Lifestyle of a Fashionista

The Gilded Age on HBO/Max

Season two of The Gilded Age premiered on Sunday October 29th. New episodes will be released weekly on Max and HBO. There are eight episodes in the second season.

If you aren’t familiar with this show, it premiered in January 2022. The series was created by Julian Fellowes.

The description from Google, The American Gilded Age was a period of immense economic change, great conflict between the old ways and brand new systems, and huge fortunes were made and lost. In 1882, young Marian Brook moves from rural Pennsylvania to New York City after the death of her father to live with her aunts Agnes van Rhijn and Ada Brook. Accompanied by Peggy Scott, an aspiring writer seeking a fresh start, Marian inadvertently becomes enmeshed in a social war between one of her aunts, a scion of the old money set, and her stupendously rich neighbors, a ruthless railroad tycoon and his ambitious wife, George and Bertha Russell. Exposed to a world on the brink of the modern age, Marian must choose if she will follow the established rules of society or forge her own path.

I just started watching season one. I’m not sure why I didn’t watch it last year. I love it! There is lots of drama, back-stabbing, romance, and fantastic fashion. I was immediately drawn in.

From Vogue, The Real-Life Socialites and Historical Figures Who Inspired the Characters of The Gilded Age

The Gilded Age at the MET Gala

In 2022, the theme of the MET Gala was the Gilded Age. I wrote about it on the blog: https://lifestyleofafashionista.com/2022/04/29/the-met-gala-and-the-gilded-age/

See some of the looks:

From AD, 8 Met Gala Looks as Gilded Age Buildings

Another favorite look of mine:

From PopSugar, The 12 Celebrities Who Actually Nailed the “Gilded Glamour” Met Gala Theme

The Gilded Age and John Singer Sargent

The MFA in Boston opened it’s Fashioned by Sargent exhibit on October 8th. From the MFA, “Organized with Tate Britain, “Fashioned by Sargent” explores the artist’s complex relationship with his often-affluent clients and their clothes. The exhibition reveals Sargent’s power over his sitters’ images by considering the liberties he took with sartorial choices to express distinctive personalities, social positions, professions, gender identities, and nationalities. Alongside about 50 paintings by Sargent, over a dozen period garments and accessories shed new light on the relationship between fashion and this beloved artist’s creative practice.”

I strongly recommend visiting this exhibit in the MFA, it closes on January 15, 2024.

Some of my favorite portraits from the exhibit:

Fun fact: The dress in the last portrait inspired this look in the Gilded Age.

The History of the Portrait

Sargent (1856–1925) became the most sought-after portraitist of his generation on both sides of the Atlantic.

From The Collector, Fabulous Gilded Age Portraits You Have To See

“The Gilded Age was a period of industrial, financial, and cultural growth in the United States. It took place roughly between the end of the American Civil War (1865) and the beginning of World War One (1914). It was a time of big business, when tycoons like J.P. Morgan, and Henry Clay Frick made vast fortunes through highly aggressive methods. These so-called robber barons and their families were often art collectors and philanthropists on a grand scale. Accordingly, wealthy elites commissioned countless portraits from fashionable American portrait painters.“

“The four great American portrait painters of the Gilded Age were Thomas Eakins, William Merritt Chase, Cecilia Beaux, and John Singer Sargent.” 

“Cecilia Beaux (1855-1942) was one of the most successful American portrait painters of the entire Gilded Age. She was held in such high esteem during her career that she was considered a worthy rival for the internationally-famous John Singer Sargent.“