With the season three finale of HBO’s “The Gilded Age” just behind us, you may be itching for more drama from the beguiling bygone era. Luckily, there’s plenty to learn about the Gilded Age estate right in our backyard — the Biltmore.
For today, let’s focus on the fashion. In this era, the wealthier someone was, the more often they changed clothes — meaning there were new, perfectly tailored looks for nearly every activity, from strolling the estate’s gardens to formal dinners. According to the Biltmore Estate’s archives, the Vanderbilts frequently wore clothing from French haute couture designers like Jeanne Paquin, Jacques Doucet, and the House of Worth.
Several years ago, the Biltmore tapped Oscar-winning designer John Bright (also of Downton Abbey fame) to recreate many of Edith Vanderbilt’s outfits for the estate’s “A Vanderbilt House Party – The Gilded Age” exhibit. Learn more about how the clothes were made using black and white archival photographs.
