Meet the Cast: Unmistakably Yours
Do you form a picture of characters in your mind as you read?
Would you like to see who I pictured while I write Unmistakably Yours and related Holidays in Mountain Home titles?
Victorian Collars and Cuffs (for men)
In Victorian men’s fashion, Collars and Cuffs were something altogether separate and different than a shirt. A whole different paradigm, given today’s men’s dress shirts are one solid piece, with the collar and cuffs attached. See vintage images of the styles and reasons why tailors (and factory producers) bothered to make the collars separate–and why some were made of PAPER rather than fabric.
Victorian Ladies Wore Costumes–Every Day
Did Victorian women wear costumes every day? Or dresses? Which was it?
Ladies Fashions: Huge Sleeves of the 1890s
19th Century Ladies Fashions included gigantic sleeves known by many names: Leg of Mutton, Marquise, Balloon, etc. Highly fashionable, women wore them to work at home, to “walk out”, to sit for photographs, and on their wedding days. Highly fashionable for a period of time in the 1890s (through the turn of the century), they’ve returned at least twice: mid 1980s and in 2016. A favorite? You decide.
Gingham? Why gingham?
In the 19th century American West, Gingham was more than checked fabric made of cotton–it was also striped. Any woven cotton cloth made of pre-dyed alternating threads (plaid, striped, or checked) was called gingham. Why would pioneers (or frontiersman, or Old West women) select gingham? What made this fabric practical? Why would we name an anthology with Gingham in the title?
