In this period, various conventions were thrown out the window as the Nouveaux Riches suddenly rose to new heights of social prominence, hoping to purchase the grace and elegance of their noble born contemporaries. An age of opulence and grandeur was displayed in fashion and lifestyle. It was also an age of decadent discovery and expansion of social horizons. Many scientists, inventors and adventurers sprung from this age, hallmarked by the freedom to advance yourself no matter what social class you came from.