First First Lady Was No Frump

Chances are when you think of Martha Washington, you imagine a frumpy old fat lady smothered in lace. Not so, say those who study her and her husband. If you ignore the unflattering images painted years after her death, and instead focus on tailors' records and letters from Martha's youth, another picture emerges, reports the Washington Post.

The tiny, sequined, purple silk shoes Martha wore on her (second) wedding day apparently point to a sassy sense of style, and orders for dresses mention her delicate wrists and slim waist. But it's a forensic age regression on one of her portraits that gives the definitive answer to the question of why George so persistently pursued the young widow.
(More George Washington stories.)