When we saw these spiderweb shoes in a vintage catalogue from the 1920s, our jaws totally dropped! Bada-bing-bada-boom, now we have Parker Vintage Shoes, resplendent in all her spidery goodness. Spiderwebs are…
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All Hallows – {Pre-Order Open}
It’s spooky season, and to celebrate we have some enchanting shoes for you! This collection is definitely aesthetic, vibing strong in the 1920s with a dash of gothic goodness. Satins, patents, and…
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The History of Mary Jane Shoes
The new Prism collection features not one but two splendid Mary Janes, Anna May (3 inch heel) and Millie (1.75 inch heel). We have been working on these babies for a looooong…
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All About Anna May Wong
Have you heard of Anna May Wong? Anna May is widely considered to be the first major Chinese-American film star, and she is the namesake of our new Anna May Mary Jane…
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Shoes for Service: 1940’s Wartime Oxfords
During the second World War, over 400,000 women served in the US military, and nearly half a million women served in the British military. In fact, women served in the military all…
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Heck Yeah, Witch Shoes
This month we’re all about unexpectedly ‘modern’ designs in historical fashion. The May ’22 “Avant-Garde” collection explores bold colors and geometric shapes in 1930s/40s shoes, and also an older trend, the late…
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A Little History of Shocking Pink
For the first time in American Duchess history, we’ve created shoes in several very strong pinks, all drawn from and inspired by a late 1930s “Surrealist” palette. As with many things in…
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Let’s Make Some Men’s Shoes
…for real. A couple years back we made a stab at developing a men’s historic footwear collection. We did a pump, a latchet shoe, and a boot all from around the 1780s-1810s.…
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April Vintage Pre-Order is OPEN!
I will admit I haven’t been sewing much (Covid energy-sap), but I do have plans. Honestly all I’ve really been up to is -work- but at least it’s fun work, getting so…
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The {FREE} American Duchess Cape Pattern
Click Here for the pattern Howdy! Since we put our Patreon to sleep, we needed to find a new place to host the #ADCapeCult 1910s Wrap Cape pattern. So it’s going to…
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My 2020 Costuming Year in Review
This has indeed been a weird, challenging, rough year. I think I’ve left my house, like, 20 times max for 10 months. During this time I feel I sewed very little, but…
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The Pincurl Diary – How to Do 1930-50s Hair for a Whole Week
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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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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Finished Vintage Dress UFO #2 – Simplicity 3280
Simplicity 3280 1939 dress in rayon faille Two weekends, two finished vintage dress UFOs, and I have to say it feels *great* to pick up old projects and finish them! I hate…
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Finished Vintage Dress UFO #1 – Simplicity 8248
Simplicity 8248 1930s day dress with alterations. Reader, I must admit I am *terrible* at finishing UFOs – “unfinished objects.” I have two sewing mindsets: I want something quick, easy, and satisfying…
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Review: Vecona Vintage Three-Piece Ladies’ Suits
Sporting the Vecona Vintage “Viktoria” three-piece suit in grey wool blend, in Portugal. Anyone who follows my personal Instagram page (@lauren_stowell) will know I’m a *big fan* of menswear, particularly three-piece suits.…
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The Reno Tweed Ride, 2019
Chrissy wore her bicycling pants, spatterdashes, and a corset on her Columbia 1920s reproduction bike. The same weekend we invaded Virginia City with our Spoop-Troupe, we enjoyed the local Tweed Ride. Tweed…
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A Spoopy Day in Virginia City, Nevada
The Spoop-Crew in Virginia City, NV. No actual buckets of blood were consumed, but we thought about it…. Several weekends ago a group of friends came to visit us here in Reno.…
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I Made a Vintage Style Raincoat…Somehow
I live in the desert. We get, oh, a handful of days of novelty rain per year and so a raincoat is not something that regularly factors into my wardrobe. So it…
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Pattern Review: Decades of Styles #3011 1930s Stardust Skirt
Hey Everyone! Abby here, and today I want to share with you a very quick pattern review for Decades of Style’s #3011 1930s Stardust Skirt.* Before I get into the review –…