Gilded Age Fasion Attire Etiquette

In the gilded age, women of means changed clothing several times a day. When traveling abroad, women and men with money could expect to change clothing several times during a day. A woman would need daily; a morning dress, a day dress, a tea gown, a dinner gown and a combing or morning jacket.

The Line of Demarcation

One of the most encouraging signs of the times is that the line of demarcation between house and walking costumes is growing more and more distinct. The canon of good taste in this respect has been notoriously disregarded, even by those who might have been supposed to know better. Bright colors, it is true, are still to be seen on the streets, but women with refined feeling have set their faces like a flint against the use of them, and choose tints of the least conspicuousness for out-door toilettes.

On the other hand, home and ceremonious dress increases in richness. This is in accordance with the eternal fitness of things. It is the high prerogative of woman to adorn herself for the home and drawing-room, where she holds intercourse with her equals in the social sphere; and it is equally her province to be modest and inconspicuous in her best attire, where she comes in contact with the promiscuous crowd, who may jostle her at every turn.-New York Commercial Advertiser, 1886

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