It is said, Mrs. Vanderbilt asked designer Worth..

… to make her a ball gown of such uniqueness and to make a statement about her family’s contribution to innovation and society, that Mrs. Astor would take note and invite her to the higher levels of American society during the “Gilded Age” (1870’s into 1880’s).  This Worth gown named “Electric Light” was designed for Alva Vanderbilt in 1883.