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Introducing the “Georgiana” 18th Century Shoes by American Duchess

March 29, 2011

After months of work, finally the dream of our 18th century silk shoes has come to fruition.  The final sample pair arrived this morning and are absolutely beautiful!

The Pre-Sale opens Friday, April 1, 2011.  It’s no April Fool’s joke, I assure you!  Get ready, because pre-orders will open at midnight PST (West Coast USA) on www.American-Duchess.com.  Don’t wait!  Those who participate in the sale will receive the special $85 price and be guaranteed their size.  For more information about how the pre-order works, click here.

Please Spread The Word
I must humbly ask for your assistance in getting the word out about these shoes.  We have to pre-sell a minimum 100 pairs of shoes in order to run the style.  If we fall short, everyone who has ordered will unfortunately be refunded 100% and there will be no pretty silk shoes.  With your help, though, we can achieve the goal and there will be beautiful shoes for everyone!

Please feel free to use the photos from this post to show your friends, costume societies, and re-enactor groups. Facebook, blog, tweet, share, repost, and help us get this line of Historical Footwear going!  The future of American Duchess Historical Footwear includes 18th c. dyable leather heels, Regency slippers, Edwardian pumps, and other styles of shoes that you the readers want, need, and can help design.

A pretty profile.  Wear the latches closed with shoe buckles, or rhinestone slide buckles, available in our shop in four styles.

For more information, please visit the “Common Questions” section of our new website.

US, UK, and EU Size information can be found in the “sizing” tab of the Georgiana’s listing.

For quick ordering, you are welcome to register for a private account on www.american-duchess.com and add the shoes to your wishlist.

Yay for versatility!  Instead of buckles, loop the latchets and tie a pretty bow.

To read about this crazy endeavor from its inception, check out the “Shoes” tag, and see these pretty pumps evolve from sketch to finished product.

Comments and Questions are always welcome!

34 Comments

  • Maggie

    March 29, 2011 at 8:17 PM

    Reblogged and reposted! I definitely will be ordering. You may have answered this somewhere, but with your sample pair, has it run true-to-size?

    Also, I'd love to know where to get pretty diamond buckles like that!

  • Maggie

    March 29, 2011 at 8:22 PM

    Oh, I see you are selling tension buckles on the new site! Awesome!

    I noticed that you're offering dyeing services! Do we just pre-order the shoes and then later send you a swatch or something?

  • Lauren R

    March 29, 2011 at 8:24 PM

    Thank you! I really appreciate your support 🙂

    Maggie – based on my production pair, the sizes seem to run a tad bit small. If you like a looser fit, go one half size larger. The fabrics are silk backed with leather, so they may stretch a little with regular wear.

    Diamond buckles – you can buy them on my site! I have square and round styles, with single rows of rhinestones, or double rows. They're tension slides, so they don't have prongs, but I find they stay put really well on the latchets.

  • Olympe de la Tour D'Auvergne

    March 29, 2011 at 8:49 PM

    Will you keep us posted about how many orders you have so we know if it looks like we need to encourage our friends, relatives, strangers, boyfriends etc to buy a few more? I'd hate to think we'd wind up a few pairs shy of 100.

    If only I could buy 50 myself!

  • Kirsten S

    March 29, 2011 at 8:54 PM

    I love this shoe so beautiful, however I live in Nova Scotia and it rains for almost every encampment, and we don't have any dry places for me to wear these. But I will let my reenacting ladies know anyways just in case. I am looking forward to some regency slippers as I do 1812 in Ontario and it's usually dry there and with a ball to attend everyother year. Excited!

  • Lauren R

    March 29, 2011 at 8:56 PM

    Maggie – here is more information about the custom dye service:

    http://www.american-duchess.com/customer-service/services-policies/custom-dye-service-for-historical-shoes

    You can also have the shoes dyed yourself, by taking them to a shoe repair. The dye service can be expensive because of transport, handling, and the cost to have them dyed, but I guarantee the color!

    Olympe – yes, there will be a little graphic here on the blog that shows how close we're getting to the goal, and I will keep everyone posted. I would hate to come up short too!!

  • Lauren R

    March 29, 2011 at 8:57 PM

    Kirsten, wet is no good for silk, but thank you so much for telling your friends! If we are able to meet the goal, then I can offer more historical styles in the future, like the regency slippers, and also this same style, but in dyable leather, which will withstand the soggy ground 🙂

  • Dejah Thoris

    March 29, 2011 at 10:00 PM

    These are stunning shoes, Lauren! So, you say they run a bit on the small side. Are they wide? Narrow? Medium width? I normally wear a size 7 shoe here in the US. So I'd need to order a 7.5? How high is the heel? Are the comfortable? Most important question: if the size I get doesn't fit, what would the exchange policy be, given the unusual circumstances of this order? All the best and good luck!

  • Lauren R

    March 29, 2011 at 10:39 PM

    Thank you guys so much for linking and re-blogging!

    Dejah, the shoes do run a little small. I normally wear a US 7.5 and I would go for an 8 in these. They are of average width. The heel is just under 2" high, and the shoes are very comfortable. They have padding in the insoles, the heel is balanced, and they are left/right lasted.

    Yes, you can exchange the shoes for a different size if they don't fit, or return them, so long as you have not altered or worn them. You can return them even if you have had me custom dye them for you. The best thing to do if you are unsure is to order the shoe in white, try them on first thing when they arrive, and then exchange them if you need a larger or smaller size. Also, exchanges are free, there's no silly re-stocking fee or anything like that. 🙂

  • Maggie

    March 30, 2011 at 5:22 AM

    Good to know about exchanges. I normally am a 7.5 or 8 depending on the type of shoe. Both my leather pairs of repro shoes are 8s, so hopefully that will work! 🙂

    I second the person who asked to keep us posted on the how the ordering goes – if we're just a few shy, we can talk it up more.

    Oh, also, I'll go post on Costumer's Guide before I forget! I've tweeted and blogged already!

  • Lauren R

    March 31, 2011 at 12:35 AM

    Thank you for passing it on!

    Maggie, go for the larger of the two sizes. I normally wear a 7.5 and I would wear an 8 in these. The size chart on the listing, with the inches/cm is really helpful if you are unsure – it's dead on for my measurement, when I traced my foot on a piece of paper and measured.

  • Lauren Stowell

    March 31, 2011 at 10:48 PM

    Thank you guys again for sharing! The blogroll looks amazing! I love all of you!

    Audrey, I couldn't get size 5s, I'm sorry :-(. 6 was as low as I could get, but they do run a half-size small, so you may be able to fit a 6. You can try measuring a tracing of your foot and double checking with the size guide – a size 6 is 8.875" from toe to heel. (make sure to trace your foot onto a piece of paper, keeping the pencil straight, and then measure the drawing, rather than measuring the bottom of your actual foot)

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