For some reason I decided a little while ago that I actually like Pet en l’Air jackets. I never cared much for them before, but I suppose that little green and orange…
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18th c. Shoes: Why Silk Fabric and not Leather?
For those of you following along with the American Duchess 18th c. shoes that are currently being developed, you may be wondering why I’ve decided to make them out of silk instead…
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Regency Wardrobe Planning for the Jane Austen Festival, July 2011
My but don’t I have a lot of work to do. My best friend Maggie moved to Tennessee this past December, and has already been enjoying the wonderful Regency era re-enactments and…
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Extant 18th c. Stays from the Marjorie Russell Clothing and Textile Museum, Nevada
A little while ago I attended a fascinating lecture on underwear through the ages, presented by Jan the Costume Anthropologist at the Marjorie Russell Clothing and Textile Research Center. While this small…
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Porcelain Dogs, Silver Pheasants, Salt & Peppers – Vintage Lovelies New in the Boutique
I went antiquing today, and came back with a few lovely things I’d like to share with you. These are all listed in the American Duchess Boutique on Etsy (click here). Tweet…
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Costumers and Costume Bloggers: Abby Needs Your Help!
Abby from Stay-ing Alive would love your help in filling out a survey about costuming, blogging, and costume blogging. It’s an in-depth survey that will provide her vital information for a paper…
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Magazine Treasures of 1916
Recently I lucked into the acquisition of real honest-to-goodness primary source material, courtesy of an old friend of mine from high school, Corinne. Her dear mother was getting rid of a large…
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“October Foxhunt” 18th c. Inspired Coat – now on a person (me!)
Okay, that was maybe a cheesy title, but I just wanted to share with you my excitement about the coat that arrived over the weekend. This is the coat I designed and…
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A Few of my Favorite [Vintage] Things … in Ye Merry Old Etsy Shoppe
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