“A morning dress, a day dress, a tea gown, a dinner gown” and more for a Weekend in the Country

Ventfort Hall was constructed in 1893 for the sister of financier J.P. Morgan in the Berkshire Mountains of Massachusetts. Today it houses a Gilded Age Museum. The Gilded Age in the United States generally referred to the post-Civil War period from the 1870s to the turn of the 20th century, when vast industrial fortunes led to lavish lifestyles for those relatively families.

Today, the primary reminders of the Gilded Age are the magnificent historic houses, like Ventfort Hall, that are preserved as hotels, museums, and other types of tourist destinations.

In addition to the extravagances of the architecture, the Gilded Age mansions also included elaborate furnishings and the occupants also led elaborate lifestyles. An exhibit currently on view at the Ventfort Hall Mansion and Gilded Age Museum focuses on fashion. Titled “A Weekend in the Country: A Day at the ‘Cottage,’ the exhibit contains fashion items from the Berkshire Historical Society and Ventfort Hall. (Photo Ventfort Hall is in the public domain).

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Gilded Age Fashions: A weekend in the country…and the many outfits that entailed

By Jennifer Huberdeau

The Berkshire Eagle

July 21, 2017