Social Climbing on Gilded Stairs

This week, Lucy and Ben take a trip to gilded age New York and rub shoulders with robber baron-socialites, the Vanderbilts. They examine a battery-powered costume and reflect on the trauma and tantrums of being one of the privileged ‘400’ to critique the parallels between America’s pioneering plutocrats and today’s popularity-seeking pin-ups. Just how does Kim Kardashian measure up against Cornelius ‘The Commodore’ Vanderbilt? References Gilded New York: Design, Fashion, and Society, ed Donald Albrecht and Jeannine Falino (The Monacelli Press, 2013). What Would Mrs Astor Do? The Essential Guide to the Manners and Mores of the Gilded Age, by Ceceila Tichi (2018) Zac Posen's light-up dress Queen of Versailles, dir Lauren Greenfield (2012)