American Duchess Historic Shoes Blog
V40: Edwardian Hair Styling Mysteries Solved, 1905 - Part 1 - Shampoo and Other Scary Things
The other day, while washing my hair, I began thinking about hairdressing habits of the past, and how we ladies today treat our hair in *such* a different way from...
V39: 1920s Beaded Flapper Dress Design
Today Lady Carolyn invited me to participate in a presentation on 1920s fashion coming up at Reno's National Automobile Museum at the end of March. How could I resist! I...
V38: Progress on the 1912 Titanic Abbey Gown
Well I've gone through all the easy bits now, and am on to the hard I-hate-these-parts bits, with my 1912 gown. The sleeves of the gown are made of just...
V37: Steampunk School Picture Day
Last Saturday Chris and I spent the afternoon snapping photos of the local Steampunk club, "High Desert Steam." We had access to the Victorian train cars stationed at Victorian Square,...
V36: SuperStripe Sunday - Stripes in the 1770s
Met It's Superbowl Sunday here in America Land. I don't follow football, so I'll be burying myself in the sewing loft and trying to accomplish something on the 1912 Titanic...
V35: Starting on Fabric Stamping for Colonial Williamsburg
Yesterday I thought I'd try my hand at stamping the linen/cotton I bought for one of my Colonial Williamsburg jackets. I don't have a ginormous fabric stretcher thing, so I...
V34: Last Day to Pre-Order Astoria Edwardian Shoes
Okay, Ladies, today is the last day to pre-order Astoria Edwardian shoes for the special $110 price. The Astorias have done super awesome, and both the ivory and black colors...
V33: Only Death and Taxes, in the 18th century
I have done absolutely nothing costume-related in the past couple of days, and that is because I've started my 2011 taxes. /groan. 'Course, taxes in the 18th century were a...
V32: Guest Post @ The Dreamstress, and Pierrot Jackets
One of my favorite pierrots - from The Met Today I am a guest blogger for The Dreamstress. I wrote a little article about Pierrot jackets, one of my favorite...
V31: Book Review: "18th Century Embroidery Techniques" by Gail Marsh
18th Century Embroidery Techniques Gail Marsh (c) 2006 by Gail Marsh ISBN 978-1-86108-476-7 There comes a time in every 18th century costumer's career when embroidery seems like a good idea....
V30: An Embroidered Apron - My First Williamsburg Piece
I was pleased to receive my vintage embroidered panel in the mail the other day, but it needed some tweaks. Firstly, it was dirty and smelled of vintage. (You know...
V29: Fabrics for Colonial Williamsburg...Again.
Oh, the best laid plans of seamstresses.... I went shopping for fabrics today and came across the perfect stripe silk for my future Colonial Williamsburg polonaise. It looked at me...