In Blue Thread, Miriam goes to a Halloween party dressed as Marie Antoinette. Her mother, Lillian Josefsohn, gives her a pearl necklace to wear. Later, Mama came to the front hall. She insisted that Mrs. Steinbacher’s chauffeur drive Charity and me to the railroad depot. Sure enough, a few minutes later the Packard was once [...]
All posts in category Fashion
Mama’s Pearls Were Ama’s Pearls
Posted by Ruth on February 26, 2013
http://bluethreadbook.com/2013/02/26/mamas-pearls-were-amas-pearls/
Getting to the Bottom: Bloomers
Last week we looked at tops that women cyclists might have worn a hundred years ago. Today we get to the bottom…which in the late 1800s and early 1900s were often bloomers. Bloomers–those baggy pants usually gathered at the bottom–are associated with Amelia Jenks Bloomer (1818-1894). Bloomer edited The Lily, what’s believed to be the [...]
Posted by Ruth on December 18, 2012
http://bluethreadbook.com/2012/12/18/getting-to-the-bottom-bloomers/
Bikes and More Bikes
Blue Thread didn’t have any scenes of Miriam riding her bicycle, but in her life beyond the story (and characters do have lives that don’t fit into the book) she loved to ride around her neighborhood on her bike. She was among many teen girls and women who did. Cycling was so popular in Portland [...]
Posted by Ruth on December 14, 2012
http://bluethreadbook.com/2012/12/14/bikes-and-more-bikes/
Did She Wear Lipstick?
Our fictional Miriam Josefsohn was 16 years old in 1912. Now, a hundred years later, most girls Miriam’s age in the U.S. wear lipstick—or not—and no one bats an eyelash. But back then it was a different story. First off, there was no such thing as “lipstick” in 1912. Women—and men in some eras—had been [...]
Posted by Ruth on December 11, 2012
http://bluethreadbook.com/2012/12/11/did-she-wear-lipstick/
Shopping for Shoes in 1912
And while I was downtown, I could replace my black shoes. Surely Meier & Frank would have the same pair. I took four dollars from my rainy day fund—a serious depletion, but it couldn’t be helped. Judging from its ads, Meier & Frank was the department store to go to in Portland in 1912, and [...]
Posted by Ruth on June 21, 2012
http://bluethreadbook.com/2012/06/21/shopping-for-shoes-in-1912/
What Did Miriam Wear in the Water?
This snapshot from 1915 will give you a pretty good idea of what (fictional) Miriam Josefsohn and her parents might have worn when they ventured into the Pacific surf off the Oregon coast. Not far from their home in Portland a (real) sweater manufacturing company was starting to experiment with lighter weight and more revealing [...]
Posted by Ruth on May 22, 2012
http://bluethreadbook.com/2012/05/22/what-did-miriam-wear-in-the-water/
Corsets: The Ties That Bind
A corset might have been a delightful garment in medieval France. The word came from the diminutive of “cors” meaning “body” and it meant a lace bodice. But by about 1800 a corset referred to a stiff, restricting undergarment. Miriam Josefsohn in Blue Thread, was thankful that she wasn’t wearing one during her travel back [...]
Posted by Ruth on May 8, 2012
http://bluethreadbook.com/2012/05/08/corsets-the-ties-that-bind/
Eliza Lane’s Super-Easy Suffragist Bow
The cover of Blue Thread features a bow that Miriam Josefsohn might have worn in the 1912 campaign to give women in Oregon the same voting rights as Oregon men. Eliza Lane made that bow, which, as she shows us, is a cinch to make. Take it away, Eliza. Tools and materials: button with a [...]
Posted by Ruth on May 1, 2012
http://bluethreadbook.com/2012/05/01/eliza-lanes-super-easy-suffragist-bow/
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Welcome!
My name is Ruth. I write books and articles for children and young adults. Blue Thread is my eleventh book, and the first one in which I have knowingly stretched the truth.Visit this blog to satisfy your curiosity about:
- Every factual and fictional part of Blue Thread
- What happens to the characters after the book ends
- The real connection between Blue Thread and pursuing justice
- The next book in the Blue Thread series
- Almost anything else you ask
Thanks for stopping by.
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