I’ve entered The Gilded Age hive. I wasn’t watching the series at first, but I started watching a marathon one weekend and I became obsessed with it. It is a worthy successor to Downton Abbey: a gorgeous and cheesy soap opera. Much like Downton, the Gilded Age wants to be high-minded and a prestige drama, but it is in essence a cheesy soap opera. And that’s fine! Not everything has to be a high-minded drama. Sometimes the most dramatic things happen when a sheltered young woman makes bad decisions, or when a scandalous woman has a great art collection, or when you run into your neighbor’s employee at a shop.
Anyway, there are three characters who get the BEST clothes: Louisa Jacobson’s Marion, Carrie Coon’s Bertha Russell and Denee Benton’s Peggy Scott. Louisa is arguably “the lead,” and she wears some of the most “modern” looks of the period. But even though those looks are modern for the time period, she still has to wear all of the corsetry. She’s already slim, but they make her waist look TINY on the show. Well, Louisa gave an interview to Reign with Josh Smith, and she had a lot to say about the corsets in particular.
Getting used to wearing corsets: “It took a long time to get used to that corset after wearing sweatpants for so long… Every day when I took it off, I was so grateful and I will never take for granted being a female-identifying person in 2022, who does have the freedom to put on a pair of pants that are kind of loose and call it a day. The things women had to do — the corset was crazy.”
Beauty standards: She says wearing a corset made her realize “how I’ve internalized beauty standards so intensely. You’ve seen Cinderella, you’ve seen any Disney movie. Have you seen Frozen? Their waists are like the size of my finger. All the main princess characters just have these tiny little waists and you grow up seeing that. I walked on set and I was like, in my fittings too, I was like, ‘Just tighten it. I wanna look snatched.’ ”
She regretted getting the tight corsets though: “I really suffered from that decision because they measured and sewed all my costumes based on how tight my corset was in the fitting when I had been really ambitious about making it very tight,” she told Smith. Eventually, Jacobson chose to alter her dresses so she could be more comfortable. She explained that about three or four months into filming, she asked the costume designers to take out her dresses in the waist “because it was just too much.”
She couldn’t sleep on her side because of the corset-wearing: “It was taxing physically and mentally, I couldn’t sleep on my side for a long time because my ribs were so sore. That’s when I realized I really need to loosen this up. After every take or between setups, I would ask my dresser to untie the corset so that I could get a break. They were called corset breaks.”
She would end up wearing the corset for 15 hours a day: “To have that [the corset] on for that long is bananas and the women back then actually in the Gilded age, they would change their clothes three or four times a day, and someone on set assumed that was because they needed breaks from wearing these corsets, and they wore them tighter than we do.”
Honestly though, her whole “look” on the show is spectacular. I realize it’s come at a steep price and months of discomfort, but that’s why you don’t tell the costume people “I wanna look snatched, make it tighter!” I’ve worn a corset before and it’s no f–king joke. Real corsets – like the ones with boning – are f–king brutal to wear. You spend five minutes in one of those and you mostly want to die. Your internal organs are squished and I’m sure women did very serious damage to their organs that way. All that being said, Louisa does look f–king snatched! I love seeing Marion’s clothes because – I’m guessing – they had so much fun designing the stuff in a particular way for her body. She’s small-chested and kind of narrow, so those 1880s costumes look like they’re on a mannequin.
PS… I couldn’t find photos of this, but the Peggy Scott character wore my favorite look of the show in a recent episode. It was a plaid fabric with some sheen which looked AMAZING with the bustle.
Photos courtesy of HBO/The Gilded Age’s Instagram.
I just started watching this (like I’ve seen the first episode) and so far I’m enjoying it. I read a lot of books about this period last summer so I feel like I’m sliding right into the era, lol. The costumes are amazing.
(Books I read: The Social Graces, That Churchill Woman, and the Husband Hunters, the latter being nonfiction.) I My library does not have any biographies on caroline Astor which is what I wanted when I got out the Husband Hunters but Amazon has a few so I might grab one of those.)
I ordered the books “Black Fortune” and “Black Gotham” about the black elite in New York of the time. Something I had no idea existed before now!
Thanks for the recs! I just added those to my list.
@ Snuffles, those are fabulous books to recommends!!!
@ Becks1, thank you for the book recommendations!!!
I always appreciate books that are recommended as there are so many to choose from you cannot be certain as to which one to choose!!
As for TGA, I immediately set it up on TiVo when the cast was announced!! I will watch anything with Baranski and Nathan Lane!!!! I have adored Baranski since Cybill!!!
@Becks1, you must read Edith Wharton: The House of Mirth, The Reef, The Age of Innocence, The Mother’s Recompense – her “old New York” novels. She lived it and wrote about it with a social critic’s eye – she’s the Gilded Age’s Austen.
I’ve read the House of Mirth and the Age of Innocence, but its been over 20 years (I did a report on Edith Wharton in high school) so you’re right, I probably should read them again bc I’m sure my perspective and understanding at this point would be totally different.
I want to read all of the above. Thank you! I’ve just started the series and love the incorporation of real people… it gives it a certain electricity.
Thank you @ AmB!! Another number of books to add to the list!! And who doesn’t love someone that was living during that period to give us a more defined view as to what it was like for women during that period!!!
I just finished the Anderson Cooper book about his family, The Vanderbilts which was interesting. Also read the Social Graces last year.
You might also want to read: Fortune’s Children. It is nonfiction about the Vanderbilt family and spans right during the Gilded Age era. I love that period in history and have been reading a lot recently about it.
If you love this show you should definitely watch Million Dollar American princess, it’s a Smithsonian show available on paramount.
It does a deep dive into many of the women this show touches/is about. For instance, the woman Taissa’s character is based on eventually married British and became the mother of Winston Churchill
That would be Jennie Jerome! Mark Twain co-wrote a book called The Gilded Age, another person who lived during the time period. (I know I read it, but I can’t really remember it; Twain would have skewered these people, of course.) And I’ve been listening lately to the podcast ‘The Gilded Gentleman’, a spinoff of ‘The Bowery Boys’. He recently had the author of a wonderful book about the household staff in NYC during this time, that was super interesting. The most-recent podcast was about Alva Vanderbilt, who the Bertha character is based on.
I’m loving the unique fabric and pattern combinations!
I hope she is making the character hopelessly bland for when she gets humiliated by the lawyer Raikes and turns into a vengeful virago! The costumes, and hair for this show are spectacular though.
I am hopeful that the writers learn what she is best at performance wise and script her accordingly. Because I find her to be the weakest performance in the entire show. But I love her Victorian cowboy hats!
Pure nepotism hire. She is by far the weakest in what is otherwise a stellar cast!
@ Snazzy, but the show also presents is with Vera Famigas daughter as well, though she is not one of the leading characters.
@ Poisonella, I am extremely intrigued by the assumption of Raikes humiliation to Brooks marriage.
Taissa Farmiga, who plays Gladys, is Vera Farmiga’s sister, not daughter. I, too, made that mistake because they look so much alike–and there’s a big obvious age difference.
Turns out Taissa is the baby of 7 children. I come from a large family, too, and we also have these large age spreads. Vera has siblings who are 20 years older than she is.
She is an important character, being Mrs. Russell’s only daughter, catnip for fortune hunters like Oscar.
I hate her bangs and wish they’d deepen her role. She’s not allowed so far to have much personality, although I like her warmth and playfulness. Glad there will be a season 2.
This Hollywood Reporter interview is really interesting. Vera says she started out in Ryan Murphy’s American Horror Story. She says she auditioned for Marian but didn’t feel like it was a good fit, nor did the director. She did like the Gladys role. She is 27, but her character is 17.
https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/tv/tv-features/gilded-age-taissa-farmiga-1235099898/#!
I can’t figure out if her wooden performance is just how she acts and her casting was due to nepotism, or if this is how the character is written. (I’ll admit I have a feeling it’s for the first reason.)
I agree that she is, by far, the weakest link in the show. I have a feeling she was hired because of nepotism…
I have no opinion on her acting (haven’t seen the show) but her face makes me think of The Portrait of Madame X. She has a good ‘look’ for a (presumably) snooty character in a costume drama. (Also, nepotism)
I couldn’t figure out why you all kept talking about nepotism so I googled her and ohhhh….now I get it, lol. I’m sure that played a role.
She is most definitely the weakest link. I had no idea who she is, just wondered why they’d hire someone so monotone in voice and mannerisms; then I Googled and had an AHA! moment lol
Still, the costumes and sets are like a visual feast! I can’t believe people lived like that. Can you imagine getting into and out of those corsets, and the hair styling, et al…just to be sitting at home, all day, doing your needlepoint?????😱😱😱
Jan90067: most of us wouldn’t have to worry about that, as this is rich lady style only. And I mean stinkin’ rich.
The cast is absolutely stacked with serious stage and screen talent which unfortunately highlights what a weak actress she is in comparison. I hope she improves with the second second season.
That era’s fashion was insanely punishing so she is right on that.
Her performance is stiff and wooden but in fairness, she is surrounded by Broadway legends on that show who devour every piece of scenery. Even cousin Aurora and Mrs Astor have Tony awards.
It’s a puzzle as to why she was cast against all of that huge talent because she isn’t a famous name, they certainly didn’t need one, and she gets eaten alive in almost every scene. I can only stand watching her in scenes with Aunt Ada because she’s so sympathetic to Marian the character it’s like she’s also taking it easy on her as an actor.
very true, she’s up against some great actresses and actors. In my kind moments I like to think that actually helps her character stand out more as a “fish out of water” in NY society.
@ncboudicca: I agree. Also the fact that her character has somehow walked right into the elite of society at that time based on nepotism maybe casting felt it was a good fit because she would understand/relate to nepotism from real life…LOL. I must admit I am completely hooked!
Only one more episode left in the season! But they are already preparing to film season 2. They’re looking for extras in Newport.
And I keep watching the end of this week’s episode over and over and over. “GET MRS RUSSELL OUT OF HERE!”
Bertha is about the fuck some bitches up after that humiliation!
Yes! Can not wait to see what she has in store. I love Carrie Coon’s Bertha so much!
The chicken feathers!!
It was so brutal! And hilarious. The feathers!
S*it is going to hit the fan!! I can’t wait!
Newport!!! OMG! *bated breath*
I should probably go back and watch all of Downton Abbey, rather than the random, hit-and-miss toe-dipping I’ve done that never really hooked me. I am addicted to Gilded Age, though. Louisa’s performance isn’t why; I hope she comes into her own when Raikes throws her over for real money.
I keep trying Downton Abbey and I find it so boring. I think i’ve started it three times at this point, and I’m maybe halfway through season 2? I can’t remember bc I just stop caring. I know its supposed to be amazing but it never clicks for me.
Okay! I feel better. I’m much more drawn to the OTT interiors and the delicious fashion in TGA. Not to mention Pumpkin, the Cavalier King Charles (mom of two Cavvies, here). 🐶🐶
Downton was indeed a cheesy soap opera pretending to be high-minded. Great production value, strong acting for the most part, but soapy and full of insidious classism. The writer has a real boner for the bad old days.
I agree that Jacobson is a weak performer.
Downton Abbey started off ok but it dragged on too many seasons. And Maggie Smith as the dowager was the only snarky character in that show. The rest took the show seriously despite it being a ridiculous soap opera. Fancy Corrie Street in nicer settings.
Gilded Age is a better show overall but I think it’s because it is so packed with stellar theatre talent.
Their was speculation on another site recap of TGA that Raikes was lying about Marian’s stocks, that she inherited from her father, being worthless. That’s why he is pursuing her so fiercely. Have to believe he’s going down and she is destined to be with Larry “I want to be an architect” Russell. Larry was on Poldark and is doing a great American accent.
I also read that Carrie Coons who plays Bertha Russell was pregnant for the entire shoot and 7 months along at the end. They hid it well in her costumes.
Downton went on about 5 seasons to many. Poor Anna, that woman went through too much drama and don’t get me started on Lady Mary. So far TGA is much better. Hopefully the writing can keep up and doesn’t become ridiculous like DA.
@Anne – Marian’s supposedly worthless stocks were railroad stocks, no? And George Russell is a railroad tycoon, who owes her a favor over the Dixon business, so – we shall see.
Also, in addition to Poldark, Harry Richardson (Larry) was one of the romantic leads in Dr. Thorne, also written by – Julian Fellowes. So wouldn’t be surprised if he’s destined for more with Marian.
I didn’t watch DA during the initial run, but binged later on. Mostly liked it through Season 3, felt it was pushing it after that. And I thought the movie was awful. Did go to the exhibition when it was in NYC though – sets, costumes, etc. That was excellently done.
It was so good! I mean forcing her way into Mrs.Astor’s house was the absolute height of rudeness and gauche bahviour so she got what was coming to her but I still can’t wait to see her rise up and if the Russell’s are inspired by the Vanderbilts what a rise it will be!
And Mr McAllister let it be known who his patroness definitely was.
But will there be chicken feathers at the quadrille?
OMG Nathan Lane IN THAT MOUSTACHE!!! I can just *see* him twirling it as he makes up his mind, playing both sides!
Carrie Coon is amazing! I have read everything by Edith Wharton and love it, and one line from Carrie Coon is as educational and insightful.
I went to college with Carrie Coon and she has always been phenomenally talented. I saw her audition for Extremities and then I saw myself out. She is so deserving of her success. Also, she was 8 months pregnant when they wrapped the show!
OMG could the corsets be the problem?! Are they the sucking all the acting ability out of her? We might have solved the mystery of why she was cast for the lead when her presence is so bland!
lmao!!!!!
Talk of corsets *always* makes me think of the scene in GWTW where Scarlett is getting laced up, and keeps saying to make it tighter (to get a 20″ waist!!!). OMG! lol
Yes!!!! The plaid dress on Peggy was fabulous!!! This is a fantastic new show. I’m all in!
I adore this show. Lots of fun and I am really enjoying the relationship between Peggy and Marion. The performances are excellent and I have a serious girl crush on Carrie Coon. Corsets..had to wear one at work and well…looked good but oh the discomfort.
I love the show too. The days & ways of that time period are so interesting! Love, love the costumes!
Although, I had initially hoped for more character development and writing from the series, I’ve shifted to the “it’s fun to watch” camp. Like Kaiser said, it’s ultimately a cheesy soap opera
There are so many amazing actors on the cast that I wished they’d spend more time on. Please give me more Audra McDonald, Kelli O’Hara or Katie Finneran and less scenes of Oscar Van Rhijn twisting his mustache!
And I love me some Nathan Lane but his accent is bonkers. It’s like watching him crib notes from Micheal Scott’s Caleb Crawdad from the murder mystery game episode of The Office!
@ mia girl, Nathan Lane was on a talk show a few weeks back and he disclosed that he has to keep his speech coach near as he has difficulty keeping his southern accent perfect! It was an intriguing spill!!
bothsidesnow- makes total sense. I sympathize with Lane, mastering a true southern accent can be tough and often he does slip towards parody. The real McAllister was from Savannah so I guess that’s what he’s aiming for?
Fashion historians have done a lot of really great mythbusting stuff surrounding historical use of corsetry. I think Bernadette Banner is the most widely known fashion historian talking about this (I linked to her YouTube in my name above if anyone wants to check her out) but pretty much any fashion historian who studies the Victorian / Edwardian era agree on the major points.
Women during the gilded age never would have worn corsets the way that Louisa Jacobson did :). Very few women tight-laced, and when they did, it was usually for short periods of time. Most of the fashionable silhouette was achieved by padding out the hips and shoulders, not by lacing down at the waist. Gilded Age should have had a fashion historian on set to make sure Louisa was properly fitted for a corset! It takes skill to get a corset fitted right, and not as many people these days still know how to do it.
Interesting! I love historical corrections like this. I just watched another YouTuber Nicole Rudolph’s video on historical shoes. They look so tiny in museums and she debunks the myth that they were really that small.
Yes! I hate these sorts of interviews with actresses from period pieces. Corsets should not hurt. If they do, you’re wearing it wrong. It should absolutely not bruise your ribs or prevent you from breathing. They had different corsets for different activities. These women rode bikes and played tennis and did gymnastics in corsets. They weren’t super restricting all the time. And no one wore a corset against their bare skin. (I know she didn’t mention that, but’s that’s one of those things people mention in other interviews about how horrible it is and how it digs into their skin.) That should never happen. It was bust and back support, and the fashionable silhouette was made with padding and the way that the clothes were made, like you said.
I used to do tightlacing with custom corsets. I am sure they have a barrier on between the corset and their skin, they’re just like cloth tubes, but it does not do nearly as much as you would hope. They still REALLY dig at your skin, its part of the fit and ultimately the goal of the lace is to have it that tight.
It doesn’t even matter in this case though – they shouldn’t be tightlacing for the show. Its supposed to take a lot of time and practice to get comfortable with the (rough average) standard beginning size of reducing by 2″ around the waist.
This, a thousand times! There are so many myths about corsetry or stays and they are all based on the tiny percentage of people who tightlaced. As evidenced by Gladys, in a proper corset, you can play tennis, run, ride a horse, maintain a pregnancy, etc. They are no more uncomfortable than a well-fitted bra (usually much better, since they were made bespoke for the wearer and provide some nice back support). There is an excellent book just released by Sarah Bendall called Shaping Femininity: Foundation Garments that dispels all the falsehoods. In addition to Berndette Bannder, check out Hilary Davidson, Alden O’Brien, Alanna McKnight, and Abby Cox (historical fashion researchers and historical reenactors).
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4XBLBfWNH7I
Just to be clear Bernadette Banner doesn’t have any historical degree, whether a general nor a history of fashion one. She is a YouTuber, former costume designer and I think has a film degree or something, but not a historian. You could call her a historical fashion expert, but not a historian since that implies that she studied it academically and got a degree.
Yes I took a few historical costume classes in university and distinctly remember reading and my professor correcting the myth of the tight corset. Corsets were custom ordered and fitted for each women to make her waist slimmer but also be comfortable since she would be wearing it most of the day (even with costume changes). There were definitely some ladies who took it to a crazy level and would develop the vapors whilst wearing their corsets but they were few and far in between. My professor used to say if an actress is complaining about how hard it is to wear her corset she is either 1. Wearing a corset made with someone else’s measurements or 2. Her costume designer is a poor one and ignorant of the history of costume designer and creating a true functional corset. He hated the scene of Scarlett O’Hara in Gone With the Wind getting her corset tightened by Mamie, he said it gave all the actresses in Hollywood the false impression of how their corsets should fit and propagate the tight corset myth.
Hello
Yes, I have worn corsets for a variety of reasons . . . Halloween costumes, special fairs and festivals, even for date night sometimes . . . Even tied fairly tight, I never found them overly pinching or restrictive. My experience was that they actually provided some extra support and encouraged very correct posture. Worn correctly, I could easily wear one 3+ days a week no problem. I think bad experiences probably are based on tying too tight and improper fit.
Yes! The Lingerie Addict Cora Harrington has also written about this.
Also: THE CORSETS SHOULD NOT PULL IN HER RIBS. Sorry for the all caps, but this People article is normalizing unsafe practices by not challenging the myth that corsets must bruise and hurt the body. No actor should be bruised or wounded wearing a corset–it should really be unacceptable. I’m sure a journalist with People magazine could get a quote from a fashion historian or corset expert to state what a proper corset wearing experience should be. It’s clear to anyone who has an inkling of corset education, that costumer is not lacing her properly AND the corset does not suit her torso.
Absolutely, K_fischer! I would rather wear a properly fitted corset over a modern bra any day of the week. Especially as someone who is busty, supporting that weight from my hips is much less painful than supporting it from my shoulders.
My friend and I both watch it and text each other about it. Her MIL watches too but apparently isn’t as sassy as we are in her comments. We decided if you’re going to watch Gilded Age you must be able to be as sassy as Aunt Agnes. She deserves nothing less.
To answer Kaiser’s questions re: health issues and corsets, women did end up having issues if they laced too tightly for too long. Barbara Ehrenreich has a great book called “For Her Own Good” that discusses the “expert” advice given to women over the last couple centuries.In it, she discusses how tight corset lacing led to uterine prolapse and other internal organ damage.
I just confirmed with some dress historians – apparently Valerie Steele has been researching medical myths about corsetry since the 1980s and none were plausible, except possibly breathlessness if tightly laced. No prolapse, no organ damage.
Does it seem odd that Aurora Fane always refers to Agnes as Aunt Agnes when she wasn’t known in NY as anyone’s aunt until Marion moved in?
I think she is Aurora’s aunt by marriage. I think Aurora is related through Agnes’s husband or her husband is, something like that.
Yes, there was some sort of double connection that Agnes explained d early on. Aurora was a cousin on their mother’s side but a niece somehow on the side of Agnes’s husband. She doesn’t refer to Ada as an aunt.
Thank you both, I totally missed that info.
Re: Nepotism- does anyone else remember when it was the exception rather than the rule that actors had famous and or really well connected parents? I feel like there has just been an explosion of nepo people in everything lately. The upside though is that it has made me stop overvaluing people who are preternaturally poised- I would have been poised at 22 too if I had been raised with the best education money can buy, knew that my family name ensured my path was nearly cleared of meaningful obstacles and my parents connections would solve most of the problems people have getting traction in their career and I had a really nice place to live that I didn’t have to pay for.
It’s about the huge corporate takeover of Hollywood, which trickles down into not being able to get seen by an agent (with agents doing packages now, casting directors often don’t see actors whose agents offices aren’t producing, etc) unless someone famous recommends an actor and even then you’d better have a name or somehow broken out in an indie first, and the resulting demands for reliable BO formulas that they still believe rely on a male leads with sexy beautiful ingenues with name power or comforting bloodlines.
It’s all about the money and the moronic Wall Street mentality that runs Hollywood now. So the same way they rule the menu at Burger King is how they make “artistic” decisions in big budget films and now elite streaming.
Not to suggest I don’t enjoy this show, I love it, I’d watch Christine baranski in anything.
WithTheAmerican, same here! I can watch her do *anything*. I’ve been a fan since her days on All My Children, and she has only gotten better and better!!
If you’ve not seen her on the 90s show “Cybill”, see if you can find it online. She plays Cybill Shephard’s best friend on that show and she is *hysterically* funny!
**Just looked, seems it’s on Peacock, Tubi, Roku, and Pluto!
@ Jan90067 omg we are baranski soulmates, no one else watches Cybill but I love it! I love Christine so much in it, I’ll watch it again when I finish it!
That point about Disney characters being sub consciously internalised – so true. My niece (aged 4) asked me to read her an abridged version of Cinderella the other day and I found myself rebelling at all the terrible tropes so casually fed to little girls about beauty = goodness and Princes rescuing women and “happily ever after”. Grrrr. Somebody once described Walt Disney as “the most dangerous man in America”. Admittedly this was not recently as that title has many competitors these days but still, I see their point.
I’m getting very familiar with present day Disney and other studios movies for kids (3 year old granddaughter) and it is SO MUCH BETTER NOW. Moana, Frozen women, Encanto all are making their own destiny without Prince Charming to come along to solve their problems.
Sure, I enjoyed the sister-focused story of frozen but they still gave those cartoon sisters ridiculously tiny waists. It’s pretty disturbing actually.
This is not a fair or accurate assessment of how corsets were historically worn or what they do to your body.
Also, corsets were only one part of creating the illusion of a small waist. Prue parts of their clothing, the exaggerated silhouette, padding in the bust and hips would have added to the appearance of a tiny waist. Most people were not that small.
There’s something of a survival’s bias that fashion historians have been working to overcome in the last decade. We have a lot of tiny garments that survived so there were assumptions that people were tinier. They weren’t. These are just the clothing that survived because there was no one to pass them onto.
Think of a vintage wedding passed through generations. The less brides who can fit in the thing, the less it will be worn and the better preserved it will be.
A tiny corset was likely worn for a short period of time, outgrown, and then stuffed in a trunk, unable to be worn by anyone else.
But a well fitted corset should not hurt. Women would not have tightlaced the hell out of themselves and they would have had their clothing fitted to their comfort, not an arbitrary waist size.
I should clarify. Corsetting can hurt but it hurts in the same way a modern bra or shapewear can hurt. And that hurt can usually be corrected with better fitting.
This, 100%!
As debunked over and over by Costume historians and Vintage Dressing YouTubers, wearing a corset during the era was as comfortable as the bra you wear daily. Sure, that feeling of removing your bra after a long day feels great, but wearing it is not oppressive. Corsets supported your bosom, and bosoms need supporting!
Agree with all this. Women have worn corsets for centuries and they are not torture devices. A lot of that comes from a fetish pov. Women did farm labor and domestic work in corsets and there was always a layer between the skin and the corset. Also we tend to see the most fashionable versions for women in their best clothes, instead of the more practical versions. Also women wore padding at the hips and bust to make the waist look smaller than it actually was. That’s one thing about the look of the character Louisa I don’t like. She is unfashionably thin for the era and she doesn’t quite fill out the silhouette and bodice.
Can we talk about the hats! Outfit after outfit, Marion’s hats are lovely. Peggy’s hats are perfect for her serious woman journalist persona, and Bertha Russell’s headgear screams: “LOOK AT ME NOW!”
Do any of the Gummer children look like their father?
Kate was born in the wrong century – ALL. THOSE. BUTTONS., the world’s tiniest waist, and drinking tea counting as a full day of work.
Excellent point!! 👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻
I was born during WWII. My grandmother was born in 1882. She wore corsets all her life & as a child I’d lace them when she visited. Hers were peach satin, with bones, always worn over a chemise, made of thin cotton batiste.
When I married in the 1965, I wore her 18th birthday party dress, from 1900. The waist was small but mine was too – 22″. I had to make a long straight slip from similar fabric & trim to wear underneath the dress to lengthen it 9 inches for our height difference. It gave a lovely, long tunic effect.
Wish you could upload a picture – sounds beautiful!
Thank you CB for loving on another cheeseball highbrow drama. I swear. HBO had me w GOT and now kept me going w Gilded Age & Evan Rachel Woods’ activism documentary. At 1st I
I do wonder @ the authenticity in GA costumes- they’re so “over the top” and I swear I saw a zipper up the back of one- did they even have zippers? Also is Peggy Scott meant to be a spinoff of Ida B Wells? I’m here for it, every wk. Sigh.
It took me a while to get into this show. Maybe I was expecting too much from it since it has been compared to Downton Abbey so much. I’m really enjoying it now. I’m so glad I live in an age where corsets are not required 😀
There is a book you absolutely need to read. It’s both informative and snarky:
Unmentionable: The Victorian Lady’s Guide to Sex, Marriage and Manners – Therese ONeill.
The costumes and scenery are such tantalizing eye candy that I have to rewatch every episode to catch everything that happens! I watch once to gawk at the stunning hats/dresses/hair/sets, then again for the story!
Kaiser I have been waiting for you to chime in, I figured you would love the show! The costumes are unbelievable.
I just started watching this and am totally getting into it. It is soapy but enjoyable. I’m not particularly into that particular style period with the Medici necklines and the big bustles, but they do a good job with the costuming,even Bertha’s excess. A few unexpected things came up and liked that a lot of these incidents were based on real events and real people. Morgan Spector, who plays the ruthless husband, is so good in the role. I love the character Peggy and her story. The scene where Marian comes to her family home and gets schooled on a few things is so good.
Glad to see I wasn’t the only one who found her acting to be very one dimensional. She lacks depth and a mic of emotions. I don’t understand why they’d look for trained actors rather than children of actors.
Fwiw she’s trained–she went to the Yale School of Drama.
Of course her mother is that school’s most famous alumna 😉
I can’t decide if I think she is a terrible actress or if I keep expecting her to be Meryl, which is a bar too high for a majority of actors out there.
I really like what I’ve watched from this show so far and am loving the education regarding corsets from posters. Honestly, bras or corsets will never sound comfy to me no matter how well fitting. The outfits/dresses are fab. A great cast and I can’t complain about Louisa’s acting yet…she might be doing what’s expected of her character. Appreciated the poster comment about do all of Meryl’s children look like her. It made me look up MS’s husband (couldn’t remember what he looked liked). Love seeing the throwback photos. Absolutely beautiful. Years before photoshop.
https://purpleclover.littlethings.com/entertainment/8644-meryl-streep/item/meryl-don-gummer/