Titanic Anniversary

This is a photo of a mural that graces the ceiling of the dining room at The Boscolo Hotel in Rome. I used another photo of a wall mural, in this same room, for the collage made for Stephanie ~"You are a Gift". Each morning during breakfast, I spent time taking photos of the murals gracing the walls. The photo, even though eerie, seems appropriate as we note the 100th anniversary of the sinking of the Titanic.

 I just finished the book, "The Dressmaker", which is classified as historical fiction. It details the voyage through the eyes of a couture dressmaker and a British maid, that left her home, seeking passage in the eleventh hour by agreeing to be the dressmaker's assistant. The facts of the book were taken from Senate hearings, on the sinking of the Titanic, which began one week after the ship sank.  Not enough life boats; no lifeboat drill; no binocular available to the crew to even view an iceburg; too great a speed of the ship as it lumbered through the ice fields; inexperienced seaman; lifeboats that could have held more passengers than just the wealthy elite; all the makings of a disaster.

  1912 would soon offer a new invention for clothing ~ the zipper, which meant freedom from buttons! Women in America were clamoring for the vote. (Women were not allowed to testify at the Senate hearings, due to their perceived fragility and yet it was women and children that were allowed to board the lifeboats first.)  Mary Pickford was bursting onto the Hollywood scene and anything Isadora Duncan wore, became a fashion sensation, remember that famous scarf. An upstart designer, by the name of Coco Chanel, was beginning to design clothing.

Horse-drawn carriages were now sharing the streets with Ford's Model T.

 Now with long skirts in the way, Women were finding it difficult to catch a street car. Times were changing quickly. The thought of shortening skirts to show a bit of leg above the boot and offer ease in walking, was now a possibility! And in a few short years, the 20's would usher in the birth of the flapper!

And as another ship currently sails the same route, with it's share of problems, we will always be mesmerized by the Titanic.