Last month, directly after our annual Titanic Tea, I went a-hunting on eBay and found this lovely blouse. I’m sure with more research I could date this to a more specific year,…
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A New 1950s Dress for Me
I managed to sew something…or…*finish* something, I should say. Yippee! A simple dress with a figure-skimming, yet relaxed, fit. I needed a quick-and-easy project to get me excited about costuming again. 20th…
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The Reno Tweed Ride: Inspiration
Coming up in June, our local Steampunk group is hosting the first Reno Tweed Ride, wherein a lot of nutters dress up in, well, tweed, and ride bicycles through Downtown Reno. Yes,…
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The Quilt of A Thousand Vintage Fabrics
This past Christmas, I received a lovely gift from my mother. She won at auction, a few weeks before, a beautiful hand-made, hand-tied quilt created entirely from fabrics of the 1920s through…
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My Utterly Ridiculous Pierrot Clown Costume – Halloween 2013
Well, I might have been stitching up to the last day, but I did finish my utterly ridiculously Pierrot clown costume. Here it is, in all its silliness: From my initial post…
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Vintage Halloween: Pierrot the Adorably Sad Clown
I seldom make costumes for Halloween, or even ever dress up, but this year I’m going out dancing with a friend, and I need, well, something. I’ve been thinking about making a…
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Edwardian Beaded Shoes
Manchester, 1900, Austrian The pinnacle of footwear styling in the Edwardian period was The Beaded Shoe. Nothing is quite so lovely, so sparkly, so special, and so enticing. Beads could be found…
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Glorious 1930s Vintage Shoes
from Etsy seller Simplicityisbliss The 1930s is one of my favorite periods for footwear. Everything is just so darn snazzy! Perforated leather, interesting stripe decorations, oxfords, cutouts, color blocking … ah, so…
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Kodachrome Beauties
August 1942. Via I have a bit of an obsession with old photography, and I particularly love pretty much anything cross-processed. I’ve never chemically developed a photo myself, which is maybe sacrilege,…
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Glam Your Gams with Claremont 1930s Oxfords
After tromping around the University of Nevada, Reno, campus for several hours, I’m more in love with these shoes than ever. They’re comfy, snazzy, and totally made the ensemble. The inspiration for…
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Introducing “Claremont” 1930s Oxfords – Pre-Order Now Open
“Claremont” 1930s Oxfords Pre-Order September 2 – 22, 2013 $115 ($135) www.AmericanDuchess.com Today I’m excited to present to you a new 20th century vintage repro, “Claremont,” a chocolate brown suede-and-patent ladies’ oxford…
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1930s Oxfords: Your Vote, Please!
Ladies, I have so many exciting new shoes to share with you, but first I need your opinions. I had “Claremont,” our 1930s reproduction oxfords, sampled in both black suede and brown.…
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Guest Post: Debbie of Vintage Dancer, on Her 1920s Reproduction House Dress
1922 Nationals Catalog of House Dresses So much attention is given to 1920s evening dresses that reproduction afternoon, day and even house dresses are almost completely unheard of. A year ago if…
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2013 Costume College, Pt. 1
I’m back! I’m alive! Costume College was splendid this year. I had SO much fun, met and chatted with so many cool people, and took so…SO…many photos. I’m breaking this up into…
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Event: Henry Ford’s 150th Birthday Party at the Nat’l Automobile Museum
From a huge Duesenberg Warning: Lots of pictures of old cars. I like old cars, and I like to take pictures of their shiny bits, so if cars don’t interest you, this…
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Sugarpine Living History Day, 2013 – Two-Person ’20s Invasion
Yesterday our army of costume-clad amazons, all two of us, invaded a nice little local event at the Ehrman Mansion on the West Shore of Lake Tahoe. We go every year in…
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The Real Mod Cloth (Pssst! It’s Polyester!)
Last night I was invited by Lady Carolyn to dress in one of my favorite decades of fashion, the 1960s, to appear with a couple other gals as a visual aid in…
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Vintage Pants: Simplicity 5409, from 1972
A couple posts back, I shared my plan to “bring sexy back” with at-waist pants. I was intrigued by the many wonderful responses on Facebook – some of you are all for…
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Vintage Pants – 1930s – 1970s
I think I’m done with low-waisted jeans forever. I hate the way they squeeze the fleshy bits of my hips up and create a belly where I didn’t have one before. I’m…
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Little 1920s Jersey Dress – In Progress
Last week I thought I’d put together a simple little 1920s frock, made from a bold floral jersey fabric given to me by Vintage Dancer. I devised a little plan, after looking…