I’ve finally gotten to the cleaning, the polishing, the brushing, the matting, and the photographing of a handful of new vintage products that are now listed in the American Duchess Boutique on…
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Name Those Shoes! (please vote!)
From the Bata Shoe Museum It’s time to play… Name Those Shoes! With the new 18th century shoe prototype expected by the end of January, we need to find a proper, pretty…
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All That Glitters: White, Light, and Bright Gowns in the Past
1784 Robe a l’Anglaise (source? is this The Met?) In my travels around the Land of the Internet lately I have noticed countless white (or some version thereof, like creme, or ecru)…
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Olympe’s Stays – More Progress
Not too much exciting to show you, just some progress on Olympe’s creme and goldenrod stays. Both sides are fully boned, with the grommets punched into the fronts, backs, and strap attachments…
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18th c. Shoes: A Bit About Heels
From the Met – early 18th c. These are men’s shoes, although it’s difficult to tell Maddalena asks: Is it true that the king used to wear red heels to distinguish from…
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18th c. Shoes – Survey Results
LACMA 1780s I thought you all would be interested to know the results of the survey you all took a little while back. I’m still getting responses (which is awesome, thank you!),…
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Corsets Corsets Everywhere!
Happy New Year everyone! It’s been madness here in terms of stay-making. I’ve got Olympe’s final pair in-progress, all the boning channels stitched, with one side boned. A close up of the boning…
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Shoe-Loving Ladies, Please Take This Poll…(thank you!)
* American Duchess shoes will be offered in size 6, 6.5, 7, 7.5, 8, 8.5, 9, 9.5, 10, 10.5 , and possibly 11 if there is enough demand for it.* ** The purpose of…
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American Duchess’ New Year’s Resolution: 18th c. SHOES
I’m going to skip through all the fluffy “as 2010 draws to a close” stuff and just cut to the chase. I have several costuming-related resolutions, but one major big honkin’ elephant…
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Christmas Gifties of the Historical Variety
It was such a lovely Christmas this year. I spent time with my family, Mr. C, and gave some lovely gifties as well as received some too. Here are the “historical” gifties…
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It’s A Mad Mad Mad Mad Christmas!
Myself and Mom, in front of the family Christmas Tree. Before I post about the fantabulous costume-related gifts the wonderful people in my life got me for Christmas, I will report on…
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Have a Holly Jolly Christmas! (etc.)
Well folks, as you travel off to various parts of the world, or stay just where you are, here’s wishing you a Merry Christmas or Happy Hanukkah! Photo from MyVintageVogue
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Tiniest and Sneekiest Peek – 1960s Mad Christmas Dress
Okay, I was going to keep this secret until Christmas, but I’ll give a peek. It’s not the best picture in the world – will have to wait for Christmas to take…
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Regency Christmas at Daughter’s Cafe, Reno
First course – mushroom and leek soup, a cheese scone to accompany, and currant juice. This past Saturday evening members of the Great Basin Costume Society, and several new additions, gathered at…
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Happy Holiday Friday
I know this weekend is The Weekend of Christmas Parties. I’m snowed in up here in the mountains, and missing a Steampunk Christmas Party, but have a Regency Christmas Party tomorrow night.…
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Upcoming Projects, Looming Deadlines!
There’s just WAY too much on the to-do list, and it gets worse every time I post a “costume analytics,” but here’s what in the immediate-right-now future: 1795 Open Robe 1795 Janet…
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Costume Modeling with Ron: A Good Send-Off to an OLD dress
Ron’s painting, and yours truly. Photo by Ron Spears This past weekend I did some more costume modeling for Ron and company, this time wearing an original silk dress from we think…
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Costume Analytics: Emilie Seriziat’s White Muslin Gaulle, 1795.
Welcome back to Costume Analytics. This week we’ll be looking at a beautiful example of a 1795 transitional garment known as a “gaulle,” painted by Jacques Louis David, worn by Emilie Seriziat.…
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The Jane Austen Maxi Bra Complete
Regency underwear….I wouldn’t call it “pretty,” really. It was definitely designed for a utilitarian purpose rather than, uh, anything else. (this is just my opinion of course). That being said, this should…
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American Duchess “October Foxhunt” Winter Coat Official Release!!!
(Click the photo here for more views of the coat) Remember back when I was begging you guys to vote on some clothing designs on a website called Garmz.com? Well one of…