American Duchess Historic Shoes Blog
V269: A Baby Neckerchief from a Baby Gown
I'm a sucker for fancy embroideries, but I just plain suck at doing them myself, so I look for textiles that already have nice embroideries on them. A tantalizing source...
V247: Making a 1790s Gainsborough Hat
Yesterday I made a Gainsborough hat to go with the new purple 1790s "Robe Royaliste". I researched many a fine fashion plate from Dames a la Mode, and raided the...
V199: Georgian Man Candy
Oh, I know you're disappointed this post isn't about sexy, be-wigged gentlemen on the 18th century. It's about the kind of bling a man would have worn on his shoes...
V184: My First Real 18th Century Shoe Buckles
Ebay is such a wonderous place. I won an auction for these awesome 18th century shoe buckles - only $35!! They were quite brown when they arrived from England, but...
V162: My First Re-covered Victorian Parasol
Yesterday I showed you some lovely extant Victorian parasols that I looked at for inspiration in re-covering a long-handled polyester parasol I bought at Valhalla last weekend. This is the...
V161: Pretty Victorian Parasols
Happy Saturday. I'm a bit late with this entry because I was away at the Carson City Rendezvous for most of the day, but better late than never. These are...
V160: Progress on My 18th c. Pocket...and Then More Pockets!
I've been embroidering on and off since early May, on my first Georgian pocket. I originally used a pattern from Costume Close-Up: Clothing Construction and Pattern, 1750-1790, but decided not...
V159: 18th Century Bow Jewelry - What to Look For and Where to Get It Today
1780 In the 18th century, bows were a very popular motif found in just about everything aesthetic - architecture and interior design, textile and clothing, and jewelry. For today's topic,...
V158: Pocket Trash
What is Pocket Trash? I first heard this term used by the lovely Miss Emily Waterman and her Doctor, in regards to items carried on your person, while re-enacting, or...
V149: Taking Stock of Stockings
Those of you who follow me on Facebook will know I've been asking around about stockings. What material, what color you like, etc. Some more questions are to come, but...
V135: Pompadour French Court Heels Pre-Order, and MORE
Back to work! It's time FINALLY for the Pompadour French Court Heels PRE-SALE! (big cheer!) I've been working on this shoe for what feels like forever, getting the toe just...
V126: A Colonial Williamsburg Pocket for Colonial Williamsburg
I'm about to leave on a West Coast cruise for eight days and I thought I'd take along some embroidery. I'm not much of an embroiderer, but it interests me,...