For the wives of New York profiteers, the privations of war did not exist. The members of this select new society were making money fast in war-related enterprises - and spending it even faster!
Formal gowns were colorful concoctions of ruffles and bows built around great hoop skirts.
"The Civil War" by Time-Life, Volume 13, page 48. Picture originally from "Godey's Lady's Book", 1862
