December 2013 ~ vintagebulletins

"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.

Carol
www.dandelionvintage.com