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 [...]

A Very British Romance: Episode One Highlights

By | February 12th, 2020|Categories: Valentine's Day, Women's History|Tags: , , , , , |

There are few areas of modern life that our society obsesses over more than that of romantic love, but it wasn’t always that way. PBS’s A Very British Romance takes a whimsical and academic look at the evolution of coupling and the invention of romantic rituals and customs still in use today. Episode one aired [...]

Pioneer Clothing: What Women Wore in the Western Frontier

By | February 4th, 2020|Categories: American West, Fashion, Old West, Pioneer Dress, Victorian Era, Victorian Fashions, Women's History|Tags: , , |

As many of our readers, I enjoy spending my free time dreaming about owning Victorian gowns and wishing that I could spend more time in the layers, colors, ribbons, and elegance that come to mind when I think of the era. I am also a true woman of the Southwest - an Arizona native and [...]

Victorian Dress Reform: Who, What, When, and Why

By | January 31st, 2020|Categories: Underpinnings, Victorian culture, Victorian Era, Women's History|Tags: , , , , , , |

Many of us know about the women’s suffrage movement, abolition, and temperance societies, but what about the dress reform movement?  Many of the most radical and audacious women involved in progressive movements of the Victorian Era could see the way that women were physically prevented from fully participating in society. Such limitations, they argued, took [...]

Colleen Moore: The torch of Flaming Youth

By | January 16th, 2020|Categories: 1920s fashion, Recollections, Roaring 20s, Women's History|Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , |

“I was the spark that lit up Flaming Youth, Colleen Moore was the torch. What little things we are to have caused all that trouble” F. Scott Fitzgerald in Motion Picture Magazine Flaming Youth was not only the title of a Colleen Moore silent film, but also the name bestowed upon those young people who [...]

5 facts about Margaret Tobin Brown (aka The Unsinkable Molly Brown)

By | January 14th, 2020|Categories: American West, Edwardian Era, Edwardian Fashion, Women's History|Tags: , , , , , |

I am a Denver transplant. Having always dreamt about becoming a docent at a house museum (yes, my goals are that specific), one of the first things I did when I moved to the city was to sign up to volunteer at the Molly Brown House Museum, located, luckily, a few blocks away from my [...]