Alva Vanderbilt crashed New York's exclusive society with a legendary costume ball that humiliated Caroline Astor in 1883. She built palaces, forced her daughter into nobility, divorced scandalously in 1895, and became a suffragist powerhouse funding the women's rights movement. Her legacy: weaponizing power structures, then dismantling them. Disclaimert: Historical reenactment based on documented events. Alva Vanderbilt Belmont (1853-1933) was a real historical figure. Images used for education