Our Big Announcement!

Hello Lovelies!

As many of you know (but maybe some of you don’t) we announced last Friday via our weekly Facebook LiveCast (2pm Pacific Time/5 pm Eastern) that American Duchess has signed a contract to write a book with Page Street Publishing!

We are suuuuuupperrrrrrrr excited (and frazzled/freaked/nervous/giddy/shocked/etcetcetc) about the whole shebang & are really looking forward to getting this book out there for public consumption! WOO! Hooray!

During the livecast we took questions from our viewers & have had a lot of questions afterwards regarding the book – so we thought it would be wise for us to give you a run down on the book here & also a bit of the FAQ that we’ve noticed from Facebook. Ok? Sound like a plan? Then read on my dears –

About the Book:

This book is going to focus on the “how-to” of 18th century women’s fashion (no men. no babies. k? k.)

The book will be broken down in to 4 parts or large outfit based projects.

-A Robe a l’Anglaise (English gown)

Something kind of like this – from the Met 1750-75 34.108

-Robe a la Francaise (Sacque)

The Met, c. 1760s, 1996.374a-c

-Italian Gown (the 4 pieced fitted back gown)

The Met, 1775-85, 2009.300.1340

-1790s Round Gown (Changing Silhouette)

Gallery of Fashion 1790s, Bunka Gakuen Library

Each gown/outfit part will break down:

• construction techniques
• fitting issues
• gown variations (like pleating of the back or skirts, zone front, long sleeves, etc)
•  accessory related projects to help finish off your entire look (caps, bonnets, mitts, etc)

This book will not not not not not not not break down:

How to drape or pattern your gown.

Repeat: We will not be showing you how to create gown patterns. We will not demonstrate how to drape the gown on your dress form.

Why? …funny you should ask…

Because there are enough books & purchasable paper patterns out there that show you these things already. This book is going to be your companion to those books & patterns.

This book is for that moment when you’re like… “Alright! I have/made my pattern! I’m ready to make this gown and look hotter than Claire Fraser after a romp in the heather with Jamie! Yeah!….yeah…um…oh…dangit…where the hell do I start? What did I do? What am I doing? Should I do this? What if I mis-cut? What if it doesn’t fit? Why does this fabric hate me and my unborn child? What have I gotten myself into?” …and then you end up eating your weight in pizza & ice cream, ugly crying while watching re-runs of “Downton Abbey” because you’re overwhelmed and freaked out not knowing what you should do. #bagpizza

That’s what our book is here for – to hold your hand and help you through those moments. Sewing is scary. Sewing is hard. We want to try and help make it easier & enjoyable. Make sense? Jazzy.


Now a few more Q&A’s:

Q: When will the book be published?
A: Our manuscript deadline is the end of February (pray for us…..) and our publishers estimate sometime that Fall/Winter. (Should be able to purchase on Amazon in time for Christmas 2017 but probably wont be in brick & mortar stores) Don’t hold us to that date; it is just an estimation. The only hard and fast date that we have is the end of February…the rest is up to the publishers.

Q: Will there be a Pre-Order?
A: Yes, you should be able to pre-order the book on Amazon/Barnes&Noble online. We don’t know when that will be yet but trust us we’ll let you know!

Q: Will it be e-book or printed?
A: Both! 😀

Q:Will it be available worldwide?
A: We are anticipating worldwide distribution via our publisher, but we’re not 100% sure.

Q:Are you going to include hacks for OL/Poldark/Hamilton/etc etc. ?
A: Short answer is no, but to elaborate – this book will help you put together 18th century women’s gowns in historically accurate ways, so you should be able to take the information we give you and adapt it to suit your cosplay needs.

Q: Will this affect the blog?
A: Yes & no. We will not be blogging about the projects/sewing/etc related to the book, per our contract with the publishers. We are going to try and work on other projects that are blog-able at the same time, so that way we can keep all of our engines runnin’.

Q:How much will the book cost?
A: About $30 USD

Q: Will this book be hand-sewing or machine?
A: Mostly hand-sewing, but we will note where you can use a machine to make your life easier (and other modern hacks where they are applicable)

Q: Will there be gridded patterns?
A: Not of the gowns, no. BUT we will be including grid diagrams/patterns of the smaller accessory projects to go with your gown. Some will be exact patterns and some will be cutting guides/recommendations (sometimes things are squidgy like that). We’ll try to keep things as simple and straightforward as possible, because we are both women who hate wasting time & trying to translate wacky instructions.

Ok – I think that’s all the FAQ’s I can find/come up with/remember. If you have anymore questions please leave them in the comments below and we’ll do our best to answer them! (To be honest, we don’t know a lot regarding publication stuff, design, etc, what we know is that we have a lot to do & not a lot of time to do it- so wish us luck!)

<3 <3

And now all of that in video form: