American Duchess Historic Shoes Blog
V245: Floral Gowns of the 1770s (and a little 1780s too)
Met - 1770s-80s gown, remodeled from c. 1740s silk Happy Saturday! Chris and I have been working overtime packing up Pompadours and white Kensingtons to ship out, so I'm a...
V244: Modeling Regency at the Nevada Museum of Art
Hi all! A couple nights ago I modeled for the historical costume painting class at the Nevada Museum of Art. I wore one of my favorite outfits, a Regency gown...
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...
V242: 1790s Robe Royaliste: Almost Done!
I had intended to bust out this giant purple chemise style gown quickly, but then between being mad sick and then lazy, it's taken me *this* long to get it...
V239: Cassell's Household Guide
There is something so -udderly- wonderful about household guides of the 19th century. And what is even more wonderful is that they are all out of copyright and readily available...
V240: Robe a la Francaise, 1740
Bwah, it's one of *those* days, so here's a beautiful gown to gaze upon... The Met Robe a la Francaise 1740s British Hand-painted silk, fly fringe trimmings I'll take a...
V237: Absinthe
I'm going to a Steampunk Absinthe Party tonight. I've never tried the stuff, and I'm not much of a drinker, but I am a little curious, at least to taste...
V238: What Is This Style of 18th Century Jacket?
A beautiful image popped up on my Pinterest feed this morning: 1730-60, French manufacture, held in the Digitalt Museum I find this extant ensemble really interesting because, well, it matches....
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...