It’s extremely fitting that, for his latest glistening but somewhat creaky period drama, Julian Fellowes (the creator of “Downton Abbey”) selected Gilded Age New York, the historical stomping ground of obscenely wealthy robber barons and their socially ambitious, upstart wives. Much like our own, it was an era of excess and extravagance made visible, of luxury goods flaunted in order to advertise one’s own wealth and status. The economist Thorstein Veblen, having observed the spending habits of the socialite class during the Gilded Age, coined the term “conspicuous consumption” to describe them. The term “gilded” itself suggests that the order of the day was not exactly value, but the appearance of it — a thin veneer of opulence over something worthless.
Perhaps it would be a bit harsh to describe “The Gilded Age” itself this way, though the comparison does spring to mind. As a show, it’s fascinated with wealth and its visual trappings. We both adored the lux…
