'Desmoiselles' Dress Video!

This beautiful video was done by one of our customers! It features gorgeous photos of our 'Desmoiselles' dress! Check it out!

Special Edition 'Regency' Dress!

We have just released another 'Special Edition' Dress. What is a 'Special Edition' you ask?

Normally I am able to produce up to several dozen of a particular dress, but sometimes I find a fabric or trim in a smaller quantity. If I am not able to make more than 4 of a particular dress or design, I release it as a 'Special Edition' instead of including it in my seasonal collections. Once these 'Special Editions' are sold, they are gone for good. Sometimes I am able to reproduce the design in a different color or with a twist, but usually not.

So now you know why I have 'Special Editions' on my website. My latest is a dress inspired by a period painting of Josephine Bonaparte in her garden, 'Malmaison'. To learn more about the make of the dress and the history behind it, click here.

2012 Holiday Dress Released!

We have been busy getting ready for Christmas and the Winter 2012 Collection, but we have just managed to get the 2012 Holiday Dress out in time for those early Christmas shoppers!

It is our 'Queen Charlotte' Dress. It's a rich and elegant dress made with brocade, taffeta, lace, and all sorts of fancy trimmings!

Queen Charlotte was a German princess who married into the British Royal Family. Up until the 19th century, many Christmas traditions had not become popular in the English culture. Although Christmas Trees did not become popular until Queen Victoria's reign, Queen Charlotte is credited for bringing the very first Christmas Tree, a German tradition, into the royal family.

We thought the Queen Charlotte Dress was perfect for our 2012 Holiday Dress, and we hope you do too!

Also, the official release date for the Winter 2012 Collection is November 17th - right before the Thanksgiving Holiday! However, many of our new items are being quietly introduced ahead of time, so keep a lookout for new and exciting items!

Calling All Suggestions!

Well, Olde Salem Days 2012 has passed, and I am still very busy over here at Doll Clothes of Yore HQ. I'm working on replenishing the dresses that aren't in stock, and on developing new designs. I have so many ideas that I know I will not have time to bring them all to fruition! Here are a few things that I am doing this fall, however:

• A Medieval 'Special Edition'
• New 'Winter Warmth' sets to keep the dolls cozy during the snowy winter months!
• My 'Regency' section is sadly lacking in variety at the moment. I'm planning on at least 2 new 'Ball Gowns' and hopefully a new 'Spencer' jacket outfit soon.
• New Tudor designs!! I have found so much material and inspiration. I can't wait to get started!

Yes, it's a lot. My main goal is to have the 'Winter 2012 Collection' released by Thanksgiving. It's a month early because of the Christmas shopping season!

BUT, I want suggestions from YOU! What would you like to see as a new doll dress? What time periods would you like to see more variety in? Leave a comment here, or, send me an email!

If you have a particular style in mind, please send me a picture! A historical painting would be best, but any picture will do! Who knows, you might just see your idea made into a doll dress! My email address is yoreclothes@ntelos.net. I'd love to talk with you about your ideas!

Olde Salem Days

Every year 'Doll Clothes of Yore' packs up and heads to Salem, VA to be a vendor at 'Olde Salem Days', an annual town fair. The town of Salem shuts down Main Street and various other side streets, and vendor booths line downtown. Our booth is located about mid-way on Main Street close to the Salem Library.

Olde Salem Days is this Saturday, September 8th. If you live in the area, or if you want to make a trip, come down! Over 60,000 people come to look and shop for unique Christmas gifts and other things!

If you come down, look for the banner pictured above. It will be hoisted above our booth!

Fall 2012 Collection is here!

After months of work and planning, our Fall collection is finally here! Our new items include:

• A Medieval Surcoat outfit, circa 1400's
• A deep green Tudor dress
• A Regency robe and 'round gown'
• An embroidered Civil War ball gown
• A 1934 inspired polka-dot dress

We are excited about our new items! Click Here to go to our website!

Coming up next...

It is almost time to release the Fall 2012 collection! My goal is to have it out by the end of this week, September 1st. And, since everybody loves them, here is a sneak peek:


'Claudette Colbert' Dress

'Barbara Spooner' Dress



Special Edition Pioneer Dress!

It's been very busy over here! Our largest craft fair is in less than a month on September 8th, and preparations for that are endless!

However, I have been able to do another Special Edition dress! The 'Southern Belle' Dress has just sold out, so here is another limited edition! It's the 'Laura Ingalls' Dress. It's pioneer dress, but with a distinctly Victorian twist. It is more elegant than our other 'Pioneer' Dresses; after all, Pioneer women dressed up sometimes!

There are only 2 available, and they could be gone at any minute, so don't wait!

'Southern Belle' Dress!

Brand new 'Special Edition'! I have redesigned the classic 'Southern Belle' Dress. It is made from light yellow embroidered eyelet fabric and yellow calico! It's a yellow (or 'Beauty and the Beast') lover's dream!

But - it's only here for as long as supplies last. Right now there are only 2 available, so don't miss out!

The New 'Southern Belle Dress' and Other Things.

I'm sorry for the lack of blog posts recently, but I have been so busy over here just trying to keep up! I've got several new designs for the Fall Collection that I'm excited about, but I haven't quite gotten the time to do them yet, but hang tight!

I would like to have the Fall Collection out by the beginning of September, but in the meantime, I have a special edition that will be released on July 23rd! It's similar to our classic design 'The Southern Belle Dress' which was originally inspired by Belle in the Disney film, 'Beauty and the Beast'. There will only be three available, so keep watching!

Home again!

Hello to the wonderful world of the Internet! I am home once again, this time for a much longer period. I am looking forward to getting back to my sewing machine and my design drawing board. Hopefully I will get a little more caught up this time!

One of the things on my list is to design several new 'Anne of Green Gables' inspired outfits. Therefore, I will be watching the classic film version starring Megan Follows. It is the best version by far in my opinion. The process of getting new designs out takes several weeks, so don't look for anything new too soon! I am still rebounding from the HEAV convention!

For all of you out there who read this blog, what would you like to see turned into a doll dress? Please, throw your ideas out there and I will consider them!

Out of town... again.

This is just a heads-up to let you all know that I will again be out of town starting Sunday, July 1st until Saturday July 7th. During this time our phone system will be down, however, there will be someone available to answer your emails. Any purchases made during this week will not be shipped until I return. I'm so sorry for any inconvenience.

Summer 2012 Collection is released!

The 6 new designs in our Summer 2012 Collection are finally released as we promised! It has been a long project, but I hope everyone is pleased with the results!

On a side note, I am out of town from June 17-23. For this reason, if anything is ordered from my site it will not be shipped until I return. In addition, our phone lines will be down as I have no reception where I am going. However, please send any questions to our email address, yoreclothes@ntelos.net , and there will be someone here to answer your emails.

Also for this reason, I will not be publicizing the new items until I return to help with the backlog of orders. All this to say that if you do want to order something, go ahead and do so, but know that they will not be shipped as quickly as they normally would be.

Happy browsing!

New design status:

Time is closing in on our release date for the Summer 2012 Collection! The date is still June 15th, and I really do have to release tomorrow (the 15th) because I will be out of town for a week. I would hate to have to keep these off the internet for that long, but believe it or not, getting a new design out there is alot more work than one would think.

Some have expressed an interest in my process of creating and releasing a new design. Here are some of the steps:

• Find an idea that I like - this often amounts to months of research.


• Decide which colors/fabrics/trims to use. I am very indecisive, so my wonderful Mother is of great help to me.


• Find someone of historical interest for inspiration. This is harder than it sounds in many cases.


• Draw up the pattern and test with muslin or scrap fabric.


• Cut out the new pattern


• Sew and finish the new dress. This takes much more time than a dress normally does because I often have no idea what I am doing.


• Take the web pictures of the dress.


• Edit the pictures using Photoshop so they can be used (this is usually just lightening them - basements are not conducive to good pictures)


• Make the slideshow pictures for the homepage.


• Write up a complete description of the dress, including biographies and fashion information.


• FINALLY I add it all to the website, post on Facebook and this blog, and send out an email blast.

This process usually takes about 2-3 weeks. This time around I am trying to do most of this in 3 days.

Oh dear. It will get out eventually! Thanks for your patience!

This upcoming week...

The HEAV was incredibly successful! I am thankful, and I now have 5 days to recover before I am gone for a week. I am still shooting to release the new designs this Friday, but some might have to wait until I get back!

HEAV Convention 2012

We are packing up and leaving on Thursday of this week to go to Richmond, VA! The annual HEAV (Home Educators Association of Virginia) Convention is June 7-9 and 'Doll Clothes of Yore' will be one of the exhibitors!

And this is also why the date for the Summer Collection 2012 debut is later than I wanted it to be! I've been scrambling to get ready for this weekend.

Summer Collection Release Date!

Our 2012 Summer Collection release date is June 15th! It is our goal to release the complete collection, which includes:

• The 'Catherine of Valois' Dress - A Medieval surcoat outfit, circa 1300's.


• The 'Dorothy Hancock' Dress - A Colonial outfit circa the 1750's (pictured).


• The 'Martha Washington' Outfit - A Colonial ball gown of purple striped silk.


• The 'Mary Chesnut' Outfit - A aquamarine Civil War walking dress.


• and more!

Special Edition Edwardian Dress!

We have just released a Special Edition dress! It's the 'Edith Roosevelt' Outfit, circa 1909! It's only available while supplies last, so don't hesitate!

Click here to see the dress details!

Reintroducing: The 'Young Victoria' Dress!

This dress was unavailable for a time, but is now back! It's our 'Young Victoria' Dress, which was inspired by a costume seen in the recent film 'Young Victoria'. The costume was originally a sunny yellow with red flowers and sash, but our version is a periwinkle blue with navy roses and sash. It is back only while supplies last, so if you love it, don't wait!

You can find out more about the history of this dress on the Product Page!

New! Undergarments for 5 time periods!

I am excited to announce that we now have full undergarments sets for 5 time periods! They include:



Colonial:

• Shift


• Panniers (pocket hoops)


• Petticoat
  
  
  

Civil War:

• Chemise


• Drawers


• Crinoline (hoopskirt)

• 
  
  

Pioneer:

• Chemise


• Drawers


• Petticoat










• 
  

Victorian:

• Combination (learn more on the product page)


• Bustle


• Petticoat

Edwardian:

Combination (learn more on the product page)
Petticoat

Check them out now!

Undergarments are here!

I have always found undergarments to be fascinating, and I have finally be able to make some for dolls! I have the Colonial set:

The colonial set includes options of a Shift, Panniers or Petticoat. You can find more information and history about all of these items at the product page. I am so excited!

The Civil War set has options of a Chemise and Drawers and a Crinoline (or hoopskirt). This set is a little more decorative and very historically accurate. Find out more info at the product page.

I am also thinking about having more undergarments, such as a bustle, for the other time periods in the future. Any thoughts?

The new website is out!

The new Doll Clothes of Yore website is out! I've been working on this for the whole month of April, and it's finally done! I have also put out the 4 new designs that have been waiting for the website to be finished.

The format is going to be a bit different from now on. Several of these dresses were photographed with the following:

• Colonial Panniers, Shift and Petticoat set


• Civil War Hoopskirt, Chemise and Drawers set

These are not available yet, but they will be within the next week!

And please, if you have bought a dress from us and loved it, leave a review on the dress page (if you can find it - Our dresses sell out quickly). Let us know what you think of the new site!

What's been going on...

Happy Teusday! I thought I would explain why there has been so little going on at Doll Clothes of Yore this year.

The main reason is that I have been working on updating yoreclothes.com. There are many, many things that I could add to it, but so far I want to add the following features:

• A section on each product page where customers can add comments and reviews


• 3 information tabs instead of 2. Right now I have 'Product' and 'History'. I want to have 'Description', 'History', and 'Fashion'. The 'Description' tab will have all the information about the dress, just as the 'Product' tab does now. The 'History' tab will have information about the product's name. For example, the 'Clara Barton' Dress will have a whole tab on Clara Barton, instead of just a few paragraphs. This will allow me to do more justice to the people, places, and things that inspire my designs. The 'Fashion' tab will have information about the fashions of the time period. This, I hope, will become a valued resource to anyone interested in period clothing.


• A search engine that will allow customers (and anyone else) to search for particular things, such as 'ball gowns'.


• more product pictures!

Unfortunately, because of the amount of work that will go into this, I will be a little slower than I would like in getting out my new designs. I am also using this project as a homework assignment (for a college class). It's due the end of April, so hopefully by then the site will be completed. Thanks in advance for your patience! In the meantime, I will be writing a bit on this blog about new designs, ideas, and other things.

Getting ready for Spring!

For the past few weeks I have been rushing around trying to prepare a new Spring 2012 series of dresses to introduce as soon as possible. It has been exciting and lots of fun! I have completed a few of the dresses on my list, but there are so many possibilites! So far I have made:

• The 'Cinderella' Dress - a remake of last year's 'Carolina' Dress, only this year it's not peach. It is pale blue and white, which made me think of Cinderella from the old Disney classic. I have also been researching the history behind 'Cinderella' and many other fairy tales. It has been fascinating, and I can't wait to share some of my findings with you!


• The 'Antonia' Dress - named after Marie Antoinette (her German name was Maria Antonia). I have had a beautiful piece of fuschia damask fabric in my possession for several years, and I have always wanted to do a Georgian, or Colonial dress out of it. I finally designed a dress that I thought best fit the fabric. Unfortunately, there will only be 4 of these dresses because of the lack of material, but I am very excited about how the design is turning out.

I have several designs that I want to do as well. I want to have at least four before I release the Spring 2012 series. Hopefully that will be in April. Here is what I have planned to create in the next few weeks:

• A tudor-style dress. It will be a beautiful combination of colors with forest green, gold, and brown. I believe I will call it the 'Anne Boleyn' Dress, but I am not sure yet.


• A new style of walking dress for the Civil War. I am experimenting with covered buttons for this one, as the aqua color I am using is very hard to find! I don't know what I will call this dress - Mary Chesnut lived in the South during the war and kept a very detailed journal. Her journals have given great insight into the political goings-on in the 1860's. I might name the dress after her!


• A mid-1880's walking dress. I found an old design of mine a few weeks ago and I would like to recreate it. I am also working on a mid-1890's dress - leg-of-mutton sleeves and all!

I am also going to try to do a blog post every week. I am not much of a writer, but I hope you all enjoy reading about my little endeavors!

A Tudor Outfit - in progress!

I have been frightfully busy over here in Virginia - working 2 jobs and going to college will do that to you. I am just now getting to new Spring 2012 designs (I usually start this process in February). I'm sorry for the lack of blog posts and anything else!

But, I thought it would be fun to let you all know what I am working on today. I have wanted to do a Tudor outfit for a long time - despite the fact that I think the fashions of the 1500's are ridiculous in many ways. However, I am always excited about new designs! It keeps my life with my business interesting. I found a beautiful fabric at the local fabric store that I thought just screams Renaissance! I have been researching for months to find the best way to use it.

And just for the record - the entire process of finding a design, fabric, and eventually making the dress and getting it out on the internet usually takes months. It's a long time.

I'm doing a classic Tudor dress design that will be mostly a deep green. It's really a lovely fabric. However, I thought that the outfit wasn't complete without a headdress! I have decided on a French Hood, a style that was made popular in England by Anne Boleyn. Thus, the outfit will be called the Anne Boleyn Dress. I can't wait to make this and get it out on my website so you can all see it!