American Duchess Historic Shoes Blog
Carnival, Carnaval, Carnevale
This is a bit of a tough time of year. The festivities of the harvest and winter holidays have come to an end. The new year has come and gone....
A Little History of Mary/Marlowe Elizabethan & Jacobean Shoes
Anyone who has ventured down the Renaissance Rabbit Hole has at some point run into The Shoe Problem™. What the heck did the Tudors, Elizabethans, and Stuarts wear upon their...
A "Versailles" Historical-ish Cosplay
I'm just going to admit it: I flippin' *loved* the Canal+ show "Versailles." Loved it. Binged it. Binged it again. When it comes to historical costumes in television shows and...
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...
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...
The 1630 Thang - Finishing the Bodies
Dayum she looks good! 1630 Dutch formal basque bodice with ribbon points. It's been a few weeks since I started the yellow and black bumblebee-lobster bodice/bodies/smooth-covered stays for my 1630...
The 1630s Dutch Thang - Badonk-a-donk, Petticoat, and Starting the Bodies
Just playing around with pinning things on my dress form Now into the making up! I've been stitching on my big 1630 project and quite enjoying the process. There's enough...
The 1630 Dutch *Thang* - Beginnings
A still from "Tulip Fever" (2017) - outstanding costuming by Michael O'Connor. As so often happens, after a no-sew period of downtime and feeling phlegmatic about costuming, I was struck...
A 1630s Dutch Mistress
A still from "Tulip Fever," a beautiful film with some very very historically accurate 1630s costuming. Oh boy, am I torn on Costume College Gala plans for 2019. I really...
What to Do When Someone Else is Making the Same Dress As You...
(....or has made the same dress...) Do it anyway! I've recently been eyeballing the 1660 bodice from the V&A, remembering how much I love the 1660s and that I've only...
Tulip Fever - Hello, Early 17th Century
Holliday Granger as Marie in "Tulip Fever." Lauren here - This past weekend, we went to see "Tulip Fever," a film set in 1630s Amsterdam. Though the movie suffers from...
Podcast Episode 9: Early 17th Century Women's Dress with Samantha McCarty
Hello Lovelies! Abby here! On this week's episode of Fashion History with American Duchess, I got to sit down with Samantha McCarty (Couture Courtesan) and chat with her about her...