The Time-Traveling Fashionista (Time-Traveling Fashionista)

by Bianca Turetsky

When Louise Lambert receives a mysterious invitation to a travelling vintage fashion sale in the mail, her normal life in suburban Connecticut is magically transformed into a time-travelling adventure.

After a brief encounter with two witchy salesladies and donning an evening gown that once belonged to a beautiful silent film star, Louise suddenly finds herself onboard a luxurious cruise ship in 1912. As Alice Baxter, the silent film star, Louise enjoys her access to an extensive closet of gorgeous vintage gowns and begins to get a feel for the challenges and the glamour of life during this decadent era. Until she realizes that she's not just on any ship - she's on the Titanic!

Will Louise be able to save herself and change the course of history, or are she and her film star alter ego destined to go down with a sinking ship in the most infamous sea disaster of the 20th century?

With detailed, full-color fashion illustrations throughout by professional fashion illustrator, Sandra Suy, The Time-Traveling Fashionista series capitalizes on the booming interest and fashion expertise of pre-teen girls today.

• ISBN10: 0316105422
• ISBN13: 9780316105422
• Publish Date: 5 May 2011 (first published 1 January 2011)
• Publish Status: Out of Print
• Out of Print: 5 March 2021
• Publish Country: US
• Publisher: Little, Brown & Company
• Imprint: Poppy
• Format: Hardcover
• Pages: 272
• Language: English

Reviews

[Terri M. LeBlanc]

On the shelf at the used book store this book definitely caught my eye. The title involves time travel. LOVE! The girl on the cover looks like she is having a good time. I LOVE TO HAVE A GOOD TIME! And the blurb mentions the Titanic. SOLD!

This book was just flat-out fun. There’s no deep story, no real fight for survival, but I didn’t go into the story expecting that. I was just looking for a lighter quick read and the book certainly delivers.

Personally, I loved the illustrations in the book. They are on par with drawings I’ve seen fashion designers do. Plus each chapter is beautifully illuminated and there are full-page illuminated quotes throughout the books. All the illustrations are four-color and some of them span across two pages. So gorgeous!

This book is a decent read for fans of the Titanic. It explores some of the social constructs of the time—lots of talk about class and discovering who you are and being true to yourself. A few historical figures are introduced. And is always the case in a Titanic novel, it’s a bit amazing to remember who was on the ship! I wouldn’t go into the story with any big hopes of discovering the meaning of life, but if you like time-travel and just want something fun and light-hearted, The Time-Traveling Fashionista on Board the Titanic should do you just fine.


This review was originally posted on Second Run Reviews

[Stephanie]

3.5/5

The Time-Traveling Fashionista is an interesting read to say the least. It took a lot for me to get through the first 30 pages or so. I just could not get into this book. To be honest, I couldn’t summon up enough give a damn for the main character. I have a feeling this is mostly because Louise is in middle school and her life is really rather boring.

Things did get really exciting when Louise was hurtled back into time 100 years. The story really picks up steam then. Turetsky includes great descriptions of the Titanic, the people who were really on the Titanic, bits of their stories, and (of course) some amazing descriptions of the cloths of the period.

The thing of it is, you know how the Titanic’s story is going to end. I honestly didn’t expect to be so devastated by it. The thing that saved this book was the inclusion of the stories of the people who actually were abroad the Titanic when it went down. Of course these were based in fiction but the very basics of their stories were true. Some of them crushed me. The ending did not leave me hanging. The story line was wrapped up nicely. I also find myself wanting to know where Louise will be in her next adventure!

I can say that after I finished The Time-Traveling Fashionista I immediately scoured the Internet to learn more about the people in the story and to find out more about the Titanic. I searched through pictures and read the actual biographies of the names mentioned in The Time-Traveling Fashionista.