American Duchess Historic Shoes Blog
V261: American Duchess For The Cure - Fundraising For Breast Cancer Research
Hi all! Did you know it's Breast Cancer Awareness Month? Many of us have been through or have loved ones who have battled breast cancer, myself included. To help raise...
V257: Hello From San Francisco et al
Hi! Chris and I have been down in The Bay Area these past two days, for a Pompadour photoshoot with Laurie of Daze of Laur. I will share those shots...
V256: My First Shoe
No, this isn't about baby shoes, but the first shoe I ever designed and made (with my own bare hands!), back in 2001, in my first university art class, Art...
V252: Midnight Vintage Shoe Finds on Etsy
Nothing teaches one the construction and detailing of a vintage or antique shoes as, well, an actual vintage or antique shoe. I was thrilled to find quite a few shoes...
V243: Pompadour Heels At Last
I'm really excited to finally be taking delivery of the Pompadour heels tomorrow. They've cleared customs and are truckin' their way over the Sierras this evening. To celebrate, here are...
V236: Please Vote - What's Your Favorite 1920s Spectator?
Spectator shoes are so cool, don't you think? I want to add a 1920s t-strap spectator to the Historical Footwear collection next year -called "23Skidoo" - but what color style...
V235: Pompadours and Kensingtons are On Their Way
Here's a behind-the-scenes look at what's now making its way across the Pacific to our warehouse... White Pompadours, and more Red Kensingtons White Kensingtons Happy days! We'll have black and...
V234: What Kind of Heel Is That? A Quick Guide to Historical Shoe Heels
Following yesterday's post about why we no longer have proper French heels on shoes, I thought it would be good to add to and define some of the terminology, and...
V233: The Death of the French Heel
VandA, 1760-70 Why don't we have killer French heels, the likes of which were *the* heel style for hundreds of years, on shoes these days? Where did they go? Are...
V228: New "Valois" Shoe Buckles
Finally, after forever in development, we've got the Valois buckles for your Kensington shoes. Chris is doing official product photos right now, so here's a preview of how the new...
V220: The Parisian Gown - Finished!
Despite all the trouble this gown gave me, I'm so happy with how it turned out! I certainly learned many a lesson about fabric choice, sleeve construction, and general patterning....
V219: The Overland Passage
Ugh! I haven't blogged today on account of traveling back from Costume College, Los Angeles to Reno, a good nine or more hours. It felt kindof like this... We're back...