Yesterday was a glorious day: I got my hands on 43 vintage dress patterns from the 1950s and early 60s. All of them are fab, some more my style than others, and…
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Making a Workable Dress Form – or – The Violent Transformation of Franken-Lilly
This is Lilly straight out of the box. Lilly is a dress display mannequin, as opposed to a dressmaker’s form. She has a nice jersey cover over a molded, hard foam body.…
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On Wiglets and Hair Pieces, Part 1
I say “Part 1” because this is a work in progress. I would also like to say up front that I am not a hair genius, in fact I suck really really…
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Revolution Dress – About Those Stays
The Dreamstress asked me to share a little about the stays I’ve been working on. Those extra grommets at the bottom are me messing up. Ignore those, pls. 🙂 I apologize for…
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Revolution Dress – A Better Idea of What the Heck I’m Doing
The idea of how this gown, “the Revolution Dress,” is going to come together has been milling around in my head for a couple weeks now, in a somewhat nebulous form. Luckily…
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Revolution Dress – Undies!
This is just a quick post on underwear, in all its glory. As you know, I’ve started this latest 18th c. gown project with the basics, a proper set of proper undies.…
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18th Century Figurines – Capodimonte and the Crown N Mark
Who doesn’t love little Georgian figurines? Visit an antiques fair and you’ll see literally thousands of the little things, all in various degree of quality. They became extremely popular in the 20th…
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The Revolution Dress – Beginnings, Again
Last time, I wrote about a new 18th c. project concerning a Robe Retroussee dans les Poches, but since then the project has been morphing and smooshing around trying to define itself.…
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Starting Small on a Big New 18th c. Project
I finally have a new 18th c. project in mind, yay! I want to make a striped red Robe a l’Anglaise, but to be worn either polonaise’d (verb) or “dans le poches,”…
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Back From the Dead , and Some Shoe News
I haven’t been blogging, I’m sorry, but I’ve been SO ill. I do have things to tell you guys about – the Madame X gown I didn’t get to wear, the 1960s…
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Historical Footwear – News, and Looking at Edwardian Styles
Wishbone straps on a c. 1900 white kid pump The results of the Historical Footwear poll are in, and the Edwardian pumps took first, followed by a foot-and-foot race between the 1860-80…
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New Vintage Hat Finds
I love hats, didn’t you know? I picked up three gorgeous vintage hats last weekend, for the Boutique on Etsy. The hardest thing about this “job,” this acquiring of vintage hats for…
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Historical Shoes … So, What’s Next, Ladies?
My particular fave. This is from Shoe Icons (eng.shoeicons.com) With the success of the “Georgiana” shoes (and it’s only been a week!), this means that more styles of period-accurate shoes *will* be…
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Vintage Summer Dress – Yellow Dots and Lollipops
Okay, so really this has *nothing* to do with lollipops, except a vague idea that lollipops and fluffy girly dresses go together….? Anyway. Butterick 6582 The other night I thought, “hey, I…
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The Victorian Steampunk Ball … (If You’re In The Reno Area)
If you happen to be in the Northern California or Northern Nevada areas, check out this event. It’s going to be *awesome,* and I know that, because I’m part of the club…
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Bits and Bobs … and Life After Those Shoes
So what the heck do I post about after all that craziness with the Georgiana shoes? Life’s returning to normal, but I’m still quite excited: We met the 100 shoe order minimum…
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“Georgiana” 18th c. Shoes – Pre-Order Now Open!
Well this is it! The pre-order period for the new Georgiana 18th c. shoes is now open. It will run for 3 weeks: April 1st – April 22nd. We’re looking at a…
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Introducing the “Georgiana” 18th Century Shoes by American Duchess
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,…
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More Tea with Madame X – Progress on The Satan Bodice from Hell
…did I say satan? I meant satin, really. Or is it the same thing… I’m starting with the most recent photo, because I’m too embarrassed to start by showing you the horrible…
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The Paperie – Custom Wedding Invitations by American Duchess
[/shameless self promotion] I wanted to share with you guys another recent venture. It’s not related to costuming, but does have a feeble link to pretty dresses :-). It’s a new business…
