Our Pompadour 18th Century Shoes are an American Duchess classic! With their custom, curvy Louis heel, easy-to-use tabbed latchet closure, and period accurate white rand, these babies are a tried-and-true shoe; Pompadours…
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Designing Historical Shoes: 18th-Century Style
Did you know that American Duchess has been designing 18th-century shoes since 2011? In fact, our very first design ever was the “Georgiana,” a satin 18th-century latchet shoe. (Oh, and here’s a…
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Mules in Art: Part Deaux
Nearly ten years ago (omg), we published a blog post featuring mules in 18th century art for the first release of Antoinette Mules. Now that spring has arrived, Fêtes Galantes is coming…
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Fabrics for the 18th Century and Beyond
One of the top questions I get from budding 18th century costumers is “what fabric should I use?” Luckily, there is ample choice for the Georgian era, though not as much a…
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Old Projects I, Uh, Forgot to Post About
With all the updates to Ye Olde Blogge, I was going back and checking the “Projects” page when I found several costumes I finished but never actually posted about. The horror! So…
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Lessons of the Volante – So Far
Du….Du Hast…Du Hast Mich… There’s something about pleat-to-fit garments that both attract me and drive me bonkers. I think it’s a combination of no two surviving examples being the same and my…
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Meet the New Pompadour 18th Century Shoes
This season, we’re proud to finally introduce the new and improved Pompadour 18th Century Court Shoes! We’ve made a few changes to this classic, curvaceous style. The Pompadours have been one of…
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Petticoat Pitfalls for Grand Panniers
Well shoot, this didn’t work…. Don’t you just love when you finish up a project, perhaps the first part of an ensemble, something you’ve maybe done numerous times before, only to put…
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How to Avoid Lampshade Hoops in the 18th Century
It’s a thing in the Georgian period too! I’ve recently started on my next big (physically big), early 18th century project, a Robe Volante. One of the reasons I felt confident to…
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1720s – 1740s Robe Volante – Initial Musings
I just can’t get enough of 18th century back pleats! The time has come. This one has been brewing for awhile. I have a sortof underdog love for weird garments or time…
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Should You Always Wear a Bum Pad for 18th Century Dress?
The split bum, perfect for 1776 – 1790s, worn with polonaise and Italian gowns. This is particularly effective for gowns with the skirts pulled up. From the American Duchess Guide. Ah, bum…
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The Eternal Sunshine of the 18th Century Gown
This year at Costume College it really was all very, very yellow This year I kindof copped out at the Costume College Gala…but in a very Georgian way. I can’t really say…
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How to Lengthen/Shorten 18th Century Stays
The #1 question we receive about Simplicity 8162 (and will with Simplicity 8579 as well) is how to lengthen or shorten the stays. Particularly with Simplicity 8162, the body block used came…
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2017 – Costuming Year in Review
Jane Austen Festival, 2017. Photo by Tony Tumbusch. It’s that time – that year-end-year-beginning-blog-post time. This year I feel I was a terrible blogger. One of the side effects of building out…
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Pieces of Me – Remaking an 18th Century Gown
Sacque gown, partially deconstructed, 1765-69 – National Trust NT 1350856 It’s commonly known that 18th century dress textiles were made and remade and remade again. A great many extant gowns in museum…
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The “State of the Book” Address – Updates and Progress
Well it’s been a couple months now since we announced the writing of our 18th century sewing book, which now has an official title: “The American Duchess Guide to 18th Century Dressmaking:…
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Spotlight: New “Fraser” Early 18th Century Leather Shoes
Lauren reporting – As you all know, this year we’ve opened all of our new Fall/Winter historic styles for pre-order at the same time. We’ve also made the pre-order period longer –…
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My Big Fat Yellow English Gown – Finito!
Lauren here – Doesn’t it just feel *so good* to best a cranky project, wear it, and love it? I’d been working on my yellow English Gown for most of 2016 and…
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My 1740s “Mutton Chop” Cap
The Athenaeum – Lettice Mary Banks (William Hoare – ) English 1746 It’s getting down to the wire on Costume College preparations. Most of my major projects are a few steps from…
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And It Was All Yellow…
You’re going to think I’m all-over-the-place right now, and you would be right. Projects here, projects there, moving house, moving business, omg! It’s been stressy, for sure, but this is also the…
