It’s time for October/November pre-orders! Yes, more! This collection is hotly anticipated and has been a long time in the making. Lots of engineering, tweaks, and testing, and we could not be more proud of the results. Meet the new girls…
Bessie Aviator Boots – 1920s-1950s
It’s been a long-standing goal/dream of mine to produce a 1920s/30s adventure boot. This type of boot has been nigh impossible to find without zippers or modern bits or within a budget, so I was pretty thrilled to acquire two original vintage examples to work from and knew they just had to happen. We spent a long time working on the range of calf sizes for these boots. It was actually one of the original pairs that answered some engineering questions for us, and we’re very excited to offer a boot that goes from 14 inches up to 19.5 inches in the calf while keeping the ankle well-fitted.
The timing is perfect on the Bessies. We’ve named them after Bessie Coleman, the first Black and Indigenous American woman to earn a pilot’s license, back in 1921. It’s her 100 year anniversary and as this cause is a special one to me, we’re donating a percentage of the pre-order sales of the Bessie boots to both Bessie Coleman Aviation All-stars and Sisters of the Skies.
Cambridge Bicycle Boots – 1890s-1910s
This one is a fan favorite, and has turned out absolutely gorgeous. The Cambridge Edwardian Bicycle Boots are so snazzy – those Gibson Girls really knew how to ride in style. They’re made of twill and leather with speed hooks, welted soles and a very practical heel, and the coolest adjustable calf straps.
As with the Bessie boots, we’ve made the tongues on Cambridge very wide to accommodate up to 20 inch calves. The boots come with two sets of laces, and the calf straps will fit the whole range. (Trim down the straps if they’re too long – tutorial coming soon).
Here’s a look at the three originals we based Cambridge on…
Paris Boots – 1890s-1940s
The new Paris boots make me laugh because this looks like a relatively easy, straight-forward design, and yet it’s taken us *years* to get it just right. Paris is based on an original Edwardian boot sent to us by a follower.
We went through many, many prototypes working out the right heel shape, the right balance, the right leathers.
The result is our first all-day-every-day lace-up vintage boot, and it has a huge time period range on it, accurate for the 1890s all the way through the Gibson Girl revival of the 1940s.
Colette Button Boots – 1890s-1920s
We do have one returning style, and one of our most popular designs ever – the Colette boots. These are a reproduction of an original pair featuring cutouts, straps, a cap toe, a French heel – all the bells and whistles. We’ve made some refinements to the ankle fitment and added easier-to-use buttons. The big addition, though, is three new colors in addition to black: merlot, green, and ivory.
5 Comments
Kelly Lincoln
November 1, 2021 at 4:08 PMEeee! These are the ones I’ve been waiting for! Ever since you said there would be two lace up boots form 1910s-1950s I knew I had to save my pretty pennies. I’m so so excited for these! Wish I had enough money for the Paris boots too, but with the tall boots being 300 or over each I will have to pass for now.
I know that the regency collection is coming next month (for which I’m going to try and save up for some Berties if I can)- but after that will there be a break in the pre-orders or are more on the way? I have to save up for any of the shoes so it’s really really helpful to know. Im loving all the shoes coming out but I do have to say it’s heartbreaking when i can’t afford them all because they come out so close.
Keep up all the lovely work! So excited for the new shoes.
Lacy
November 19, 2021 at 6:42 AMI feel similarly! Luckily the long pre order periods means by the time they’re in actual stock I usually have the money.
M OC
November 6, 2021 at 5:06 PMHello! There’s a pin on Pinterest featuring that unidentified right-hand photo of the ‘Colette’ boot inspirations. The poster included the source and provenance. 🙂 The note with the pin reads “LADY’S HIGH FOUR-STRAP SHOES with CUTWORK, c. 1913 Black kid with cap toe, button straps with three teardrop cutouts at each side. Height 10″, heel 2 1/2″. Good condition. From the Estate of Doris Duke. Sold in 2009 for $1,850 in a charity auction by Charles A. Whitaker Auction Co.”
https://www.pinterest.com/pin/31877109850443516/(Alternatively, the pin came up through a Google reverse image search of the picture, using the keyword “Whitaker Auction” in the search bar.)
The listing for the May 2, 2009 auction is also still up on the auction site–albeit with fewer provenance details, but with some more images of the shoes themselves. It is at https://www.liveauctioneers.com/item/6371998_605-lady-s-high-four-strap-shoes-with-cutwork-c-1913
Hope this helps! (And thanks for giving me an excuse to go down a minor rabbit hole.)
Lauren @ American Duchess
November 25, 2021 at 12:57 PMthank you so much!
Lacy Jay Slatton
November 19, 2021 at 6:40 AMI am SO happy as a woman with large calves that these boots are so size-inclusive. Normally I’m having to special order boots with elastic gussets from plus size specific companies. I’m so thrilled that you all took the time to consider women like me! I see a pair of brown Cambridges in my future.