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2025

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Photograph, Sarah Costumed for the Vanderbilt Ball

This is a Photograph. It was subject: Sarah Cooper Hewitt. It is dated 1883. Its medium is reproduction. It is a part of the department.

The Vanderbilt Ball, planned by Alva Vanderbilt in 1883, was a defining event of Gilded-Age New York. The Washington Post called the event “A Bewildering Display of Wealth and Bizarreric.” Sarah appears in a Persian princess costume, wearing a blue brocade robe trimmed with fur and pearls, crimson girdle, belt, and turban.

Costume balls of the Gilded Age were lavish events for the wealthy, and costume stereotyping of cultures was common. This practice is considered harmful today because it can diminish the meaning of cultural dress.

It is credited Collection of Edward Parmee.

This object was previously on display as a part of the exhibition Sarah & Eleanor Hewitt: Designing a Modern Museum.

There are restrictions for re-using this image. For more information, visit the Smithsonian’s Terms of Use page.

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If you would like to cite this object in a Wikipedia article please use the following template:

<ref name=CH>{{cite web |url=https://www-4.collection.cooperhewitt.org/objects/2318805789/ |title=Photograph, Sarah Costumed for the Vanderbilt Ball |author=Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum |accessdate=11 February 2025 |publisher=Smithsonian Institution}}</ref>