Do you want Search?
Random Post
  • Set Up Menu
American Duchess Blog
Random Post
  • Home
  • Shoe Shop
  • Projects
  • Bookshelf
  • Resources
  • About Our Blog
  • Home
  • Shoe Shop
  • Projects
  • Bookshelf
  • Resources
  • About Our Blog
Search
American Duchess Blog
  • Home
  • Shoe Shop
  • Projects
  • Bookshelf
  • Resources
  • About Our Blog
  • Home
  • Shoe Shop
  • Projects
  • Bookshelf
  • Resources
  • About Our Blog
Search
  • Old Projects I, Uh, Forgot to Post About

    January 20, 2021

     With all the updates to Ye Olde Blogge, I was going back and checking the “Projects” page when I found several costumes I finished but never actually posted about. The horror! So…

    0 Facebook Twitter Pinterest 8
  • Lessons of the Volante – So Far

    January 13, 2021

    Du….Du Hast…Du Hast Mich… There’s something about pleat-to-fit garments that both attract me and drive me bonkers. I think it’s a combination of no two surviving examples being the same and my…

    1 Facebook Twitter Pinterest 8
  • How to Fix Funky Points on 18th Century Stays

    December 2, 2020

      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…

    1 Facebook Twitter Pinterest 9
  • Gown-in-a-Weekend: 1790s Vigee-Lebrun Round Gown from Simplicity S8941

    November 16, 2020

    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…

    0 Facebook Twitter Pinterest 17
  • Meet the New Pompadour 18th Century Shoes

    October 16, 2020

    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…

    3 Facebook Twitter Pinterest 2
  • 1760s Robe a la Francaise – Finished + Video!

    July 27, 2020

    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…

    1 Facebook Twitter Pinterest 14
  • Dress Analytics: Madame de Pompadour by Francois Boucher, 1756 {Video}

    June 29, 2020

    Today I have a new video for you…it’s basically a blog post in video form (lol) – you can listen to my charming stuffed-up-elf voice tell you about the gown in this…

    0 Facebook Twitter Pinterest 3
  • Petticoat Pitfalls for Grand Panniers

    June 22, 2020

    Well shoot, this didn’t work…. Don’t you just love when you finish up a project, perhaps the first part of an ensemble, something you’ve maybe done numerous times before, only to put…

    1 Facebook Twitter Pinterest 8
  • How to Avoid Lampshade Hoops in the 18th Century

    June 15, 2020

    It’s a thing in the Georgian period too! I’ve recently started on my next big (physically big), early 18th century project, a Robe Volante. One of the reasons I felt confident to…

    1 Facebook Twitter Pinterest 14
  • 1765 Robe a la Bon Bon – Simplicity 8578 – Trimming the Beast

    June 8, 2020

    Cutting strip after strip of pinked trim – the trick is the fold up your fabric three or four layers and cut through all at once. A plain sacque in a gorgeous…

    0 Facebook Twitter Pinterest 18
  • How to Dress 18th Century – 1770 – 1780 Robe a la Polonaise {Video}

    June 1, 2020

    Howdy! I’ve been trying to make videos for getting dressed in different decades of the 18th century, since this is quite a visual subject and video is a natural tool for this…

    0 Facebook Twitter Pinterest 2
  • 1720s – 1740s Robe Volante – Initial Musings

    May 27, 2020

    I just can’t get enough of 18th century back pleats! The time has come. This one has been brewing for awhile. I have a sortof underdog love for weird garments or time…

    0 Facebook Twitter Pinterest 10
  • 1765 Robe a la Bon Bon Sacque – Simplicity 8578 – Construction Complete!

    May 13, 2020

    Trying on the new sacque – it’s always nice to have something, y’know, fit at its first real try-on. Next time I say something like, “oh I’ll just throw this sacque together…

    1 Facebook Twitter Pinterest 8
  • Getting Dressed in 18th Century – 1780s – 1790 {Video}

    May 5, 2020

    Let’s get dressed! Hi Lovelies! I made a short video showing the steps and pieces of getting dressed in a 1780s Italian gown or Robe a l’Anglaise. I know for new costumers…

    0 Facebook Twitter Pinterest 5
  • Pattern Notes on Simplicity 8578 – Robe a la Francaise Dress Pattern

    May 1, 2020

    A couple years ago now we worked with Simplicity to create a Robe a la Francaise pattern (Simplicity 8578) based on Abby’s sacque in The American Duchess Guide to 18th Century Dressmaking.…

    1 Facebook Twitter Pinterest 15
  • What Is a “Hedgehog” Hairstyle *Really*?

    April 29, 2020

    A lady sporting the hedgehog hairstyle – 1775-78. Gallerie des Modes, MFA.org 44.1344 It is a truth universally acknowledged that all 18th century historic costumers, when we first start, quickly come into…

    0 Facebook Twitter Pinterest 0
  • Cake or Death – Marie Antoinette

    April 23, 2020

    I have a new video for you today, the first in a series! I’m quite proud of this, even though it’s…weird, and possibly off-color. I hope you enjoy it!

    0 Facebook Twitter Pinterest 2
  • 18th Century Printed Cotton Do’s & Don’t’s

    December 23, 2019

    A beautiful printed cotton gown, 1785-95. The Met. A very condensed version of this essay, without pictures, appears in The American Duchess Guide to 18th Century Dressmaking. Because there is *so much…

    2 Facebook Twitter Pinterest 13
  • The Countess of Melbury’s Ball c. 1789 – Inspo!

    December 6, 2019

    The Met, 1780s Italian gown. Inspiration for my own gown for this event. Next March, 2020, I am attending the Countess of Melbury’s Ball in Walnut Grove, California. The event is set…

    0 Facebook Twitter Pinterest 0
  • The Isabella Mactavish Fraser Pattern & Documentary!

    November 22, 2019

    Ladies and Gentlemen, we are very proud to release to you today the Isabella Mactavish Fraser gown pattern and construction PDF along with our short documentary about this famous tartan gown and…

    0 Facebook Twitter Pinterest 5
Older 
1234
 Newer
© American Duchess | American Duchess® is a registered trademark of American Duchess Inc.

Back to top