American Duchess Historic Shoes Blog
V9: 1912 "Titanic" Edwardian Gown Design
After much deliberation, and some fiddling around with beaded net fabric, I've come up with my design. It's a combination of these two: Janet Arnold's drawing of the Laurel dress,...
V7: Williamsburg Mix n' Match, and Finding Fabric
Before I run off in a different direction, I will post one more time about my Colonial Williamsburg plans. Since the trip is planned for October, I have quite a...
Concept Sketch for an Irish Ensemble for Gold Rush Days
This coming weekend I will be wreaking havoc and eating candy at Gold Rush Days, one of my favorite events of the year, in Old Sacramento. The original plan was...
Revolution Dress - About Those Stays
The Dreamstress asked me to share a little about the stays I've been working on. Those extra grommets at the bottom are me messing up. Ignore those, pls. :-) I...
Revolution Dress - A Better Idea of What the Heck I'm Doing
The idea of how this gown, "the Revolution Dress," is going to come together has been milling around in my head for a couple weeks now, in a somewhat nebulous...
Historical Footwear - News, and Looking at Edwardian Styles
Wishbone straps on a c. 1900 white kid pump The results of the Historical Footwear poll are in, and the Edwardian pumps took first, followed by a foot-and-foot race between...
New American Duchess Designs on Garmz.com
Hi all! I'm happy to report that the "October Foxhunt" jacket I designed and uploaded to Garmz.com has sold out! Yay! Of course, I'd love to have another design produced...
American Duchess' New Year's Resolution: 18th c. SHOES
I'm going to skip through all the fluffy "as 2010 draws to a close" stuff and just cut to the chase. I have several costuming-related resolutions, but one major big...
Regency Short and Somewhat Transitional Stays
The newt project for Lauren the Silhouettist is a pair of Regency short stays. We first took a look at what's out there, for inspiration: Transitional 1790s (left) and long...
Sunny Stays on Winter Days
Sometimes random things pop up, like a quick little project making a delightful pair of yellow and cream striped stays. How could I resist! I have a lovely client, also...
Design Sundays: "Holly Day Dress" on Garmz.com
I thought I'd try my hand at a dress, inspired by both the 18th century and the 1960s. It's a winter party dress, heavy wine-colored satin with nice big pleats...
Design Sundays: "Raindrops" Raincoat on Garmz.com
"Raindrops" coat design, by yours truly. Give it a vote (click the picture) This week on Design Sunday: a new jacket sketch inspired by an absolutely darling 18th c. pink,...