Emma Baune
A ballet dancer in the 1861, Emma Baune is a French immigrant who moved to the U.S. with her family when she was young in hopes of hopping on the railroad business boom because of their steady economic decline in France.
Their money fluctuates heavily in the U.S., so with the encouragement of her mother, she starts training in ballet around 8-10.
So with the history of ballet it was, at the time, a job that was mainly inhabited by lower class girls who would become ballerinas in hope of making their own money while unfortunately being involved and frequently pressured/forced into an open-secret prostitution culture. It was mainly to get sponsors from older men with the goal of rising in social classes, something that Emma's mother wanted for her future as their financial instability continued.
To me it's just a 1860s version of "Fancy" by Reba McEntire lmao
She continues as a ballet dancer for the remainder of the story, and still is one by the time she is 18-19 in 1861, so a lot of her fashion I talk about will include 1850s ballet costumes.
Oh and one major character involved here is Elliott Cowell, a 19 year old railroad yard-worker who she meets through her dad's business. They're in love and soooo so soft. He's my friend's (@starffledust ) oc so expect him to get mentioned a lot.
As for appearance, she has light blonde very, very curly long hair, a pale complexion with green eyes. Rounded face with a straight, longer nose. I swear I don't just make blonde people they're the minority in my oc list.
A fun little collage I made of her. She doesn't wear that lavish of clothes, it's just vibes. I'll explain more when I get into her clothing
Very much this for her appearance.
Anyways that's an Emma summary!! I'm planning on introducing all my characters first before I deep dive into the fashion. Also I was thinking of photobashing some of them? That could be fun