurate.
13:27 keeping two fashion seasons behind. That's so interesting!
The look of the costumes is lively. The zippers on the backs of bodices are driving me insane. The zipper wasn’t invented until about 1917, well after the gilded age period and did not come into wide use until the mid 1920’s.
I didn’t notice but then went back and looked and omg! They look so out of place
Maybe it's one of those things they did for simplicity & to help make costume changes easier that they hoped we wouldn't notice 🤣
@@maxinezook3835 for simplicity, perhaps. Speed? Not necessary. Stage costumes often take these short cuts because of how quickly actors need to change and get back on stage. Here, they have plenty of time to e between shots as cameras and lights are being reset, to change clothes. It was just a maddening choice
@@dianaryan5530 I think perhaps cost? Or the speed of wardrobe production? I’m literally just guessing because I have no clue why one would make this choice, plus it’s HBO not the CW
@@tianna1116 Julian Fellowes is an absolute stickler for detail. I don’t know how this escaped his attention. I’m not sure that for a skilled team, as these folks surely are, zippers would have been significantly faster or cheaper than button holes or lacing.
This was such a well done video! I love The Gilded Age and fashion, so this is my jam ❤
Depth of knowledge here is amazing. Kudos.
In the 1880s that old and new money was still in the war of social status within the class as well as style of fashion since in the mid-1870s.
I watched a different video looking at characters that were real and based on real people. I hadn’t realized that the Russells, especially Bertha, were based on the Vanderbilts. The old man had built the family fortunes in the mid-1800s already and the Russell family was based on his son! How was that considered “new” money? And the showdown between Bertha and Caroline Astor (mother) was absolutely based on the same showdown Mrs Astor had with Alva Vanderbilt.
Raissa is great on screen at explaining the outfits and history.
WOW!! Love this show and the beautiful dressings for the women and the men! I also appreciated seeing the outfits the staff used as well!!
That was nice. But, it's a pity that this video didn't include information about the clothing and style of the wealthy black family as well as the servants and men.
How on earth did they wash these dresses, I wonder? The fabrics were extremely sensitive but must have gotten very dirty too by being dragged across the floor for hours. How would ladies maids deal with staining without ruining the fabrics?
Do you think they didn't keep their outfits clean, because they did. Trust that we weren't animals.
The narrator of these videos is always good!
She's clear she has interesting lead ins and comments and lead and they are witty as well; she's great!
I really enjoy listening to her!
And I love the experts, too!
Really well done, Glamour!
I really enjoyer this.l video!
And in a little more than an hour I will watch the next episode of the Gilded Age! Love the costumes they looked pretty accurate, it's interesting to hear the experts' take!
All your videos are interesting informative, and also beautiful to look at the styles and clothing!
👑✨💎✨💜✨🌹
I love the twinkle in her eye and her MATURITY most importantly. She understands the era, and describes it like she was just there the other day, because she actually likes her time periods she studies.
Great video!!! I love this series
Minx, Julia, Mrs America, all 3 seasons of ACS (Johnnie Cochran, Marcia Cross, Versace, Monica Lewinsky), Pen 15
I have a fabulous collection of fashion plates, which I have collected for a long time. If you can find ones with children in them, snap them up as they are hard to come by. I have Queen Victoria's original marriage gown found in a woman's magazine of 1840. I have them all framed, however in some foxing is creeping in.
I love how women are “required” to wear stockings. They didn’t have socks and wearing leather boots with no stockings would have led to blisters and been smelly. People back then weren’t idiots. The stockings had a lot of practically in an age without elastic socks. Also, the boots weren’t to hide your ankles. The stockings that “the patriarchy forced them to wear” would have already done that. They supported the ankles and were fashionable. Not everything women did was because they were forced to do so. High necklines for day kept the sun off your chest at a time when pale skin with no tan lines was a mark of wealth and since you couldn’t put on make up to hide a tan, you just plain old avoided getting a tan. Yes they had parasols but the sun will bounce off of light objects and you can still get a tan if you’re outdoors especially if you are very fair (ask anyone who skis). So it makes sense that your day dress covered everything but your face and hands. There was no sunscreen.
Frnakly hardly anything women did was by someone else, they put themselves into this fashion trend. They enjoyed it. Men didn't do any of this.
Yeeeees I really really want a video of The Gilded Age I so happyyy
Thank you for this video. Very well done.🙂
Well done and entertaining. Sets the YT bar pretty high.
Amazing attention to detail. ❤
This was a great video!
Amazing costumes!
I can't even imagine (given my casual, retiree lifestyle) of wearing any of those costumes!
The costumes are stunning the dresses and hats are so beautiful pure elegance.
Can you make one about Anne with an E and Enola Holmes
This is Julian Fellowes. After Downton Abbey he knows historical.
I love the pure audacity for some historians to say that the new money outfits worn by Bertha Russel aren't historically accurate. Thank god this lady treats the era as a real time peirod in our lives, instead of a movie film. Gilded age had some of the most comfortably accurate wardrobes ever and the fashionists should be awarded. I'm always afraid a show is never going to full show the extents and simplicities of an era with all it's beauty, but this show did it perfect. All these natural outfits with unique color combinations that modern shows usually never do, including the infamous metallic taffeta gowns. Oh okay, they took direct museum outfits I see. Well, good call. I do question if it was truly impossible to find woman at the time with an open outfit chest, I guarantee nothing would change in interaction, if! It isn't too far low
Love this series! Maybe you could brighten up some of the pictures - can't see the outfits
A lot of their dresses did look like curtains. Lol I adored the ballgowns. Those broches though...
I need a bustle😆. I love everything about this show.
Very good. Thank you.
I wish I could watch the Gilded Age series, but I don't have a cable subscription. Maybe when it comes out on DVD and the local library has copies I can borrow. The costumes and surroundings are complete "eye-candy"!
I had to wait until I could get the first season DVD on ebay for $19. It may be a few dollars less on Amazon, but I boycott them.
They still make DVDs???
🏴☠️
Kindly make an episode about the fashion in Belgravia and Doctor Thorne
Please please please do an analysis of The Empress 🙏🏻 I need it 😩
Yay! I love her videos!
I just started watching this show, and it's fascinating in so many ways. I was wondering about the accuracies of the fashion, so this is a great video!
Omg I thought the same thing with the Worth dress! The only thing I can think of is that they are saving it for the next season or for Gladys?
I really wish that they'd had a much lighter hand with the makeup in this show, they put in a lot of effort with the clothes and hair but then the makeup felt really out of place, especially on the Old Money matriarchs.
So Agnes's costume is accurate. It's a dinner dress, and some did reveal a bit of the decolletage.
i knowim super late to the party! maybe the chest covering during the day was symbolic in the seris buzz i noticed only certain people have the dropped neckline usually dynamic, strong independant individuals and the more meek, gossipy members of society covered their chest.
There is also the expression "slave to fashion" where on a hot steamy day in New York (before air conditioning was invented) anyone wearing all of those garments were wishing they were....and believe me there are plenty hot steamy days in New York.
Since everything was made of natural fingers it was much cooler than many of our modern clothing that essentially wraps us in plastic. I've worn these layers outdoors on a sunny and honestly, I wasn't any hotter than on previous years when I'd attended the same event in a t-shirt and shorts
Oopoooo
Even though it's not mentioned (yet), how much leeway was given to women who were expecting during that time?
That's "mourning" jewelry, not "morning" jewelry @ 8:30
I'd love to see you do Gigi, the Leslie Caron film.
As much as I love looking at and admiring the beautiful clothing and imagining myself wearing them and being so glamourous in that period, I think i would have rather have been less wealthy and of moderate means than to have to wear so many layers. It must have been so uncomfortable to dress that way everyday.
I hope they do this for the deadwood show as well
Can you do a season two
My show! 😍
I would have preferred greater accuracy as to the costume dates, and the décolletage during the day is glaringly wrong. It’s interesting that Fellowes’ British shows are much more accurate. The fabulous precursor to Downton Abbey - the glorious whodunit Gosford Park - is my favorite. The 1930s costumes are stunningly accurate but never stand out as being costumey, as they do in The Gilded Age. I dislike the overall art design in The Gilded Age, which is lit too brightly overall, which makes everything look fake. But then, we’ve moved into an era when that sort of accuracy seems to have gone out of vogue.
Good night my friend
Nice video. Thank for sharing my friend 🥰
My dream job. Good job.
Can you please do this with hairspray 2007
That was fantastic commentary. I learned a lot. Why didn't any women at the recent Met Gala "Garden of Time" theme dress in the Gilded Age style? Historical accuracy wouldn't be important. Have a Gilded Age style dress made by John Galliano.
However, what did majority of farmers +
workers wear ?
the same stuff they wore in the previous decades.
I still do not understand why they didnt just make them the Vanderbilts etc... if the Astors are actually portrayed, why not?
The Vanderbilts still have a great deal of legal control over "legacy" and the power to decide what that means. Fellowes was getting caught in lots of red tape trying to get approval for the parts he wanted to sensationalize/ fictionalize, and he avoided all of it by making them technically "fictional" characters.
@@danaglabeman6919, I’m not surprised. He might have run into that by using a real historical family for the Van Rijns too. I do appreciate though that he used the real feud between Alva Vanderbilt and Caroline Astor for the series.
@@ItsJustLisa I'm curious to see how far into the real mess between Alva and her daughter the second season goes into with the story of Bertha and Gladys. At one point, Alva told Consuelo that if she continued to refuse the Duke of Marlborough, she would order an assassination on Consuelo's sweetheart. Then later, after there were children and she knew her grandson would be a Duke, she willingly and even cheerfully admitted to every horrible thing she had done to force Consuelo into marriage at the Marlborough's divorce trial.
@@danaglabeman6919 Then is the Crown just a case of the royals being above suing over the same concept of 'legacy'?
The costumers use the clothes to tell you who the person is.
What about the men fashion? Can we also cover us?
Ok but what about the heat in the summer! We’re they hot?
Fun video!!
I wonder if the bustles were in the same place as today's tanning and getting bigger lips... my thought it's for the same reason.
I love all the women's attire, but I do wonder at so much asymmetry in the design of dresses of that period. Does anyone know about this feature?
I'd have a full blown panic attack in all this.
Good.