..in places like church where the higher classes sat in reserved pews, and on trains where they had luxurious cars. Lower classes remained lower classes, but the rising bourgeoisie middle class had an outward display of wealth through clothing and possessions that allowed them to mix in with the high society that was formerly reserved for blooded and titled nobles only.
British wives of industrialists and business owners, dressed in finery “fit for a queen” as they were their husband’s business marketing representatives. It became difficult to distinguish these women from nobility based on how they dressed or behaved.
(Painting: by Ritchie, 1858 “A Summer’s Day in Hyde Park” shows the mixing of classes in Britain)