How to be a Boss at Research Part 3: Rules of Engagement – Primary Sources Alright, kids, we’re here. Part 3 of what appears to be a very long series about researching…
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1820s Green Dress – Basic Measurements and Sleeve Examination
Hey Everyone! Abby here with another post about the 1820s Green Silk Lustring Dress that has recently come into my possession. (You can read about how I got the dress here. If…
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The 1790s “Jane Austen Goes to Ikea” Gown – The Corset
Ikea does it again – Ingmarie curtains >> This year is 1790s year. After completing all the book projects, Abby and I can finally settle into share-able projects. Both of us are…
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How to be a Boss at Research – Part 2
How to be a Boss at Research Part 2: Where to find those pesky primary sources from (mostly) the comfort of your own home! (For Review: Part 1) Hey Ya’ll! Abby here…
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Dating the Green 1820s Dress
Hey Everyone! Abby here- So last week I posted about the awesome green dress my mom found in a little antique store in my hometown, and when I shared the photos here…
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How to Be a Boss at Research – Part 1
How to be a Boss at Research Part 1: Intro, Different Types of Sources Hey Ya’ll! Abby here, and today I want to start a conversation with you about something that’s really…
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Please Vote for Us!
Lovelies, as you all know, the passion and goal of American Duchess is bringing the past back to life through beautiful shoes, and now a growing collection of books and sewing pattern…
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Bringing a 200 Year Old Treasure Back to Life
Hey Y’all! Abby here and I am so excited to share with you all something that just came into my possession earlier this week. Here she is all laid out on the…
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Costume College Classes!
Today is like Christmas or Hanukkah for Costume College teachers. It’s the day we have all been notified which of our class proposals were accepted, and then we all post on Facebook…
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Write, Write, Write, OMG
Printed Cotton (detail) – Gown, 1796. The Met. C.I.55.50.4 This week we are wrapping up the manuscript for the American Duchess Guide to 18th Century Dressmaking. It’s been intense and this is…
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Research: We See What We Want to See; We See What We Know
Dress research is one of the great pleasures of the historical costuming hobby, and it’s also a necessity. We all start off along this interest in old clothes knowing nothing, then slowly…
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The Disconnect Between Modern Sewing and Modern Clothing
via Reader, have you ever noticed that there is a disconnect between what we wear and what we sew? Why is this? For instance, why do we wear so much knitwear? T-shirts,…
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Simplicity Pattern Catalog, June 1946
I promised I would show snaps from the other 1940s Simplicity pattern catalog I recently purchased, so here we go! Last time, I shared with you my favorites from the Simplicity 1940,…
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Sacque-spiration – Robes a la Francaise to Admire
Hi! We are currently stitching along on our most complex book project, the 1760s sacque. While we can’t show you the whole big crazy thing quite yet, we’d like to share with…
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Simplicity Pattern Catalog, August 1940
Simplicity Pattern Catalog, August 1940 About a month ago I acquired my first vintage counter book – you know, the big pattern catalogs we go and flip through at the fabric stores.…
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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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My Last Project of 2016
1930s-inspired hooded wool bomber jacket. It feels like I haven’t sewn much this year. I certainly have lapsed on the blogging, which I greatly apologize for! Everything we’ve been stitching up since…
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What The Heck Is This 18th Century Dress?
I keep a Pinterest Board called “Historical Costuming Weirdness,” wherein I pin all the things I find that don’t match up nicely with what we think we know about historical dress *right…
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It’s Free Shipping Weekend!
Well, the title says it all: This weekend we have FREE Priority Mail shipping on all USA orders, regardless of size or weight. We’ve also added a few things to the SALE…
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Popping Up In New York
New York from the Polaski Bridge A couple weekends ago, Chris and I took a mini-vacay-partial-work-trip to New York. The mini-vacay part involved lots of delicious and varied eateries in the ultra-hip(ster)…