Lately I’ve been working on the second collection for Royal Vintage Shoes. Wait, what? You haven’t even seen the first collection yet! I know, don’t worry! I’m having to adjust to fashion-industry-norms…
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Exclusive Manchester Regency Boots – Pre-Order Open!
It’s been an age in developing our recreation of the famous Manchester Art Gallery c. 1820 Grecian booties. Voted as our Cycle 6 Exclusive, the Manchester Regency Boots are finally…finally!…finally! available to…
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Professional Shoe Hunting Adventures in Vegas
View from (almost) the top Last week I went to Magic in Vegas. That sounds glamorous, but Magic is the name of the USA’s largest fashion trade show, and when I say…
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Heading to Vegas, Baby
Being from Nevada, albeit the other end of the state, I’m not really excited to be going to Vegas for the next three days…but I AM excited to be visiting the US’s…
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Exciting Things in Store for Vintage Shoe Lovers
2016 is already off to a roaring start. The beginning of the year always comes with lots of planning for the next 12 months, and this year is more intense than ever.…
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Artifact: Paragon Home Shoe Button Kit
In my journey of studying and recreating old-fashioned footwear, I get to geek out on old technologies re-discovered. I just love the how and why of things: the effect an innovation in…
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Musing on A Natural Form Spring – 1870s Photoshoot at The Lake Mansion
Sometimes I get so busy I forget to share things, like this lovely photo shoot we did last Spring with a wonderful girl, Siera, at a wonderful local historic home known as…
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How to Use a Victorian Button Hook – Video!
Those of you who costume for mid-Victorian through Great War will be familiar with side-buttoning boots. They’re iconic and beautiful, but can be a little tricky to get closed if you don’t…
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Spotlight on Tango Boots – Video!
I made a video! I know that doesn’t seem like a big deal in today’s hugely visual world, but I worked *all day* on this and I’m proud of it, even if…
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My 1930s Christmas Gown – Done!
Gosh, I wasn’t expecting to be done with so much time to spare. I forget that vintage sewing takes so much less time than historical sewing, even with working out the pattern…
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A Regency Winter’s Tale
And so begins in earnest the Holiday season. For me this is a time of hard work rewarded with a peaceful Christmas day with my family, enjoying a little downtime and a…
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#ShopSmall With These Great Indie Historical Companies Today
In the madness that is Black Friday and Cyber Monday, it can be quite difficult for us little gals to stand out. So today, Small Business Saturday, have a gander at the…
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American Duchess & Royal Vintage Winter Sales!
Here’s the official announcement: All sorts of things are on sale: Lots of our regular line marked down, such as Virginia, Antoinette, Tissot, and more Imperfects, while they last Dead Stock Exclusives,…
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All About the New 16th c. “Tudor” Exclusives
It’s been *ages* in prototyping the new Tudor shoes, but they’re finally done! This has been an interesting project, one with many challenges. The first was sorting out the design. After discussion…
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The 1940s in Shoes – Black Platforms (With Studs!?)
In my new endeavor to provide the costuming and vintage fashion world with the best of 1920s, 30s, and 40s footwear, I am constantly studying style trends of those decades. Sometimes I’m…
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Introducing the Tango Boots – Pre-Order Now Open!
At long last, I’m so excited to introduce our special 2015 Holiday release – the Edwardian Tango Boots! I’ve been working on these for about a year now, tweaking the design to…
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The Famous Regency “Manchester” Boots!
Boots. Manchester Art Gallery. 1949.97 Ladies, since several of you expressed that you’re not getting our updates on Facebook, I’m posting the results of the latest Exclusive Cycle 6 poll here. Congratulations…
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Studying Up on Tudor Footwear
Mary Rose Shoes – via Tudor shoes are old. They’re about as old as we get for extant shoes, with the exception of a very few Medieval examples. It’s quite extraordinary, really,…
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Introducing Royal Vintage Shoes – Shoes for 1920s through 1940s
For the past few years I’ve been running a historical footwear company called American Duchess. We make a lot of really old fashioned shoes, all the way back to the 16th century,…
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How to Make Your Own “Mistress Firebrand” 18th Century Shoes
Last week I shared with you our “Mistress Firebrand” shoes, a pair of “Georgiana” dyeable sateen 18th century shoes that I had decorated with fabric dye, fabric paint, silver lace, and petersham…