American Duchess Historic Shoes Blog
An 1830s Day Dress for Dickens Fair 2016
Three 1830s gowns in the collection of The Metropolitan Museum of Art You may be thinking, "Dickens Fair is in December, so long away!" and you would be right, but...
The Original 1916 - 1921 Party Dress
Well, this is a topic I can genuinely say I haven't blogged about before. It's amazing what send us down what rabbit holes. Metal thread embroidery with couched metal. These...
And It Was All Yellow...
You're going to think I'm all-over-the-place right now, and you would be right. Projects here, projects there, moving house, moving business, omg! It's been stressy, for sure, but this is...
The Red Dress Project: 18th Century Robes de Cour
The next on my list of Big News to share with all of you is that, due to the popularity of the first 18th century patterns (8161 and 8162), Simplicity...
Oh, Hello Again...
Our temporary sign, lol Darlings, I do apologize for being MIA lately, especially right as we started the Simplicity 18th c. Pattern Hacks series... ... but it's been for good...
A 1940s Photo Shoot in Reno, Nevada
The beautiful Elizabeth, dressed in original 1940s vintage. Whenever we do photo shoots, I always try to come up with an interesting concept. Usually, for the American Duchess line, we're...
Review: Emmy Design Sweden Vintage Repro Clothing
Do you ever feel like you just can't sew the vintage wardrobe you want, in its entirety, fast enough? I have a gazillion vintage sewing patterns, but it seems like...
18th Century Stays: Boning Patterns
In preparation for making your Simplicity 8162 18th c. stays, you may wish to re-draw the boning pattern. The pattern comes with an accurate layout for half-boned stays. If you...
My "Agent Carter" Outfit on The Mood Blog (!)
I am a bit remiss in posting lately. A whole lot of everything has been going on, but a lot of it hasn't been about historical costuming. While I've been...
18th Century Stays - Q&A about Simplicity 8162
Continuing on with the Simplicity 18th Century Pattern Hacks, I thought it would be good to cover some questions about the pattern specifically. I've finished my stays made from this...
18th Century Stays - Who, What, When, Where, Why, and How
Ladies, now it's time to get started on our Simplicity 18th Century inspired patterns! You've got two pattern packs - one with underpinnings and one with the outfit itself -...
New Civil War Boots - Pre-Order Now Open!
It's another pre-order day! I've been trying to go more towards "collections" for Summer and Fall and less all-over-the-place for introducing new shoes for you ladies. With that, I'd like...