Bastille Day Sale! It’s time for our annual mid-Summer sale. We’re clearing out the old to make room for the new! This year we have free accessories on ALL our 18th century…
-
-
Simplicity 18th Century Stays – Adding Boning
I’ve been MIA on the Simplicity 18th Century Pattern Hacks lately, due to moving, but I’m back! Time for more helpful hacks and hints for constructing Simplicity 8161 and 8162 in a…
-
An 1830s Day Dress for Dickens Fair 2016
Three 1830s gowns in the collection of The Metropolitan Museum of Art You may be thinking, “Dickens Fair is in December, so long away!” and you would be right, but it never…
-
The Original 1916 – 1921 Party Dress
Well, this is a topic I can genuinely say I haven’t blogged about before. It’s amazing what send us down what rabbit holes. Metal thread embroidery with couched metal. These are all…
-
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…
-
The Red Dress Project: 18th Century Robes de Cour
The next on my list of Big News to share with all of you is that, due to the popularity of the first 18th century patterns (8161 and 8162), Simplicity has asked…
-
Oh, Hello Again…
Our temporary sign, lol Darlings, I do apologize for being MIA lately, especially right as we started the Simplicity 18th c. Pattern Hacks series… … but it’s been for good reason! ……
-
A 1940s Photo Shoot in Reno, Nevada
The beautiful Elizabeth, dressed in original 1940s vintage. Whenever we do photo shoots, I always try to come up with an interesting concept. Usually, for the American Duchess line, we’re trying to…
-
Review: Emmy Design Sweden Vintage Repro Clothing
Do you ever feel like you just can’t sew the vintage wardrobe you want, in its entirety, fast enough? I have a gazillion vintage sewing patterns, but it seems like less and…
-
18th Century Stays: Boning Patterns
In preparation for making your Simplicity 8162 18th c. stays, you may wish to re-draw the boning pattern. The pattern comes with an accurate layout for half-boned stays. If you would like…
-
My “Agent Carter” Outfit on The Mood Blog (!)
I am a bit remiss in posting lately. A whole lot of everything has been going on, but a lot of it hasn’t been about historical costuming. While I’ve been buried in…
-
18th Century Stays – Q&A about Simplicity 8162
Continuing on with the Simplicity 18th Century Pattern Hacks, I thought it would be good to cover some questions about the pattern specifically. I’ve finished my stays made from this pattern, but…
-
18th Century Stays – Who, What, When, Where, Why, and How
Ladies, now it’s time to get started on our Simplicity 18th Century inspired patterns! You’ve got two pattern packs – one with underpinnings and one with the outfit itself – but where…
-
New Civil War Boots – Pre-Order Now Open!
It’s another pre-order day! I’ve been trying to go more towards “collections” for Summer and Fall and less all-over-the-place for introducing new shoes for you ladies. With that, I’d like to introduce…
-
“Manhattan” Button Boots – Now Open for Pre-Order
It’s time! The new “Manhattan” Victorian and Edwardian Button Boots are now open for pre-order. I’ve been talking a bit about these new boots in previous posts and on Facebook, but the…
-
1940s Hair Styling Inspiration
It’s Sunday. I was meant to do a 1940s photo shoot today, but it’s raining. Yup, rain in the desert. It rains 10 days a year here, and I manage to schedule…
-
Review: Hand Bound 18th c. Style Book by Paul McClintock, From Common Hands Studio
Hand made sketchbook with historic marbled paper cover and tooled leather binding – From Common Hands Studio I recently received a fabulous gift: a hand-made custom blank book from Paul McClintock of…
-
Tuesday Shoes-day: 1920s Shoes Inspiration
Lately I’ve been working on the second collection for Royal Vintage Shoes. Wait, what? You haven’t even seen the first collection yet! I know, don’t worry! I’m having to adjust to fashion-industry-norms…
-
How to Wear Vintage Menswear Without Looking Like a Man
Marlene Dietrich – famous for many things, one of which was rocking this look For centuries, women have been working elements of masculine dress into their wardrobes. Clear back to the 16th…
-
6 Reasons to Watch and Love Canadian WWII Drama “XCompany”
We history geeks sure do love a good costume drama, but these days *good* costume dramas seems harder and harder to find. It might have good costumes but a terrible plot; it…