Lady History

06/03/2020

This outfit will be available all during June as a special promotion All proceeds from sales will be donated to Encircle- a great resource for LGBTQ+ youth and families.
🌈 🌈 🏳️‍🌈

05/30/2020

Rococo style is all about flamboyance; more fabric, ruffles, lace, trim meant more money! Notice the deep pleat in the front of the skirt, and the gathers in the sleeves. Both are *unnecessary* use of fabric in terms of construction. They are purely for style and class signaling.

05/29/2020

Ruffles ruffles ruffles.

05/29/2020

“No one understands my ills, nor the terror that fills my breast, who does not know the heart of a mother.” -Marie Antoinette

When most modern day people think about Marie Antoinette, they think of a woman who spent vast fortunes on dresses, and who commented on the starving people in her country by saying “Let them eat cake” In reality, Marie was widely known as a kind and giving person with a complicated reign during the French Revolution.

Marie was born in Austria in 1755 and was the youngest of fifteen children. Her mother was Maria Theresa, Empress of Austria and her father was the Holy Roman Emperor Francis I. Her original name was Maria Antonia, and was changed to Marie Antoinette following her marriage in order to make her name sound French and more in line with her husband’s country.

Marie had a wealthy childhood and was given the best tutors to instruct her in the subjects deemed fit for a high class young woman: religion, language, and moral principles. Marie’s teachers often struggled to convince her to focus on her lessons, and by the time she reached 14 she did not speak any language but her native German. This was highly unusual for this time period, but Marie would have to learn French quickly. Marie’s mother, The Empress Theresa, had decided her daughter was to marry the future King Louis XVI of France. Their marriage was designed to build an alliance between France and the Austrian Empire.

Marie was escorted from her home with several carriages and taken to France where she met her future husband. They were wed, and Marie began to adjust the court life. Her frequent letters home to her mother reflected that she did not enjoy the level of spotlight she endured, and specifically found the morning rituals of dressing and putting on makeup with many people watching difficult. Shortly after their marriage, Marie’s husband was crowned the King of France. This made Marie the Queen, and increased the level of spotlight and scrutiny she was under. Marie was vivacious and outgoing, she enjoyed throwing parties and attending theatre shows. By contrast, her husband was quiet, shy, and preferred being alone.

Marie gave birth to their first child in 1778, a girl named Marie Therese. While many people in France were disappointed that she had not given birth to a boy that could someday take the throne, Marie appeared to be thrilled with her new baby and was by all accounts an involved mother. She would go on to have 3 more children; Louis Joseph, Louis Charles, and Sophie. Sadly, Sophie was born prematurely and died shortly after. Tragedy struck the family again when Louis Joseph died of spinal tuberculosis.

Marie is often remembered for spending a large amount of money on clothing and extravagant parties. While this does appear to be accurate, she was also one of the first French aristocrats to donate large sums to children’s charities. Marie was also known to assist in paying school fees for children from poor families so they could seek an education. While this was extremely kind, it did not settle the unrest in France.
France was in a space of upheaval for years before Marie was crowned Queen. Many people were experiencing poverty, and resented the royal families for their access to wealth and power. There was country-wide food shortages and famine. While the quote “Let them eat cake” is often attributed to Marie and reflects a lack of caring for the people, there is no evidence she ever said this. Due to the ongoing troubles in France, the Revolution began.

In 1792 Marie, her husband, and their two remaining children were arrested and removed from power by revolutionaries. During the siege of their home, Marie displayed courage and intelligence by writing several letters to friends and allies in codes and invisible ink. She entrusted these letters to various palace guards in the hopes of facilitating rescue. While there were several rescue attempts, Marie was executed in October of 1793. Her son Louis Charles lived two years past his mother’s death, but died of tuberculosis while still in prison. Her daughter Marie Therese was ultimately returning back to her mother’s home country of Austria and lived to be 72.

If you’d like to learn more about Marie Antoinette, check out the resources below:

Who Was Marie Antoinette? By Dana Meachen Rau

Marie Antoinette by Katie Daynes

Moi and Marie Antoinette by Lynn Cullen

05/09/2020

We are big into tiny details here at Lady History.

04/14/2020

Made this gold/black/purple number just for fun.

02/05/2020

New doll: Maria Tallchief

02/05/2020

“If anything at all, perfection is not when there is nothing to add, but when there is nothing left to take away.”
-Maria Tallchief, 2005

Maria Tallchief was born in 1925 in Fairfax, Oklahoma to Ruth Porter and Alexander Joseph Tall Chief. Maria’s father was full-blooded Osage Native American who had made a fortune following the discovery of oil on Osage Territory. Maria’s mother Ruth was of Scottish and Irish descent and delivered Maria’s younger sister Marjorie nearly two years after Maria’s birth.
From a young age, both sisters showed an affinity for music. Maria’s parents paid for several teachers who continually built her skill set. She showed major talent in both dance and piano. When quality teachers and roles became scarce in Fairfax, Maria’s family moved to Los Angeles. As she grew up in LA, Maria experienced various forms of discrimination. Many of her classmates would tease her for being Native American but Maria was determined to continue her studies despite this obstacle.
To pursue her dreams of ballet, Maria moved to New York City when she graduated. She was accepted into the Ballets Russes de Monte Carlo, a Russian ballet company. She quickly rose through the ranks and was a featured soloist by 1942. She continued to withstand various forms of discrimination and refused to change her last name despite several people urging her to do so in order to draw less attention to her heritage.
Tallchief is best known for her debut role as the Sugar Plum Fairy in The Nutcracker and as The Firebird. She became the first prima ballerina of the New York City Ballet, and later founded the Chicago City Ballet with her sister in 1981. Throughout her career, Maria strived to perfect her craft while remaining true to herself. She broke barriers as a woman of color in a majority white art form while achieving great leadership positions. Her legacy continues even today, as young dancers everywhere follow her example of hard work, dedication, and ingenuity.
If you’d like to learn more about Maria, visit the resources below:
2007 Documentary Maria Tallchief Directed by Sandra Osawa
Children’s Book Tallchief: America’s Prima Ballerina by Tallchief, Wells, & Kelley
Autobiography Maria Tallchief: America’s Prima Ballerina

01/17/2020

“The more I study, the more insatiable do I feel my genius for it to be.”
-Ada Lovelace

Ada Lovelace is widely considered one of the first computer programmers, and an extremely intelligent woman. Like so many founders of technological sciences, Ada’s hard work and genius were not fully appreciated until after her death. She set entirely new standards for mathematical and scientific achievements while leading a fascinating life.

Ada was born Augusta Ada Byron on December 10, 1815 in London. Her father was the famous poet Lord Byron, known widely for his passionate works and dark love stories. Ada’s mother, Lady Anne Isabella Milkbanke Byron, was a logical and strategic thinker and often held opposite viewpoints of her husband. Shortly after Ada’s birth, her mother took her and moved away from Lord Byron.

Ada’s mother held unique views for the 1800s, and insisted that her daughter be educated in mathematics and critical thinking. Ada received a high quality education from private tutors, and excelled in her studies. From an early age Ada showed a gift for critical thinking. In her childhood she became fascinated with how birds could fly, and documented several different species and their flying patterns.

In her teenage years Ada began studying mathematics and inventing at the University of London. She caught the attention of Charles Babbage, an inventor, who mentored her and helped her access resources that were usually blocked to women. Babbage was working on early computer models, and Ada was fascinated. She was asked to translate an Italian article on one of Babbage’s analytical engines, which was an early form of computer coding. While she translated it, Ada added her own thoughts and created more details. She theorized that Babbage’s engine could be altered in order to follow algebraic patterns and other commands. Her theory proved true, and went on to inform a great deal of computer programming.

Ada married William King and became the Countess of Lovelace. She had three children and enjoyed a happy married life until her death in 1852. It wasn’t until her notes were discovered and reintroduced into the public eye in the 1950s that her legacy was fully appreciated. In 1980, the U.S. Department of Defence named a computer language “Ada” after her.

If you’d like to learn more about Ada Lovelace, check out the resources below:

Ada’s Ideas: The Story of Ada Lovelace, the World’s First Computer Programmer by Fiona Robinson

Ada Lovelace, Poet of Science: The First Computer Programmer by Diane Stanley

Ada Byron Lovelace & The Thinking Machine by Laurie Wallmark

01/17/2020

Ada Lovelace now available in the Lady History shop!

07/13/2019

RBG!

“When I’m sometimes asked when will there be enough [women on the supreme court]? And I say, ‘When there are nine’ People are shocked. But there’d been nine men, and nobody’s ever raised a question about that.” -Justice Bader Ginsburg Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg is a shin...

06/27/2019

In honor of the upcoming film: an Updated Lady Sybil.