Last night I posed for artists at the Nevada Museum of Art’s costume painting class. I wore the Revolution Dress I made last year, and dressed my hair in a simple pouf…
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V52: 1770s Pannier Experiments – Style 1
In poking around the 1770s it becomes obvious that panniers are the thing to wear. I’ve never made panniers before – I usually land in the 1780s and 90s, when I visit…
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V51: 1957 Little Brown Dress
Over Christmas I made a couple 1950s frocks I haven’t shared with you. In fact, I made this dress, then didn’t have opportunity to wear it until yesterday, for my grandmother’s 88th…
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V50: 18th Century Hair of Tall Ships
One of the iconic images we first associate with fashion of the 18th century is the Hair Ship, the tiny galleon perched atop a massive coif of curls. Where did this come…
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V49: 18th Century Quilted Petticoats
I am thinking of quilting a petticoat. My mom thinks that’s insane, but it really seems doable, even for an inpatient girl like me. The quilted petticoats in the Colonial Williamsburg book…
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V48: Reno’s Vintage Motel Signs
A few days ago I took a wander around Fourth Street in Reno, not the best place for a girl to be wandering, but I had on me the 1950s Zeiss Ikon…
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V47: Results of the Great Button Boot Survey
Awhile ago I asked you lovelies to take a survey on your preferences for Victorian button boots. Here is what you all had to say… About 455 of you participated. It was…
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V46: New “Imperfect” Section in the Shoe Shop
Hi Ladies, I created an “Imperfect” section at the American Duchess shop, where you can find Devonshires, Georgianas, and Pemberlies for 50% off. With each shipment we always get a few pairs…
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V45: Edwardian Hair Mysteries Solved – Part 4 – Beginning Styling
So far in this series, we’ve covered several aspects of Edwardian hair care and styling preparation, along with a few styling supplements. Now it’s time to put that hair up. Ladies with…
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V44: Sacramento Antiques Vintage Haul
Victorian boots. I didn’t buy these, but they’re cool to look at. You thought I was going to miss today’s post! I’m exhausted after the all-day shopping trip over-the-river-and-through-the-woods, to Sacramento yesterday.…
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V43: 18th Century Experiments in Hair, and New $6 Neckerchief
Last night I spent hours…HOURS…working on Edwardian hair styles, but I discovered that I needed more switches and hair pieces (today’s work), before attempting any more of those styles. I also tried…
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V42: Edwardian Hair Styling Mysteries Solved – Part 3 – Rats, Switches, and Wiglets
In the last two installments of this series, we took a look at how women prepared their hair for styling. They used some interesting shampoos, along with various methods of crimping and…
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V41: Edwardian Hair Styling Mysteries Solved – Part 2 – Brushing, Crimping, Fire
Last time in Part 1 of this series, I introduced you to some rather “exciting” sounding Edwardian shampoo and hair dressing recipes, taken from “The Manual on Barbering, Hairdressing, Manicuring, Facial Massage,…
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V40: Edwardian Hair Styling Mysteries Solved, 1905 – Part 1 – Shampoo and Other Scary Things
The other day, while washing my hair, I began thinking about hairdressing habits of the past, and how we ladies today treat our hair in *such* a different way from our Edwardian…
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V39: 1920s Beaded Flapper Dress Design
Today Lady Carolyn invited me to participate in a presentation on 1920s fashion coming up at Reno’s National Automobile Museum at the end of March. How could I resist! I have a…
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V38: Progress on the 1912 Titanic Abbey Gown
Well I’ve gone through all the easy bits now, and am on to the hard I-hate-these-parts bits, with my 1912 gown. The sleeves of the gown are made of just the net,…
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V37: Steampunk School Picture Day
Last Saturday Chris and I spent the afternoon snapping photos of the local Steampunk club, “High Desert Steam.” We had access to the Victorian train cars stationed at Victorian Square, in Sparks,…
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V36: SuperStripe Sunday – Stripes in the 1770s
Met It’s Superbowl Sunday here in America Land. I don’t follow football, so I’ll be burying myself in the sewing loft and trying to accomplish something on the 1912 Titanic gown. Yesterday…
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V35: Starting on Fabric Stamping for Colonial Williamsburg
Yesterday I thought I’d try my hand at stamping the linen/cotton I bought for one of my Colonial Williamsburg jackets. I don’t have a ginormous fabric stretcher thing, so I smoothed the…
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V34: Last Day to Pre-Order Astoria Edwardian Shoes
Okay, Ladies, today is the last day to pre-order Astoria Edwardian shoes for the special $110 price. The Astorias have done super awesome, and both the ivory and black colors are going…