Lauren and Abby finally get to sit down with the *incredible* Zack Pinsent - Historic Tailor to chat about all sorts of different things - ranging from how Zack became a self-taught Historic Tailor, embracing your eccentric self, and nuances of fashion and the concept of masculinity. At 23, Zack has a self confidence and ease with himself that is infectious, and is wise beyond his years. Not only are we impressed by Zack's tailoring skills, but also just by him as a young person who...

Today, Lauren and Abby sit down with one of their favorite women in the industry, Cynthia Settje (http://redthreaded.com) to discuss everything from how/why she started her business (hint: The Great Recession), creating historic ready made corsets, working for Broadway, and more (like why did she name her business "RedThreaded"?) If you're a bright young thing who is getting ready to graduate, or someone who is looking to have a change in careers - we hope that you find Cynthia's story...

To kick of the new season, Lauren and Abby sat down with Dandy Wellington to pick his brain about his amazing personal style, jazz music, being a jazz musician, and how he views style and fashion. We also get to listen to some of his amazing music during the show! So sit back, relax, and enjoy! You can find Dandy Wellington and his back on his website (http://band.dandywellington.com/), Instagram (@dandywellington), Facebook (www.facebook.com/DWBAND/), iTunes, and Spotify. You can find us...

Today's the big day! Our new book "The American Duchess Guide to 18th Century Dressmaking" is officially released today (11/21/2017)! The past year was spent writing and editing this book, and we are so happy to share it with you! While we've chatted quite a bit about the sewing projects on our Facebook page, we've never really talked about the process of writing the book. So, we decided to sit down and have a chat all about that part of writing this book. If you're into Behind-the-Scenes...

In this episode Lauren and Abby sit down with Chelsea G. Summers, writer, to discuss her article on the birth of vintage fashion & the evolution of vintage throughout the last half of the 20th century up through today. Whether it's raccoon coats, 1980s does 1940s, should one modify or not modify vintage pieces, or what do we consider "vintage" today - we cover a multitude of different topics all centered around vintage fashion. You can find the original article from Racked here:...

We were so lucky to be introduced to Constance MacKenzie while attending Costume College in LA in July. Constance works as a costumer in England, and has worked in theater, opera, tv, and film. She was kind enough to sit down with us for a short while and tell us about her experiences in the pursuit of her career, how she got started, where she has worked, and what her advice is for young people who want to work in this industry. By the end of the interview, Lauren and Abby were left with...

Cathy Hay is the Founder and CEO of Foundations Revealed - an Online Subscription Education Database filled to the brim with articles regarding everything you could possibly wonder about corset making, patterning, etc! Lauren & Abby were able to sit down with Cathy while attending Costume College in LA to pick her brain about her business, the Symington Corset Company Collection in Leicestershire, England, and just have an all around jazzy discussion about all sorts of corsetry goodness!...

Abby sits down with Samantha McCarty (again! See Episode 2 for more with Samantha!) to pick her brain about women's fashion and clothing from the first quarter of the 17th century (1600-1625-ish). This is an often over looked time period that Samantha has had time to really study since she works for a historic site that is from the 17th century. Ranging in subjects from what a woman was issued in a new "suit of clothes" before she arrived in Jamestown, Virginia, upper bodies, petticoats...

Lauren sits Abby down to pick her brain about Abby's most favorite research subject - 18th Century women's hair! Abby's been researching this topic for the past 4 years, and even spent 1 year actively practicing 18th century hair care - using pomatum and powder to keep her hair clean and smelling fresh! Abby's time spent studying this topic has provided her with a lot of insight on such a surprising social practice from the 1700s. So, sit back, relax, and let you hair down - it's time to...

Abby is joined by Cheyney McKnight (Not Your Momma's History) to discuss what enslaved women and men would have worn in the United States of American during the 18th & 19th century. Going over everything from a brief explanation of slavery in the USA, to the "Reward System", Resistance in Dress, Textile Choices, and what Freed women and me could have worn and how that differed. Cheyney is owner of Not Your Momma's History, a living history consulting & interpretation business as well as...

Abby & Lauren sit down and discuss how to deal with the harsh summer temperatures while dressed out for a living history event. We delve into how important fiber content and color is for summer clothing (hint: we love linen!), whether unlined garments existed, our tips and tricks on how we like to deal with the heat, and more - including Abby making up parody songs on the fly! So sit back, have a listen, and enjoy! If you would like to see the blog post that accompanies this episode please...

Abby sits down with Samantha McCarty (http://couturecourtesan.blogspot.com) to discuss her research on mourning dress during the American Civil War. Samantha currently works as a Tailor for the Jamestown-Yorktown Foundation in Virginia, and though she spends most of her time studying and recreating 17th & 18th century dress for interpreters, one of her first passions was researching all things to do with mourning during the American Civil War. Topics discussed: Types of Mourning, What to...

Welcome to Fashion History with American Duchess! We've started this podcast to talk about different aspects of fashion history & historic costuming. Whether it's interviews, casual chats, in-depth discussions, pattern reviews, sewing tips, etc., there will be something for everyone! Please subscribe to get the latest episodes & check us out at http://blog.americanduchess.com or www.AmericanDuchess.com!