American Duchess’ Monster List of Resources

Dear Readers,
   I’ve decided to move all my resource links off my sidebars, and onto this one page.  To get to this page in the future, just click the “RESOURCES” label to the left.  Here you will find everything I’ve found useful – links to wig websites, online costume collections, how-to sites, fabric stores, must-have books, and favourite movies.  I will add to this list again and again as I find new sites online that I find useful for us wacky 18th c. costumers!  Links in bold are those I have particularly useful.  Have at it!…

Fabric & Trim

Wigs & Hats

  • Wigs.com – large selection of wigs, pretty reasonable prices.
  • Wilshire Wigs – a bit higher end in headwear.
  • VogueWigs – my go-to source for costume wigs.  Great selection; great pricing.

18th c. General Stores, Costumiers, & Suttlers

18th c. Shoes & Accessories

Research

Books on 18th c. Costume

Movies Set in the 18th c.

  • Marie Antoinette – a fantastic production starring Kirsten Dunst.  Uber-costume-win.
  • The Duchess – Kiera Knightly, Ralph Fiennes, beautiful costumes, heavy plot.
  • Dangerous Liaisons – the go-to costume movie of the 1980s, with John Malkovich, Glenn Close, Uma Thurman, Keanu Reeves (lol?), Michelle Pfeiffer.  A film about seduction.
  • Jefferson in Paris – interesting movie with some beautiful costumes, following Thomas Jefferson’s ambassadorship in France at the end of the 18th c.
  • The Affair of the Necklace – bad plot, great late 18th c. costumes!
Sewing Patterns for 18th c. Costuming
  • The Recollections of JP Ryan – fairly solid patterns for men and women.  I used the men’s frock coat and waistcoat patterns with success, but the breeches pattern was poo-poo.  The ladies patterns look divine, but I’ve not used them yet.  A little pricey, I find.
  • Kannik’s Korner – I find this site hard to use, but they do offer men and women’s patterns for simple thinks like caps, chemises, pockets and hose.  The men’s patterns are a little more complete, with pants, waistcoats, and shirts.
  • Regency Reproductions – for Regency style of dress for ladies.  I have no used these patterns, but I like that they offer a wide selection, with options for the gowns, and patterns for jackets, stays, and children’s clothing.
  • Simplicity – currently offers a pattern for a robe a la francaise, as well as a pattern for 18th c. underpinnings that includes stays, panniers, pockets, and a chemise.
  • Butterick – pattern #4254 for 18th c. stays.  I love this pattern.  The envelope also includes 19th c. corsets in two styles.
Useful Bits

13 Comments

  • Isis

    May 29, 2010 at 11:51 AM

    Excellent! Thank you!

    Do you have any blogs to recommend too? It's always nice to read new ones, but sometimes they are hard to find.

    Reply
  • Anonymous

    May 29, 2010 at 4:32 PM

    Just Two Tailors made my first 18th. c outfit – the purple and black one. They do American colony stuff, so if you aren't very specific with them, you'll get those details. Still, incredible work but $$$.

    Reply
  • American Duchess

    May 29, 2010 at 7:43 PM

    Isis, I kept my "Costume Blogs of Win" on the sidebar to the left, and moved them up above my blog followers bit. I only show the top 5 that have updated (incentive to update!) but you can click the "show all" link to, erm, show them all. I'm planning on adding a section to this resources page with pattern links, pattern companies, and will probably add a "blogs and collections" part as well. All in good time, m'lady!!

    Reply
  • GentlewomanThief

    May 30, 2010 at 6:03 PM

    Yaaaaaay! Thank you – very, very useful, indeed. In particular, I hadn't ever seen Smiling Fox Forge before – am already on there drooling over their Chatelaines (My bank balance curses you!). Oh, and I agreed with all your film comments (except for Jefferson, as I haven't seen it yet) – LOL at Mr Reeves, indeed!

    Reply
  • American Duchess

    May 31, 2010 at 6:14 AM

    the crazy thing is that he was actually halfway decent in the tiny part he played in Dangerous Liaisons! 'Course, he had, like, 4 lines and a sword fight. In general I'm not sure about the casting. I mean, does he look French? Looks Hawaiian to me. Oh wait, he IS! (Duchess gets a general LOL out of just about anything related to Keanu Reeves)

    Reply
  • GentlewomanThief

    May 31, 2010 at 8:35 PM

    Yeah, he was halfway decent for him … and he is damnably attractive, and I'm afraid I'm shallow enough to be willing to forgive him a lot because of that (in terms of acting. Not killing my goldfish or anything real like that!). I suppose you could think of him as being from the south of France – tanned and Mediterranean-ish?

    My biggest Keanu Reeves-related LOL was when I was a teenager and my Dad was trying to be all 'hip' and 'down with the kids' by recognising Keanu Reeves in a film and pointing him out. Except he said 'Koo noo'. I LOLed muchly at my poor pop.

    Reply
  • Lauren R

    June 1, 2010 at 4:23 AM

    LOL! Well, you do have a point, he is…or was…at some time…attractive. His idiocy has overwhelmed his attractiveness for me, though :-(. My Dad tried to be cool and hip with my older brother by saying "groovy man!" Yeah, even at my tender age of about 7 I knew that just *wasn't* the thing to say, hahaha.

    Reply
  • Unknown

    March 10, 2017 at 7:56 PM

    This is such a useful list! And I'm glad to hear such a good review of the Butterick stays pattern. I've been looking for a good pattern for Georgian stays, and though the Mantua Maker pattern comes highly recommended, I wince at the $29 shipping fee to send it from the US to me in the UK. The Butterick pattern I have just picked up for the grand total of £8.42 including postage!
    Excited to get started… 🙂

    Reply

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