At last, we’re proud to present a big new collection of vintage shoes that hit all the right notes, the “Jazz Standards” Collection. These are the classics, the quintessential styles of the early 20th century, the shoes every retro-lover should have in their closet. They’re the go-with-everything, everyday shoes that favor perfect balance and refined silhouette over bells, whistles, and bling. Plus everyone of these designs is a true reproduction.
First things first…
Pre-Order is OPEN
June 10 – 24, 2022
$20/€20 discount per pair
US Women’s sizes 5 – 12
USA Store – AmericanDuchess.com
European Store – AmericanDuchess.eu
Claremont
Some of you will recognize this design from early in American Duchess history. Claremont is closely based on a beautiful late 1930s burgundy suede oxford in the London College of Fashion Cordwainers Shoe Collection. The original was made by Rosenthal and Doucette and had a 3.75 inch high heel!
We’ve made some adjustments to our new Claremonts, both from the extant museum shoe and our v.1 Claremont from 2013. The new Claremonts are made on a super-comfortable ’30s last and refined 2.5 inch Spanish heel, constructed in the most delicious suede striped with smooth glossy leather and tied with pretty grosgrain ribbon laces. We have the original merlot colorway, as well as black, brown, and navy, three standard vintage colors to go with everything.
Bellevue
A good 10 years in the making, the new Bellevue oxfords faithfully represent the love of perforation in the 1920s, 30s, and 40s. This design is taken from an extant shoe in our own collection, one of the very first antique shoes we bought for study back in 2012. Highly perforated designs like these were popular for nurses and can be seen in many vintage ads. This style was also favored for sportswear and daywear. Bellevue is fantastic for everything from the mid-20s through the 1930s, is CC41 compliant for 1940s, and will serve well for 1950s and 60s too.
Like Claremont, we’ve adjusted Bellevue to suit our customer’s needs and requests. Our rendition has the most gorgeous and comfortable 1.6 inch Cuban heel, and a brand new last with a high, round toe box. The perforated upper is completely ventilated, which makes these all-leather oxfords extremely comfortable and flexible. They come in bright white, and glacé high-shine black, cordovan, and tan.
Kedwardian
When more than a few of you sent us suggestions for an Edwardian canvas tennis shoe, we knew we had to give it a go. The result is the splendid Kedwardian Oxfords, a recreation of the wonderful 1905 Keds in the V&A Collection, cross-referenced with as many surviving canvas-and-rubber sporting shoes as we could find.
The fantastic thing about the Kedwardians is their practicality. Like the originals, these shoes are made of heavy cotton canvas inside and out – absolutely no leather at all – which makes them extraordinarily comfortable, soft, flexible, breathable, and easily cared for. The rubber soles are grippy and long-lasting. These are tops in Summer footwear.
We have them in three colorways voted for by you – the original ivory, a beautiful navy with white soles, and an all-black version. Spray them with Angelus Water & Stain Repellent to keep them clean and protected.
Jane
Here’s another style we’ve been chasing for many years, one that needed to be absolutely right in composition because there is no broguing, no perforation, no trim of any kind to hide behind. These are the Jane Oxfords, and they’re spot-on for WWII military impressions such as WAC, WAVES, Cadet Nurse Corps, and Marines, as well as civilian groups like Women’s Land Army and WOWs.
These oxfords aren’t just for WWII reenactment. They’re based closely on a 1930s Derby lace-up in the London College of Fashion Shoe Collection, and cross-referenced with several pairs of original 1940s plain “regulation” oxfords. This type of shoe was incredibly versatile, worn throughout the 1920s all the way through the 1960s, and is just as fashionable today.
Janes are ridiculously practical, made on our new oxford last with the high, round toe box and paired with the perfect 1.6 inch Cuban heel. We’re offering them in bright white with tan heels, and “parade gloss” glacé calf in black, cordovan, tan, and navy.
Peggy
Last but never least, we reintroduce Peggy, the good-ole standard 1930s-50s spectator pump. We’ve offered Peggy several times throughout the years, and this style is so versatile and so classic, you all just keep requesting her!
There are so many references for spectator shoes in catalogs, as well as surviving examples, it’s easy to recreate this style. They came in a huge variety of toe shapes, heel heights, and broguing designs, as well as myriad colors. Our version has the typical vintage high vamp, grosgrain edge piping, and the toe and heel contrast color with a little broguing for extra interest.
Peggy is made on the same last as Marilyn, with 3 inch Cuban heels and round toes, but please note Peggy will fit and feel a little different to Marilyn due to the high vamp pattern. (We still recommend ordering your most common dress shoe size). This season we have Peggy in black/white, navy/white, oxblood/white, and coffee/cream.
Pre-Order is OPEN
June 10 – 24, 2022
$20/€20 discount per pair
US Women’s sizes 5 – 12
USA Store – AmericanDuchess.com
European Store – AmericanDuchess.eu
