American Duchess Historic Shoes Blog
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...
Old Projects I, Uh, Forgot to Post About
With all the updates to Ye Olde Blogge, I was going back and checking the "Projects" page when I found several costumes I finished but never actually posted about. The...
Lessons of the Volante - So Far
Du....Du Hast...Du Hast Mich... There's something about pleat-to-fit garments that both attract me and drive me bonkers. I think it's a combination of no two surviving examples being the same...
How to Fix Funky Points on 18th Century Stays
See those points on the front edges of the stays, at the bust? If you've got a pair of 18th century stays that lace at the center front, either fully...
Gown-in-a-Weekend: 1790s Vigee-Lebrun Round Gown from Simplicity S8941
For some reason I got a wild hair to do a "gown in a weekend" project. Dr. Carolyn Dowdell and I made a pact to fill the void of black...
Meet the New Pompadour 18th Century Shoes
This season, we're proud to finally introduce the new and improved Pompadour 18th Century Court Shoes! We've made a few changes to this classic, curvaceous style.The Pompadours have been one...
Motivation to Sew in the Time of Coronavirus
A 1930s UFO - it's not made well, but it's made! The year thus far has been a rollercoaster (understatement), and my sewing adventures have been rather manic-depressive - great...
1760s Robe a la Francaise - Finished + Video!
At last, at last! My Robe a la Bon Bon 1750 - 1770 sacque is complete! I finished this gown a little while back but it's taken me quite some...
Dress Analytics: Madame de Pompadour by Francois Boucher, 1756 {Video}
Today I have a new video for you...it's basically a blog post in video form (lol) - you can listen to my charming stuffed-up-elf voice tell you about the gown...
Petticoat Pitfalls for Grand Panniers
Well shoot, this didn't work.... Don't you just love when you finish up a project, perhaps the first part of an ensemble, something you've maybe done numerous times before, only...
How to Avoid Lampshade Hoops in the 18th Century
It's a thing in the Georgian period too! I've recently started on my next big (physically big), early 18th century project, a Robe Volante. One of the reasons I felt...
1765 Robe a la Bon Bon - Simplicity 8578 - Trimming the Beast
Cutting strip after strip of pinked trim - the trick is the fold up your fabric three or four layers and cut through all at once. A plain sacque in...