While vintage clothing is often considered modest with conservative silhouettes, there is still so much to learn from the detailing, finishing and delicate richness that these costumes carry. Victoria and Albert museum has some of the avant-garde pieces from the golden era. It’s truly inspiring how beautiful these clothes look with durability of centuries. Even now with precise intricate work of handmade prints and embroidery; brands are unable to achieve the quality of some of these vintage pieces. One has to step out from the rat race of seasonal collections and start focussing more on intricate garments, keeping the vintage era of 1700’s to 1900’s in mind.
When we consider something as work of art or class, we have to look back through the epitome of vintage fashion-based web-series, the one and only ‘Downtown Abbey’ which, hands down beats the costume drama of Anna Karenina, Colette and even French fashion ideal movie of Marie Antoinette. Mary Crawley and her sisters, which can make the attire for dinner with gloves look entirely glamorous. Setting up the simplicity and class of Chanel, there is much more to this costume drama of the early 1900s. Full length gowns, peplums, low waist loose silhouette lurking around satin elbow- length gloves, jewelled headbands with crystals and delicate feathers, pendant necklaces, antique pairs of pearl drop earrings or eye-catching brooch which can make a costume divine for one’s idea of royalty and class.
Guys play along in a tuxedo and top hat as Matthew Crawley or have your girlfriends complete the Crawley clan, as lady Edith and noble lady Sybil with her eye-catching skills for upcoming fashion.
We were just getting over the soothing sense of 1900s’ fashion, and the creator of “Downtown Abbey” brings another show on HBO jumping back few decades. This time it brings the mesmerising magic of New York city’s fashion era from 1882. We watched the 1st episode of vintage fashion based show “The Gilded Age”, last week streaming on Hotstar. It’s setting the bar very high with costume designer Kasia Walicka-Mainmone, who has worked on roughly 5000 costumes for the first season only. Along with her team of approximately 65 people, they thoroughly researched and worked on detailing of the costumes influenced by The Gilded age era- and the time periods before and after.
“The Gilded Age” is a brand-new series on HBO which will be giving viewers a promising indulgence in to the glamour and glorifying life of “Old Money” versus “New money “in New York City. The era of 1800s can be visualised through the director’s wanderlust inspiring us to travel in the golden era of New York City and experience the journey of lifestyle and luxury living of upper class, its vivacious prosperity, growing economy and cultural contradictions. A lot can be established between the internal layers of the high society carrying “New Money” figures and rising up with their brave and bold social activities with
strong charitable participants against the “Old Money” established families.
Story starts with a small-town girl Marian (played by Meryl Streep’s daughter) losing her father suddenly. Coming to an age of acknowledgement, she has no family wealth to keep her living at ease in rural Pennsylvania. She has been obliged to surrender her freedom under the wings of her aunts Ada and Agnes in New York City. Mariah is plain-spoken yet docile with the breath of fresh air. Her costumes give the essence of a traditional shift in to mix of new-born fashion. Around that time, the life of Creme de la Creme of New York City had a mix of old and new. One side was “old money” neighbourhood that was described in the characters of Agnes and Ada, sticking by their vintage style through monochromatic jewel tones, wearing shades of purple, maroons and blue while the latter wears gold, orange and red.
The other side shows the distinction with the “new money” character of Bertha Russell who favours heavy ornamentation, standout headpieces and bright colours showing her position and new wealth. Being the wife of a railroad tycoon and recently declaring of being “the grand dame of all the grand dames” Walicka- Maimome says, “ she’s not trying to break away from society, but she’s just trying to be a better version of the old society. I tried to create this subtle difference between her costumes and the ‘old money’. The silhouette is the same- nobody would dare break the silhouette- but with Bertha , she goes more with what’s current fashion” -in her recent interview.
New York City in the 1800s, had a strong impact of Parisian fashion around the people who would prefer to travel and adopt trends at that time. Women’s fashion and designers such as Charles Frederick, were heavily influenced by French fashion waves. What was happening on the streets of New York was “new money” and the ladies of that accomplishments were royally quick in adopting European fashion. Stating the known costume designer say that most fabrics were sourced from Rome, Paris, and London or created in the show’s costume house. Few vintage materials were utilised in forms of lace and period jewellery- as they were too fragile to be shaped into the tight, corset dresses. Through her historical research,
her team saw that “new Money” figure would often embrace current fashion from the European houses, while “old money” families would purchase those same garments, but hold onto them until those foreign trends and styles would finally reach the U.S. This reflects the new figures and their desires to set trends and be bolder, while also reinforcing the old figures practices of sticking with what’s traditional.
While central character of Marian being new to the city, her style reflects how she is absorbing the lifestyle with old aunts. For all the characters in the show, colours are playing a huge role to set narratives in its prospective. Overall costumes serve as a representation of the world at the golden time and division between the characters in the upcoming society and its real living. If one is missing the vintage fashion and its glory, it’s about time to get on this vintage fashion packed powerful web-series, while rest of the fiction can wait on other digital portals.
