Gilded Age Bathing Fashion

Larking about with a “ride” on the beach, two young women in their proper sea bathing attire.— Manners, Culture and Dress of the Best American Society detailed the fabric and shape of the garment, which “should be made of flannel.” A “gray tint” was advisable because “it does not soon fade and grow ugly from contact with salt water.” The “best” style was either a “loose sacque” or “yoke waist.” The dress was belted at the waist, and the skirt reached “mid way between the knee and the ankle.”

- Image source, Etiquipedia private image library

At the Newport shoreline, Bailey’s Beach offered “a dip in the sea at the society bathing grounds on which the public were not permitted to trespass.” Guarded by a low wall, Bailey’s Beach, according to May Van Rensselaer, was "the favorite bathing beach of the fashionable world" Elizabeth Lehr called it “Newport's most exclusive club. A syndicate called the Spouting Rock Beach Association (aka Bailey’s Beach,) purchased the beach in the little cove in 1896, having constructed one hundred new oceanfront bathhouses and a pavilion was guarded by a “watchman in his gold-laced uniform” who “protected its sanctity from all interlopers” (“He knew every carriage on sight, fixed newcomers with an eagle eye, swooped down upon them and demanded their names.”) Those who did not have proper credentials were dispatched to Easton's Beach, "the Common Beach," as the habitués of Bailey's were wont to call it.

Some few ventured to swim, but a lady's bathing costume, when wet, almost nullified the effort. The apparel for Bailey's Beach (or any seashore of the Gilded Age) was better termed a “bathing dress.” Manners, Culture and Dress of the Best American Society detailed the fabric and shape of the garment, which “should be made of flannel.” A “gray tint” was advisable because “it does not soon fade and grow ugly from contact with salt water.” The “best” style was either a “loose sacque” or “yoke waist.” The dress was belted at the waist, and the skirt reached “mid way between the knee and the ankle.” Beneath this dress were “full trowsers” with the pant legs “gathered” into bands at each ankle. An “oilskin cap” was suggested “to protect the hair, which becomes harsh in salt water.” A pair of “socks the color of the dress complete the costume.” — From Cecelia Tichi, in “What Would Mrs. Astor Do?” 2018

Etiquette Enthusiast, Maura J. Graber, is the Site Editor for the Etiquipedia© Etiquette Encyclopedia

Editorial Etiquette: Judging Astors and Dingbats

Caroline Webster “Lina” Schermerhorn Astor was a prominent American socialite of the second half of the 19th century who led the Gilded Age 400. Famous for being referred to later in life as “The Mrs. Astor” or just “Mrs. Astor,” she was the wife of businessman, horse breeder and yachtsman William Backhouse Astor Jr.. She was the mother of five children, including Colonel John Jacob Astor IV, who perished on the Titanic.– Portrait of Mrs. William Astor
–Public domain image

I heard a distinguished judge in an uptown club burst into a torrent of abuse because the papers devoted two or three columns to what he called the interminable nonsense about who Mrs. Astor might be. “Nobody cares a rap,” said the judge, throwing the paper across the room, “whether old Bill Astor's wife is called Mrs. Astor, Mrs. William Astor or Mrs. Dingbats. As for her niece, her name is Mrs. William Waldorf Astor, and everybody who knows her calls her Mamie. It's the most transparent nonsense for the papers to devote such valuable space to a family squabble.” Yet a moment's thought would have convinced the judge that the papers were on the right track. 

The question of which of the Mrs. Astors has the right to the distinctive title of the family was of more interest to thousands and thousands of feminine readers than Mr. Blame's letter to Mr. Frye or any Supreme Court decision that has ever been rendered. The subjects which claim the attention of women have a mortgage on publicity today. Women are everywhere. They are cashiers, typewriters, stenographers, clerks, canvassers, doctors, dentists, editors, lecturers, lawyers, deacons and railway presidents, and their influence is patent in every walk of life. Annie Goodwin was a working girl. This is one reason for the great uproar which has been aroused by her fate. —Philadelphia Times, 1890

Etiquette Enthusiast, Maura Graber, is the Site Editor for the Etiquipedia© Etiquette Encyclopedia