Dream Big: The Levi Strauss Story

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America is filled with ‘rags to riches’ stories but not all are as comical as the Levi Strauss story. Necessity truly is the Mother of invention. Just ask Levi Strauss!
Practically the entire world is familiar with the brand of Levi Strauss, but not everyone knows that the name belonged to an actual person who lived […]

Scarlett’s Secret: The Return of the Corset

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Flirtatious and pretty Southern belle, Scarlett O’Hara, didn’t really need a secret to attract men.  But she prided herself on her 17″ inch waist and Rhett Butler certainly liked it!  Scarlett obtained it by urging her nanny, Mammy, to lace her ’stays’ tighter and tighter.
Bridget Jones in ‘Bridget Jones’s Diary’, with more reason to worry […]

Parasols

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“It will be Summer - eventually.
Ladies - with parasols -
Sauntering Gentlemen - with Canes -
And little Girls - with Dolls”
Emily Dickinson, the famous poet, wrote these lines in the charming Victorian age when wealthy young ladies often used parasols in summer to protect their delicate skin from the sun.  If a lady had fair skin […]

10 Strange Things About Shoes

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Are you superstitious? You may say no, but I would bet that you have participated in some of these seemingly innocent rituals. And I wonder if this is any indication why women seem to like to collect shoes… and lots of them?
1. Many people feel very nervous about the 13th of any month falling on […]

Zippers: A Long Time in the Making

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To get to the point in which zippers are today, there were three major stages in which it had to go through. The first of these started back on August 29, 1893 when the first zipper-like fastener was patented by Whitcomb Judson.
The strange thing about this patent was that at the time, it didn’t even […]

The Discovery of Ear Muffs

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Chester Greenwood was fifteen years old and lived in Farmington, Maine. Now in winter Maine gets mighty cold and Chester had big ears. The cold made them turn white, then  red, then blue.
One day in 1873, Chester was skating on Abbott’s pond near his grandmother’s house. His ears became so cold that they hurt. Chester […]

Jewels of the Orient

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Jade, pearls, cinnabar and Balinese silver-these materials conjure some of the world’s most exotic and breathtaking jewelry.  Formed into a myriad of designs, Oriental jewelry has a style that is reflective of the Far East in both craft and aesthetic.  The following article touches upon some of the most well-known and beloved jewelry of the […]