Here’s a random bit of trivia for you to pull out at your next Mad Men cocktail party… The Mad Hatter, illustration by John Tenniel , 1865 Where Does the Phrase “Mad as a…
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V56: 18th Century Costumes from “Versailles: Countdown to Revolution”
I watched a documentary series recently called “Versailles,” covering, in three installments, the history of the palace and its monarchs, Louis XIV, Louis XV, and Louis XVI. I was really impressed with…
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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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V11: Sewing Tool Binge Day – Thing You Never Knew You Needed
So …. I might have gone on a bit of a bender at JoAnn’s yesterday … It’s Hallie Larkin’s fault. Hallie wrote an article on her blog, “At the Sign of the…
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A Visit to Historic Locust Grove, 1790
It was raining this day, but the house was no less beautiful. This is actually the rear of the house, with a reconstructed porch. The last day of my Tennessee trip, Mr.…
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A Visit to The Hermitage and Union Station – Tennessee
During my visit to Tennessee, Maggie and I visited The Hermitage, the stately home of President Andrew Jackson. Via I was overwhelmed with awesome, and my only regret is not visiting in…
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Duchie Awards for Excellence in Historical Costuming and Bloggery
I would like to give an award to my favorite three costume blogs right now, which is actually a really hard thing to do because I follow at least a hundred of…
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Prepping For Valhalla Renaissance Faire, 2011
I made this jacket last year, from a pattern in “The Tudor Tailor” (there’s also one in “Cut of Women’s Clothes I believe, and some other places). The partlet is also from…
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Making a Workable Dress Form – or – The Violent Transformation of Franken-Lilly
This is Lilly straight out of the box. Lilly is a dress display mannequin, as opposed to a dressmaker’s form. She has a nice jersey cover over a molded, hard foam body.…
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The Victorian Steampunk Ball … (If You’re In The Reno Area)
If you happen to be in the Northern California or Northern Nevada areas, check out this event. It’s going to be *awesome,* and I know that, because I’m part of the club…
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Bits and Bobs … and Life After Those Shoes
So what the heck do I post about after all that craziness with the Georgiana shoes? Life’s returning to normal, but I’m still quite excited: We met the 100 shoe order minimum…
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The Paperie – Custom Wedding Invitations by American Duchess
[/shameless self promotion] I wanted to share with you guys another recent venture. It’s not related to costuming, but does have a feeble link to pretty dresses :-). It’s a new business…
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Historical Costuming vs. Historical Re-Enactment: What’s the Difference?
A re-enactor would never be caught dead in modern sunglasses and inaccurate mary jane shoes I’ll be honest with you guys. This morning I received a forwarded e-mail attacking me and my…
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“Why Don’t I Look Right?” : Getting The Look Spot-On with Historical Costumes
I often get questions, or read comment threads, about why a historical ensemble doesn’t look just right, and it’s got me thinking about the things to consider when putting together a costume…
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What’s Next in the World of Historical Costuming?
Downton Abbey, 2010 No doubt our hobby of historical costuming follows trends, and usually it is very influenced by what period films have or will be coming out. For awhile it was…
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Costume Modeling with Ron, a Photo Shoot for Future Paintings
Last weekend I had the pleasure of pulling *almost* every costume I still have out of my closet and modeling them for an outstanding illustrator, Ron Spears, who wanted to take reference…
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American Duchess on the Today Show (Squee!)
Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy This is pretty awesome! Too bad the coat is sold out, lol – hope Garmz decides to do another run!
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New American Duchess Designs on Garmz.com
Hi all! I’m happy to report that the “October Foxhunt” jacket I designed and uploaded to Garmz.com has sold out! Yay! Of course, I’d love to have another design produced by them,…
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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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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)…
