In HBO’s period drama “The Gilded Age,” the use of fabric tells as much of a story as the characters themselves.

The show is set in the Gilded Age in the U.S., between 1870 to 1890, which was a period of industrial revolution, technological expansion and the introduction of new money. Fashion of the time emphasized extravagance among society’s elite, who used fabric, sashes and ribbons to show their wealth.

“Clothing itself was kind of like a form of capital,” said Einav Rabinovitch-Fox, Ph.D., an adjunct assistant professor in the department of history at Case Western Reserve University. “All the fancy dresses we see now in museums, the reason that we have those is that they’re just good quality dresses. They’re not what we wear today. Fabric itself was a form of capital, in a sense. Especially for women, who did not have access to other forms of capital. Dress is a way to show your status,” she said.

“Fashion became the realm where women can show wealth in ways that men couldn’t,” Rabinovitch-Fox said. To show the wealth they had accumulated, affluent women of the Gilded Age period prided themselves on finding the best materials, often outsourced to European countries. “Fashion comes from Paris for a long time up until very late in the 20th century,” Rabinovitch-Fox noted.

The U.S., at this time, had a robust cotton and wool industry due to slavery. But for fabrics like silk, satin and lace, women turned to Europe. “In the 19th century, we are talking about a period where Paris and London, to some degree, are the center of fashion. [If you can afford] to go to Europe, you usually went to Europe,” Rabinovich-Fox said.

Designers like Worth, Doucet and Maison de Felix all had ateliers in Paris, and Rue de la Paix was considered to be the “Fifth Avenue” of its day, per Rabinovich-Fox.

The process many women found themselves in, according to Rabinovich-Fox, involved finding or importing the material for their dresses, sashes and ribbons, then going to an American department store or dressmaker to have a recreated version of the designs seen in Europe — only more luxurious.

Adding ribbons, sashes even jewelry to already heavy material clothing signified wealth. “More ribbons, more sashes is more cloth. More cloth is more money. You also get an entire spectrum. You can buy bows and sashes, embroidery and Italian lace and then go to a Parisian or New York dressmaker and ask, ‘I bought all of this lace, can you make me a dress?’” Rabinovich-Fox said.

Heavily influenced by the European designs of the time, American women in the Gilded Age took those design cues but made their attire far more grand — “a way to buy luxury,” as Rabinovich-Fox told WWD. The sashes and ribbons also signified a deeper mission for new money Gilded Age women.

By modeling themselves on European aristocrats and royalty, they found a way to buy an old money reputation. “They are copying the styles, they are looking to Europe. But it has this American flavor to it. We don’t have royalty so how do you show that you’re higher status if you don’t have titles, even if you marry your daughter to a duke? She might be a duchess but in the United States, it doesn’t matter.”

In the HBO drama, Gladys Russell, played by Taissa Farmiga, is a character whose third-season arc sees the young debutante go from John Singer Sargent muse to duchess in a matter of episodes. Gladys’ portrait features her in a full gown with a green sash and pearl choker, almost ornamental.

“You cannot work in those clothes. You cannot move around freely; that was on purpose,” Rabinovich-Fox said. “Their wealth is to show they don’t need to work. They have servants. Their entire purpose is to sit, or to stand, and look beautiful.”

In the Gilded Age, nothing succeeded more than extravagance and excess.