From floppy hats to elegant gowns to flannel pajamas, clothing and accessories can tell a lot about a person.
With clothing as the focus, a local author has offered a peek into the lives and passions of America’s first ladies.
Historian Feather Schwartz Foster will be at the center of an illustrated lecture on the first ladies’ wardrobes Tuesday at the Williamsburg Regional Library, according to a WRL news release.
Foster is the author of “Mary Lincoln’s Flannel Pajamas and Other Stories from the First Ladies’ Closet,” which closely examines the clothing of America’s first ladies.
She also wrote “Ladies: A Conjecture of Personalities” and “The First Ladies from Martha Washington to Mamie Eisenhower: An Intimate Portrait of the Women Who Shaped America,” the release said.
“I like to think my stories make the wearer come more to life,” Foster said, contrasting her personal style of storytelling with other accounts of the first ladies’ clothing that tend to focus more on describing the garments themselves. “These are real stories about the first ladies, told via an item of their clothing. Some of them are really nifty, and people seem to really enjoy them.”
Tuesday’s lecture will focus on early first ladies, from Martha Washington to Mamie Eisenhower, and cover their most interesting pieces of clothing and accessories.
Foster will also tell anecdotes about what the items can tell today’s world about the first ladies’ lives and passions, the release said.
According to the release, all three of Foster’s books tell the first ladies’ stories in a “lighthearted, breezy and engaging” way.
The free lecture will be held Tuesday, May 23 from 2-3 p.m. at the Williamsburg Library, located at 515 Scotland St. Some of Foster’s books will be available for purchase at the lecture.
