By Her Own Design

Content Warning: This section discusses racism, abuse, and deaths of loved ones.

This theme is fundamental to the novel’s genre, Ann’s character growth, and the foundation for major conflicts. As a historical fiction novel that spans from the early 1900s to about 1980, Huguley shapes the story around Ann’s life during a time when racism, discrimination, and segregation were more overt. Ann faces these injustices head-on. Among her many hardships, she endures segregation at design school, living in poorer neighborhoods, being unable to attend “white” events and places, and being seen as lesser by her white clients. Huguley hence highlights the way racism prevents deserving artists from being recognized for their work.

When Ann is finally mentioned by name in a newspaper instead of just as a “Negro seamstress,” she is recognized with pride. Furthermore, when Ann is also invited to the ball in Tampa to honor her—a privilege reserved for only white people in the past—she is aware of the fight for equality:

There was so much that had to happen. Rosa Parks, down there in Montgomery. Martin Luther King Jr. preaching. Me at the S. T. Taylor Design School, taking classes from the next room.