Three pioneering women’s outdoor clubs that broke all the rules

By | May 23rd, 2020|Categories: Edwardian Era, Victorian culture, Women's History|Tags: , , , , , |

Spring is here and summer is fast approaching. While 2020 might not include family reunions, street festivals, and out of state vacations, there is still the opportunity to get out safely and enjoy nature. My own COVID-19 schedule includes daily walks in my Denver neighborhood with various exercise routines at a local park. As I [...]

Crimes of Fashion: The Civil War Hoop Skirt Smugglers

By | May 9th, 2020|Categories: Civil War, Victorian Era, Women's History|Tags: , , , , |

In my last blog post, I explored the light side of smuggling in the Victorian Era and the innovative ways that female entrepreneurs took full advantage of their women’s-only clothing to advance their position in the marketplace. During my research, I encountered many stories of Victorian women using their skirts for a different purpose: Civil [...]

Crimes of Fashion

By | April 4th, 2020|Categories: Victorian Era, Victorian Fashions, Women's History|Tags: , , , , , , |

How Women Used Their Skirts to Smuggle Goods in the Victorian Era When I covered the rise and fall of the bustle in a post late last year, one of our readers brought up a good point. The extra space under the skirts of the popular dress styles of the mid to late 1800s would [...]

The Many Adaptations of Jane Austen's Emma

By | March 13th, 2020|Categories: 19th Century Literature, Regency Era, Women's History|Tags: , , , , , , |

Jane Austen wrote stories and poems to amuse herself and her family from a young age and eventually compiled 29 of them into three bound notebooks. These volumes provide a little glimpse into the author she would become. The “stories are full of anarchic fantasies of female power, licence, illicit behaviour, and general high spirits,” [...]

Pasadena Celebrates 2020: Jane Guthrie Interview

By | March 4th, 2020|Categories: Edwardian Era, Edwardian Fashion, Recollections, Women's History|Tags: , , , , , , |

Jane Guthrie is an art director from Manhattan Beach, CA. She and many others came together to celebrate the 100th anniversary of women’s suffrage in the USA at the 2020 Rose Parade. The passage of the 19th Amendment to the United States Constitution granted women the right to vote. Jane piqued our interest through photos [...]

Romance in the post-war years: Episode 3 of A Very British Romance

By | March 3rd, 2020|Categories: Entertainment, Roaring 20s, Valentine's Day, Women's History|Tags: , , , |

I was sad to see the final episode of the BBC’s charming docuseries, A Very British Romance, come to an end with its third episode. I am also a buzz with all of the fun things that I learned about the world of romance and courtship as we know it today, and how some of [...]

The Fun History of the Poodle Skirt

By | February 29th, 2020|Categories: 1950s Fashions, 1950s fun, Fashion, Women's History|Tags: , , , , |

If you closed your eyes and imagined an outfit from history that says “fun” the poodle skirt might come to mind, right? After all, it does have large, fluffy dogs applied to the outside and is meant to swoosh perfectly to rock and roll tunes or lay perfectly when sitting at a soda fountain counter. [...]

A Very British Romance: Episode Two Highlights

By | February 25th, 2020|Categories: Valentine's Day, Victorian Era, Women's History|Tags: , , , , |

Episode two of A Very British Romance covers love in the Victorian era and it did not disappoint! It was so full of great information and charming stories about coupling in the 19th century that I was disappointed when I realized the end credits were rolling! The docuseries’ premise is that all of the courtship [...]

At the 2020 Rose Parade with Ellen Snortland

By | February 18th, 2020|Categories: Customer's Fashions, Edwardian Era, Edwardian Fashion, Fashion, Recollections, Women's History|Tags: , , , , , , , , , , |

Ellen is a writer, journalist, and self-proclaimed women’s history geek. Ellen was one of the 100 walkers who were part of the Pasadena Celebrates 2020 in this year’s 2020 Rose Parade on New Year’s Day. The entry celebrates the 100th anniversary of the enactment of the 19th Amendment to the US Constitution. It was a [...]