I recently received a number of vintage and antique catalogs, from my good friend Lady Carolyn. Most of them – Delineators, McCalls, Bella Hess – are in very fragile condition, but appear…
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My 5 Hour Wearing History “Smooth Sailing” Trousers
So last Thursday I made some trousers. Pants are completely terrifying to me, so I had actually bought the fabric for these trousers months ago, sat on it, and in the post…
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The Lake Tahoe Gatsby, 2014
It’s August, which means Gatsby. It’s one of my favorite events, a delightfully relaxed little picnic at the Pope Mansion in South Lake Tahoe. This year my dad came. He’s all into…
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Belle Curves: Improving A Modern Cloche Hat
We all have them lurking in our closets, those cloche hats we’ve been collecting for years. You may have one, you may have three, or if you’re like me, you may have…
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Costume College 2014: Part The One
So as you all know, I spent the long weekend in L.A., attending Costume College, which was, is, and shall forever be *fabulous* Between the smartphone and the 10 lb Nikon, I…
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Dinner at The Parlor Again, Now With Added Vintage
From left: Monica, Chrissy, Curtis, Maggie, Sam, Kathy, and me. To round out my trip to visit friends in the Bay Area this weekend, we all made an effort to look elegantly…
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Vintage 1950s Suits
Everyone seems to have a different idea of 1950s fashion, from poodle skirts to shirtwaist frocks, giant petticoats to wiggle dresses. The lovely part is that there were *all* these styles and…
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The First Reno Tweed Ride
A couple weekends ago, a group of 15 intrepid, tweed-clad cyclists gathered in Idylwild Park in Reno, and endeavored to ride their noble mechanical steeds through downtown, to the University of Nevada,…
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My New Old WWI Blouse
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.…
