ROYAL
up for fairly casual events, like tea - it's a fun way to be social and wear something you've created. Events are a way to express yourself and share your passions. I meet a lot of women online who are making these incredible gowns but don't have anywhere to wear them. We can't stop ourselves from making them, though! So I always advise them to put on their own little tea, etc. In many cases, there are these high teas, dances, fairs, or chattaquas going on anyway, and they present the perfect opportunity to "invade" in costume. One of my favorite things to do is "invade" and then get to talk to the public about what I'm wearing, and why I'm wearing it. It's an opportunity to teach a little about fashion history, and the history of women, too.
American Duchess supplied the shoes for a beautiful photo shoot recently with the concept of “Downton Abbey Glamour” at the Cobb Mansion in Virginia City, Nevada. What was this shoot for and how were you and your team able to capture the time period so
well in these images?
This particular shoot was for our holiday campaign. We wanted to evoke the feeling of opulence and past grandeur to support the "Astoria" Edwardian style that was coming into stock in early December (2013). We provided the shoes, stockings, and one of the gowns. The models in all our photo shoots are historical costumers themselves. The gorgeous woman in the orange dress, Liza, made her gown, and did the hairstyling for herself and Tori (her foreign exchange student from Italy, who was posing in the lavender dress that I made). The photo shoots tie in with the lifestyle that is historical costuming. It's a crafting hobby, but the final outcome is, of course, to wear your creation and feel beautiful. With the imagery, we try to evoke that sense of history, grace, and beauty. We look for locations that have that feeling of the past, and usually shoot with natural light. My husband and partner Chris does the primary photography; and I've started to do a little as well. Usually there
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