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 –…
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A Quick Ladies’ Waistcoat
A very simple ladies’ waistcoat in linen, lined with silk – linen shirt, Walker Slater tweed trousers, a silk floppy bow tie, and saddle shoes from RoyalVintageShoes.com When I was in Scotland,…
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Vintage Capsule Wardrobes
May 1940. Marie Claire. Though the term “capsule wardrobe” wasn’t coined until the 1970s, the idea stretches much further back. The general purpose of such a collection is to have a wardrobe…
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LacedNYC – A New York Party to Remember
The Bathtub Ginnys perform at LacedNYC Once upon a time, Abby and I went to New York to meet up with our favorite people – Cynthia of Redthreaded and Dandy Wellington –…
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Meet our New Theatrical Footwear Line!
American Duchess Spring/Summer 2019 Theatrical Line We are trying lots of new things this year in shoe-company-land. For years we have (rather unexpectedly) supplied historical footwear to the opera, ballet, and theater,…
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I’m Going “Durrells” For the Summer
Or forever. Fans Addicts of British television will be familiar with the wonderful series “The Durrells” (or “The Durrells in Corfu” if you’re here in the US where for some reason we…
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Podcast Episode 13: Flappers, Fringe, and Fashion with Zoë Beery
Nope. Hi All! This week on Fashion History with American Duchess we speak with the amazing Zoë Beery, a writer for Racked, about her article on how flappers didn’t wear fringed dresses (at least…
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Podcast Episode 12: Chelsea G. Summers and the Birth of Vintage
Hey Y’all! Abby here and I am so excited to share with you all the latest episode of Fashion History with American Duchess. We’re really excited about these next couple of episodes…
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Pattern Review: Decades of Style #2502 – 1925 Zig Zag Dress
Hello Lovelies! Abby here, reporting for 1920s vintage-y fashion-y goodness! Today, I wanted to share with y’all my snazzy new 1920s dress I made for The Gatsby Summer Afternoon in Oakland earlier…
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How To Make a 1920s Miss Fisher Wardrobe
For Costume College 2016, one of the classes I taught was about making a “Miss Fisher” wardrobe, developing your style based on the popular Australian murder-mystery show set at the end of…
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The Gatsby Picnic in Pictures
Lauren, Abby, and Tina at The Gatsby Oh Gatsby Summer Picnic how I love you … let me count the ways! This year Abby and I ventured over the hill to one…