HerstoryBound Explorers: Amelia Earhart

I’m celebrating Women’s History Month with new bounds, or everyday cosplays, every week in March. This week’s theme is Explorers.

I asked my daughter, Aeris, to help me choose which women to highlight for this project and she suggested two right away: Marie Curie, whom she did a report on last year, and Amelia Earhart, whom she’s looked up to for years. Aeris is a huge fan of Carol Danvers aka Captain Marvel which led to us visiting museums dedicated to flight far and near. There she learned about real women pilots, starting with Amelia Earhart.

Amelia Earhart

1n 1928 Amelia Earhart became the first woman to cross the Atlantic; four years later she became the first woman to cross it alone. These are only two of her many achievements as a pilot. Earhart was also a prolific and popular author of numerous articles and essays and two books about her experiences flying. And she served as the aviation editor of Cosmopolitan magazine, a position I definitely wish still existed. In 1931 she was elected to be the first president of the Ninety-Nines, an organization of women pilots.

“…now, and then, women should do for themselves what men have already done—occasionally what men have not done—thereby establishing themselves as persons, and perhaps encouraging other women toward greater independence of thought and action. Some such consideration was a contributing reason for my wanting to do what I so much wanted to do.”

Amelia Earhart

Amelia Earhart lived a life of daring. She challenged societal expectations from an early age and collected newspaper clippings about women who succeeded in male-dominated fields. She worked as a nurse’s aide during WWI and later as a social worker. In December 1920 she went on a ten-minute flight that changed the course of her life. Just days later she took her first flying lesson and embarked on a career that pushed every boundary and continued until her disappearance in 1937.

Earhart’s fate remains a mystery but her legacy is certain. In a letter to her husband, written in case she didn’t return from a flight, she wrote “Please know I am quite aware of the hazards. I want to do it because I want to do it. Women must try to do things as men have tried. When they fail, their failure must be but a challenge to others.” Her failures and her successes challenge and inspire women, and men, to this day.

You can read more about Amelia Earhart here. Visit the Ninety-Nines website to learn more about her enduring legacy.

About My Look

Included among Earhart’s many accomplishments is fashion designer. Her “active living” line was one of the first sold as separates. She often wore layers, and trousers, but didn’t eschew feminine lines or aesthetics.

I paired a simple white blouse with straight leg jeans and short boots, all of which were purchased secondhand. The jacket is ‘Adventure Bound’ by Wilson’s Leather and was gifted to Aeris. I wore the jacket and boots as part of my Carol Danvers look for Costober 2019. I purchased the goggles for my Hera Syndulla look.

The white scarf was also purchased secondhand and the butterfly kerchief was a gift from Elda Medeiros. Aeris got the plush plane (Airforce One) on our first visit to the Smithsonian Museum of Air and Space. It makes the sounds of take off when squeezed.