'The Time Traveling Fashionista and Cleopatra, Queen of the Nile'

"What if a beautiful dress could take you back in time?"

I was asked to read and review 'The Time Traveling Fashionista and Cleopatra, Queen of the Nile'. Written by Bianca Turetsky, it's the 3rd book in The Time Traveling Fashionista series and it was just published this month (12/13).

It's a fun series, aimed at young readers, but anyone can enjoy it. It's the story of 12 year old Louise, a Connecticut schoolgirl who loves vintage clothing and old movies.

For the 3rd time, Louise has received an invitation to a secret vintage clothing sale, run by two odd and mysterious old ladies -  Marla and  Glenda. She ended up on wild time traveling adventures the previous times that she went to their secret sales, and she is looking forward to another adventure this time too, plus needs a dress to wear to a special dinner party.

At the secret vintage sale she finds a lavender Grecian style gown. When she tries on the gown, it transports her back in time to 1961, to the set of the film Cleopatra, starring Elizabeth Taylor. Here, Louise finds that she is the assistant to movie costumer Irene Sharaff and ends up in a wardrobe tent full of costumes for the movie, including a whole rack of beautiful gowns for Elizabeth Taylor.

Irene is prepping for a fitting with Elizabeth, who is off canoodling somewhere with Richard Burton. Irene has Louise looking for a gold belt that goes with Elizabeth's dress, but Louise finds an old trunk marked 'Private - Keep Out' and of course she looks inside. In the trunk she finds a very old looking pearl necklace. When she puts on the necklace, it transports her even further back in time, to ancient Egypt, to the palace of the real Queen Cleopatra.

Now Louise finds herself as one of 17 year old Cleopatra's handmaidens. The clever young Queen confides in Louise that she thinks her husband King Ptolemy (who happens to be her 10 year old brother) is plotting to kill her so that he can rule Egypt alone. Her baby sister Arsinoe doesn't like her much either. On top of the scheming and plotting in the Palace, the people of Alexandria are planning on rioting. Louise just wants to get out of here and back to her own time, but Cleopatra took the pearl necklace from her, and that's her only way to get back. Yikes.


Fun, easy read, enjoyable story. I liked the references to fabrics, vintage styles, old movies and designers. Being a vintage clothing lover myself, you wonder about the lives of the people who owned the clothing and jewelry in the past. This gives you a magical little way to see the lives of the people who owned the items that Louise tries on.

I've also read the 1st book in the series The Time Traveling Fashionista   a few years back and enjoyed it. I missed the 2nd book (The Time Traveling Fashionista at the Palace of Marie Antoinette) but now I feel the need to go back and read that one too.



Check out more of the Time Traveling Fashionista and Bianca Turetsky -

***Website - http://timetravelingfashionista.com/
***Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/pages/The-Time-Traveling-Fashionista-by-Bianca-Turetsky/156738897708892
**Twitter - https://twitter.com/BiancaTuretsky



I wasn't paid for this review, because I have vintage websites and blogs,  I was offered a copy of the book and asked to give an honest review. I'm going to give the book to my local library.

'The Time Traveling Fashionista' - a book review and giveaway

I was given the chance to read and review a new book -  'The Time Traveling Fashionista by Bianca Turetsky - which is due to be published April 5th.

It's the story of Louise, a 12 year old girl from Connecticut. She loves vintage clothing, even though her Mother, her best friend and the kids at school don't get her interest in old used clothing. She studies vintage fashions and designers and she dreams of filling her closet with fabulous vintage pieces and living a glamorous life some day.

One day she receives a mysterious invitation to a 'Traveling Fashionista Vintage Sale'. She thinks that it will be the perfect chance to find a dress to wear to the upcoming school dance.
She goes to the address on the invite, which takes her to a dark old dusty shop, and the only people there are the two odd and mysterious old ladies who own the shop -  Marla and  Glenda.
She chooses a beautiful bright pink gown to try on - Marla and Glenda are a little nervous about her putting on the dress (which smells oddly like the ocean) asking if she is sure she wants to do this.

Louise puts on the dress, and then she passes out. When she wakes up, she finds herself in the year 1912, and she is in the body of 17 year old actress Alice Baxter, who is traveling across the Atlantic in a luxury ship. She tries to fit in with the wealthy and famous passengers who all think that she is the famous Alice Baxter. She dresses up in Alice's beautiful clothing (and tight laced corsets) and finds out that the pink gown which brought her back in time was a 'Lucille' - made specially for Alice, and that it's designer Lady Lucy Duff-Gordon and her husband are on board the ship. Then of course Louise/Alice finds out that she's on the Titanic and panics, trying to warn passengers and the captain of the danger ahead.

How will she get home? Will she go down with the ship? Will anyone believe that the Titanic will sink? Why are Marla and Glenda also on the ship and who exactly are they? Should she go to the dance with Todd?

This was a fun book, a nice casual read. It is aimed at young adult readers, but I think that it could be enjoyed by any vintage clothing lover like me. Fabrics, descriptions of clothing details, designer names and historical names are mentioned, which are relateable and enjoyable. Even descriptions of the Titanic are recognizable. At first I thought - 'I've already been on the Titanic' - but this book is fun and  more lighthearted than the movie. Another thing that I enjoyed were the pretty illustrations in the book done by Sandra Suy (I like pretty pictures in books) I liked Louise and her love of vintage. Oh, I hated Dr.Hastings, I wanted her to kick him!

This is Bianca Turetsky's first book and it looks like it will be the first in a series of the Time Traveling Fashionista. Cool. I look forward to reading more vintage adventures.


Places to find The Time Traveling Fashionista -
Website
on Facebook
On Twitter



Book Giveaway!
The book was sent to me to read and to review if I chose to (I was not paid to review it) I did enjoy it, and now I am going to pass the book on to someone else to enjoy.
Leave a comment to enter to win the book. A winner will be chosen from entrants here and on the Vintage Bulletin - on March 17th!


***UPDATE! Thanks to everyone who entered. The winner is Jenny B.

Boudoir doll, Vintage hair, Jane Austen and pretty lingerie

Remember this sickly boudoir doll that I bought myself for Christmas? She's been glaring at me from her chair for weeks now, waiting for me to do something with her. I promised her a good home and nice clothing and she was tired of the scarf that I wrapped around her. So I dug through my vintage fabrics this week, found some inspiration, and I made her a dress and gave her new hair -



She looks really different with the dark hair and I love the way the gown turned out. I did very little sewing actually. I took the two fabrics by the corners and stitched them behind her neck. Then I just wrapped them, securing the blue fabric with a ribbon at the waist and stitching the black velvet to the ribbon in the back. Then I put a few stitches on the back of her sequined shawl. I hot glued the hems on the two fabrics. I did it while I watched the final challenge on Project Runway.



I have been obsessed with vintage hair for awhile, and even much more so lately. I bought the two books/pamphlets above on Amazon, they are copies of vintage hair books from the 1940s. 'How to create 1940s Hairstyles' has alot of good looking diagrams and instructions on doing many different styles. I haven't tried any yet. But I did give myself a haircut using the guide in the 'American Hairdresser' book. It's probably just a standard cut still done today, but I am really very happy with the results. It's about 2 inches above my shoulders and I can make it all curly around the sides, kind of 40s-like or I can use the bigger curling iron to make it more wavy, it waves really nice in the front. And it even looks good just drying naturally.



I've become obsessed with Jane Austen lately too, Thanks to the weekly Jane Austen movies that PBS has been showing (part two of Pride & Prejudice with Colin Firth is on Sunday night, yummy) So I ordered this book - 'Jane Austen's Guide to Good Manners - Compliments, Charades and Horrible Blunders' - perhaps it shall teach me to be a gentlewoman. I also ordered a biography of her life.





Don't you love the look of brown and aqua together? (along with a little peach) I made a stock purchase today (it included a bunch more lingerie from that lingerie loving lady's house) And while I was sorting things to write up the inventory, I noticed several pieces of aqua and brown lingerie and they just looked so pretty together. You wouldn't think that a brown bra would be pretty, but a vintage lace brown bra is very pretty. Yes, those are poodles embroidered on the one slip.