Alamy Stock Photo: Granger Historical Archive
Edith Wharton at her home in Pavillon, Colombes, France, with her two Pekingese, 1920s.
Edith Wharton, author of thirty-eight books, was born on West Twenty-Third Street in New York City, in 1862. She lived the life of an aristocrat and wore hats befitting her status in life. At the end of the nineteenth century, hats were ever-growing piles of feather and trim. In her novel The House of Mirth, Wharton talks about “sallow-faced girls dressed in preposterous hats.” However, Wharton’s own hat-wearing was of the most tasteful and genteel kind. Beautifully made bonnets by expert milliners adorned her every outfit. Wharton knew how to dress to impress: she was not nouveau riche.