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Should You Always Wear a Bum Pad for 18th Century Dress?

Should You Always Wear a Bum Pad for 18th Century Dress?

The split bum, perfect for 1776 - 1790s, worn with polonaise and Italian gowns. This is particularly effective for gowns with the skirts pulled up. From the American Duchess Guide....
Lauren Stowell
Ikea Costuming 101 - Making Historical Gowns with Duvet Covers, Curtains, and Sheets

Ikea Costuming 101 - Making Historical Gowns with Duvet Covers, Curtains, and Sheets

The Italian Gown from "The American Duchess Guide to 18th Century Dressmaking" was made with one LJUSÖGA Queen size duvet cover from Ikea. Accurate printed cottons are very difficult to...
1780-81 Glasgow Polo-Sacque Fiddling

1780-81 Glasgow Polo-Sacque Fiddling

Progress! This past weekend I made a lot of good progress on my version of the 1780 - 1781 Polonaise-Sacque Jacket. I am always so very chuffed by how quickly...
Lauren Stowell
Making A Start: The 1780-81 Glasgow Polo-Sacque Jacket Progress

Making A Start: The 1780-81 Glasgow Polo-Sacque Jacket Progress

A quick mockup - feeling excited! At last, and for the first time in 2019, I am sitting down to sew something! The first four months of this year have...
Lauren Stowell
A Little History of ... Hamilton / Schuyler 18th Century Shoes

A Little History of ... Hamilton / Schuyler 18th Century Shoes

New American Duchess "Hamilton" / "Schuyler" 18th Century Shoes for men and women. Next in our line up of new men's (+ women's) styles are the beautiful "Hamilton" (mens) /...
Lauren Stowell
Meet our New Theatrical Footwear Line!

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,...
Lauren Stowell
A Little History of...Albert / Bertie Regency Pumps

A Little History of...Albert / Bertie Regency Pumps

Zack Pinsent for American Duchess This season we're very excited to launch our new men's styles....which are also women's styles! One of our most basic and versatile styles is the...
Lauren Stowell
Pre-Order is Open at American Duchess

Pre-Order is Open at American Duchess

Pre-Order is OPEN at AmericanDuchess.com April 18 - May 10 Wow, where do we even start! There is so much new stuff this season! You won't want to miss these!...
Lauren Stowell
How to Scale Up Gridded Sewing Patterns with Adobe Photoshop

How to Scale Up Gridded Sewing Patterns with Adobe Photoshop

If you've been into historical costuming for any amount of time, you will be familiar with many a book featuring gridded (or scaled) sewing patterns. The Tudor Tailor, Patterns of...
Lauren Stowell
The Curious Polonaise-Sacque Jacket

The Curious Polonaise-Sacque Jacket

1780-81 jacket - Glasgow Museums Collection - 1932.51.o January is Costume A-D-D time. A whole new year lies ahead and we are all brimming with project ideas. Some I've even...
Lauren Stowell

1790 Redingote Inspiration and Percolation

Redingote, c. 1790, LACMA M2009.120 Friends, I haven't wanted to sew for awhile. Burn-out is a real thing, especially failing miserably on the last two 18th century gowns I tried...
American Duchess
Spring2019 - A New Pattern for Simplicity - 1790s Gown and Open Robe!

Spring2019 - A New Pattern for Simplicity - 1790s Gown and Open Robe!

Ann Frankland Lewis - 1794. LACMA I'm excited to officially announce that we've developed another new historical dress pattern for Simplicity! Since first partnering with Simplicity several years ago I've...
American Duchess