How remiss am I in never posting this video I made earlier in the year. This is a tutorial of sorts for how to set wet-set one’s hair and then maintain it…
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2020 Holiday Shipping Dates
Important announcement! Here are the shipping deadlines for this holiday season – USPS: We recommend getting your orders in a few days before these dates, so we have time to pick, check,…
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How to Fix Funky Points on 18th Century Stays
See those points on the front edges of the stays, at the bust? If you’ve got a pair of 18th century stays that lace at the center front, either fully or…
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Our Silver Bells Sale is OPEN
Here comes the sale announcement for our Black Friday-to-Cyber Monday annual sale. Here’s what we have for you this year… COUPONS! We’re offering six coupons for all sorts of things – free…
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UPDATE: The Scandalous Tango Boots!
Around the time of the turn of the 20th century, a new dance craze swept the Western world. The dance was risque and immensely popular, first introduced to Paris by the sons…
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Well Don’t I Feel Foolish…
I’ve been updating my blog theme and messing around in the (new-ish) Blogger admin, breaking stuff, and I noticed in the comments tab a *whole bunch of comments* waiting for approval. Dang,…
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(More) Dress Form Hacking – Literally
Marking how much of the shoulder needed to come off to match my shoulder width from base of neck to shoulder bone. Blogs may be dead, but I’m still holding out (like…
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Gown-in-a-Weekend: 1790s Vigee-Lebrun Round Gown from Simplicity S8941
For some reason I got a wild hair to do a “gown in a weekend” project. Dr. Carolyn Dowdell and I made a pact to fill the void of black gowns in…
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Marilyn 1940s Pumps – Pre-Order OPEN!
We’re not quite done with the Fall/Winter 2020 shoe releases yet! As much as we’d liked to have introduced everything at once, this year has scuppered those plans. We’re still makin’ it…
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Why Sew with Nowhere to Go?
-or- Why Sew When the World is Ending? For so many of us, sewing is about so much more than producing clothing to be worn. Everyone has a different reason for pursuing…
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Meet the New Pompadour 18th Century Shoes
This season, we’re proud to finally introduce the new and improved Pompadour 18th Century Court Shoes! We’ve made a few changes to this classic, curvaceous style. The Pompadours have been one of…
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Motivation to Sew in the Time of Coronavirus
A 1930s UFO – it’s not made well, but it’s made! The year thus far has been a rollercoaster (understatement), and my sewing adventures have been rather manic-depressive – great big swings…
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Pre-Order, Part Deux, Is Open!
Well, this is certainly a first! Due to popular demand, we’re popping open another pre-order for the sold-out styles in the F/W2020 collection – Londoner, Bernadette, Gibson, and Tango Boots. The 2nd…
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American Duchess Shoes Made in Portugal
This season marks the first collection of American Duchess shoes made in Portugal! We’re pretty excited about this and want to share a bit of behind the scenes. In February, in The…
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Introducing the Bernadette Oxfords
The moment we’ve all been waiting for! We’d like to introduce to you the Bernadette Oxfords, in collaboration with the peerless Bernadette Banner! Last Fall we started working with Bernadette to develop…
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Fall 2020 Pre-Order is OPEN!
Lovely Peoples, I present to you the first pre-order collection release of 2020! We have a lot of new to share with you this year…but first… Pre-Order is Open August 21 –…
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Belle Epoque Wardrobe – 1890s Linen Cycling Jacket
The finish 1890s linen cycling jacket Like many of us during this lovely pandemic, I’ve been UFO-busting for the past several months. I’ve picked up and finished so many projects – two…
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Sewing Patterns for Turn of the 20th Century Historybounders
My version of Simplicity EA258101 with alterations, paired with a split skirt from Historical Emporium I’ve been on a wardrobe-building bender lately (er, when am I ever *not* wardrobe building?) and usually in…
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1760s Robe a la Francaise – Finished + Video!
At last, at last! My Robe a la Bon Bon 1750 – 1770 sacque is complete! I finished this gown a little while back but it’s taken me quite some time to…
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$200 American Duchess Give Card Giveaway!
It has been quite awhile since we’ve done a giveaway! Up for grabs is a $200 USD gift card to American Duchess.com. Woot! This never expires and can be used on any…