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…
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V33: Only Death and Taxes, in the 18th century
I have done absolutely nothing costume-related in the past couple of days, and that is because I’ve started my 2011 taxes. /groan. ‘Course, taxes in the 18th century were a big deal…
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V32: Guest Post @ The Dreamstress, and Pierrot Jackets
One of my favorite pierrots – from The Met Today I am a guest blogger for The Dreamstress. I wrote a little article about Pierrot jackets, one of my favorite styles of…
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V31: Book Review: “18th Century Embroidery Techniques” by Gail Marsh
18th Century Embroidery Techniques Gail Marsh (c) 2006 by Gail Marsh ISBN 978-1-86108-476-7 There comes a time in every 18th century costumer’s career when embroidery seems like a good idea. So many…
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V30: An Embroidered Apron – My First Williamsburg Piece
I was pleased to receive my vintage embroidered panel in the mail the other day, but it needed some tweaks. Firstly, it was dirty and smelled of vintage. (You know that smell…that…