-or- Why Sew When the World is Ending? For so many of us, sewing is about so much more than producing clothing to be worn. Everyone has a different reason for pursuing…
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Motivation to Sew in the Time of Coronavirus
A 1930s UFO – it’s not made well, but it’s made! The year thus far has been a rollercoaster (understatement), and my sewing adventures have been rather manic-depressive – great big swings…
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Pre-Order, Part Deux, Is Open!
Well, this is certainly a first! Due to popular demand, we’re popping open another pre-order for the sold-out styles in the F/W2020 collection – Londoner, Bernadette, Gibson, and Tango Boots. The 2nd…
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American Duchess Shoes Made in Portugal
This season marks the first collection of American Duchess shoes made in Portugal! We’re pretty excited about this and want to share a bit of behind the scenes. In February, in The…
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Introducing the Bernadette Oxfords
The moment we’ve all been waiting for! We’d like to introduce to you the Bernadette Oxfords, in collaboration with the peerless Bernadette Banner! Last Fall we started working with Bernadette to develop…
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Fall 2020 Pre-Order is OPEN!
Lovely Peoples, I present to you the first pre-order collection release of 2020! We have a lot of new to share with you this year…but first… Pre-Order is Open August 21 –…
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$200 American Duchess Give Card Giveaway!
It has been quite awhile since we’ve done a giveaway! Up for grabs is a $200 USD gift card to American Duchess.com. Woot! This never expires and can be used on any…
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Bastille Day Sale 2020
It’s time for the annual American Duchess Bastille Day Sale – a lovely little mid-summer clearance. This year we have a lot of odds, ends, bits, bobs, end-of-line stuff hanging about. We’re…
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Feet Are Weird {Video}
Yup, they sure are! In this hopefully very useful and interesting video, Nicole explains all that goes into how shoes fit, and why it’s never as simple as just length and width.
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Coming Up: LIVE Youtube Q&A with Lauren – Covid-19 and Small Business
Hi everyone, I will be going live on Youtube on **Monday, April 13th at 10 am PDT** to talk about Covid-19, small business, and how we’ve been affected. You can follow us…
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Spring Cleaning 2020 SALE!
It’s that time of year again…Spring Cleaning! In the midst of all the madness you may be sewing up a storm. Even though all the events and shows are cancelled, don’t miss…
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#ADCapeCult – Free 1910s Cape PDF Pattern!
Free 1910s Cape Pattern – click here! Hi! If you’ve been following us on Instagram you may have seen the explosion of capes. We’ve released a free PDF gridded pattern for a…
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American Duchess on Youtube!
Hi all! Well, in light of recent and ongoing events, we’re all at home making lots and lots of Youtube videos. It’s a good way to help keep the costuming and sewing…
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Podcast Episode 28: Merging Royal Vintage & American Duchess
Yay! Welcome back to a whole new season of podcastery! It’s been awhile since we’ve done podcasts, but we get a lot of requests for them, so we thought we’d kick off…
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18th Century Printed Cotton Do’s & Don’t’s
A beautiful printed cotton gown, 1785-95. The Met. A very condensed version of this essay, without pictures, appears in The American Duchess Guide to 18th Century Dressmaking. Because there is *so much…
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Holiday Shipping Deadlines, 2019
Here’s just a quick reminder to get your American Duchess and Royal Vintage orders in by the following dates so we can ship them out and get them to you on time:…
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Historic & Retro Winter Shoes & Boots
Sleigh bells ring, are you listening? In the lane snow is glistening… <3 Here’s our annual guide to this year’s historic and retro winter shoes and boots from American Duchess and Royal…
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The Countess of Melbury’s Ball c. 1789 – Inspo!
The Met, 1780s Italian gown. Inspiration for my own gown for this event. Next March, 2020, I am attending the Countess of Melbury’s Ball in Walnut Grove, California. The event is set…
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Book Review: Women of the 1920s: Style Glamour, & the Avante-Garde by Thomas Bleitner
Louise Brooks On the eve of the 2020s, the spell of the exciting and revolutionary 1920s looms large. It was an unforgettable era with deep cultural shifts and powerful aesthetics. Women, in…
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Winter SALE at American Duchess & Royal Vintage
La la la la la – it’s that time of year where we put, like, everything on SALE! Here are the links: American Duchess This year we have the traditional FREEBIES –…