'Mrs. Dickens' Dress - Our last Christmas 2013 Design!

Introducing - the 'Mrs. Dickens' Dress! It's the last design featured in our new Christmas 2013 Collection, and it is our favorite! Plus, learn about how 'A Christmas Carol' still influences Christmas celebrations today, and how Queen Victoria made this style popular! Learn More Now!

Our very first 1950's design!

Our brand new 'Juli Lynne' Outfit is my first 1950's design! I've had a poodle skirt in the works for about a year now, and I've finally had the chance to make it! It's just too adorable, and if it turns out to be popular, then maybe there will be a 1950's section in the future, just as my Tudor section came from my Renaissance.

The history behind the iconic 'Poodle Skirt' is fascinating to me. It's a story of one woman who had an idea, and turned her idea into an industry, and that idea became the icon of an era. Read about it on the product page!

'Lady Jane Grey' Dress

 

I've been working on this design for a long time, and I am excited to finally see it on the website! The 'Lady Jane Grey' Dress is inspired by a portrait of Lady Jane, and I think that the outfit is just beautiful. However, there only 10 outfits in this exact color, so don't wait!

This dress is not intended for rough play.

Christmas 2013 Collection!

Every week in November we will be releasing a new design as part of our Christmas 2013 collection. This week we have released a re-design of the 'Sarah Childress Polk' Dress. The dress features a vintage porcelain brooch that was made in Japan.

What's Happening?

Hello Friends,

I'm sure some of you are wondering either 'Where is the September Dress?' or 'When will you release the Fall collection'?

Well, here is the answer to both. I'm not sure. I am extremely busy on a living history project that I volunteer for in my home town, and haven't had the time (or energy) to devote to Doll Clothes of Yore. Rest assured, if you order a dress it will be sent to you on time. I simply haven't been able to concentrate on new designs, however, I hope that will change in the next few weeks.

I've also decided that 2014 will be different when it comes to releasing new designs. My business has been growing, and fabric is becoming increasingly unavailable or expensive. Instead of releasing large collections a few times a year, I will instead be focusing on more 'Special Editions'. However, I may keep the Monthly dress plan going, we shall see.

Thank you for your patience, and for learning with me as I find what Jesus wants for me and for 'Doll Clothes of Yore' in 2014.

Emily Marsh

August 2013 Dress! + New 'Special Edition'!

The 'Doll Clothes of Yore' August 2013 dress is now released! It's a gorgeous summertime Regency outfit, complete with a white bonnet that will match many outfits, not just this one!

The 'Elizabeth Monroe' Dress - named for the fifth First Lady of the United States. You can learn more about her and the fashion history behind the dress and bonnet on our website!

Plus, we've got a new 'Special Edition' Dress - it's a remake of an older design, but still absolutely lovely!

The 'Maria Theresa' Dress - It's a lavendar brocade beauty from the 1780's, the dusk of the Georgian era. Worn with the 'Colonial Undergarments' Set, it's a beautiful addition to any Colonial wardrobe! But don't wait - there are only 7 available.

1940's Clearance!

To pave the way for our brand new 1940's designs, all our old 1940's outfits are now clearance! Save up to 25% on select 1940's outfits. Click Here!

**Valid on select products only, quantities are limited.

July 2013 Dress + What's Coming Up

The July 2013 Dress is here! It is our latest Tudor design, and was inspired by an extant Italian Renaissance gown of the same color!

Also, in other news, I've been planning for some time to re-do my 1940's section. There a couple reasons for this, the first is that I haven't really worked on the 1940's in several years, so those designs are older and need to be refreshed (and I'm just tired of repeating the same designs for years in a row!). The other reason behind my complete re-draw of the section is that American Girl is taking away Molly and Emily, their 1940's dolls. Personally, I wasn't happy when I learned of this - Molly was my doll as a kid! But it does give the designer in me a good excuse.

So, to start off my re-do, I'll be putting all my 1940's designs (save the 'Rita Hayworth' Dress) on clearance starting Friday, July 26th. Everything must go! More information about my new designs will be coming out later, but I am planning on releasing it mid-August.

All the best,

Emily

Summer 2013 Collection is here!

Finally! The official 'Doll Clothes of Yore' Summer collection has been released! Thanks to all of your for your patience - and I hope it has been amply rewarded! Included in this season's collection are:

• 'Martha's Wedding Gown' - A reproduction of the dress Martha Washington wore for her marriage to George Washington!
• 'Margaret Gage' Dress - An elegant sacque-back dress named for a fascinating character of the American Revolution!
• 'Elizabeth Keckley' Dress - A sophisticated ensemble inspired by the woman behind the clothing of Mary Todd Lincoln during her tenure in the White House.
• 'Millicent Fawcett' Dress - A beautiful 1903 dress named for a prominent suffragette!
• 'Jean Conan Doyle' Dress - Another gorgeous and feminine dress inspired by the wife of Arthur Conan Doyle, the inventor of Sherlock Holmes!
• 'Rita Hayworth' Dress - An adorable ensemble inspired by a McCall pattern from 1940; A Sundress and Bolero outfit! 

Be sure to check them all out, and let us know what you think! Our system for reviews is under construction right now, but please don't hesitate to shoot an email our way! We'd be thrilled to hear from you!

HEAV, Richmond and new designs!

Hello friends,

I'd like to take this opportunity to thank you for your interest in my business, 'Doll Clothes of Yore', and also to apologize for the lack of variety in my website catalog of late. I took 'Doll Clothes of Yore' to an annual convention in early June, and completely sold most of my designs. I am working hard on some wonderful new styles, and I am excited to be releasing them soon. It is slow in coming due to backorders from the HEAV convention in Richmond VA, a weekend loss of electricity, and general busy-ness!

It is my goal to release my Summer 2013 Collection in time for Independence Day (July 4th). My July 2013 Dress will come shortly afterwards.

Here's a sneak peek at my Summer Collection!

• A Colonial Wedding Dress - inspired by the wedding dress of Martha Washington!
• A Colonial Sacque-back dress - inspired by an antique dress housed in the Los Angeles Museum of Art
• A Civil War plaid taffeta dress - Also inspired by a piece in the LA Museum of Art
• The 'Elizabeth Keckly' Dress - inspired by the best friend of Mary Todd Lincoln
• 1950's Poodle Skirt outfit - So adorable!
• And more to come!

I'm excited about my new designs and I hope you are too! I think they will be worth the wait! Stay Tuned!

-Emily

'Sarah Childress Polk' Dress - Brand New!

On May 13th, 1846, President James K. Polk declared war on Mexico over the annexation of Texas, California and New Mexico. In honor of this day, we have released a Special Edition dress named after Sarah Polk, First Lady of the United States. This dress is of limited quantity, so don't wait!

May 2013 Dress is released!

We have released our May 2013 Dress! It was inspired by a costume in the film 'Anna and the King', and is named for Emmalani, the Queen of Hawaii during the Civil War period. See the page here.

Finally! The April 2013 Dress!

Introducing - the April 2013 Dress!

Doll Clothes of Yore has just been able to release the April 2013 Dress - a beautiful Victorian Wedding Gown! Taken from an illustration from 1849, this beautiful dress and veil make the perfect bridal ensemble! Go to the dress page to read more about Queen Victoria's wedding gown, and the traditions she set in 1840!

Where is the April dress??

Some of you have probably been wondering "Well, it's April now, and March has ended. Where is the April dress?". Well, the answer is... it's coming. I have something very special planned for the April 2013 dress, and unfortunately I'm still waiting on things to come in the mail for it. But since today is April 2nd, I thought I'd give you a little sneak peek.

For those of you who have wanted to see a period Bridal gown... your wait is almost over! Since April's birthstone is the Diamond, and I like to match the monthly dresses to the birthstones, I thought it would be lovely to have a period wedding dress or bridal gown as the monthly dress. Unfortunately, I don't know when I will release this dress since I am waiting on the Postal Service to bring me what I need!

But in the meantime, I'm sure there are enough lovely outfits in the Spring 2013 collection to keep you interested for a while!

Finally! Spring is here!

'Doll Clothes of Yore' has finally released the Spring 2013 Collection, and just in time for Easter, too! We've added to our variety of designs 5 new selections!

The 'Marguerite de Navarre' Dress! A beautiful and richly colored Tudor dress - added to our also brand-new Tudor section!

We hated to see this design go, so our popular 'Off to the Faire' Dress has been remade - this time in a lovely shade of sage green!

We've been waiting a long time to make this dress inspired by the first African-American Poetess! The 'Phillis Wheately' Dress is here!

This dress was inspired by a costume seen in Mel Gibson's film 'The Patriot'. It's named for the wife of a founding father! Check out the 'Julia Stockton Rush' Dress!

This incredibly elegant dress is trimmed with delicate Venise lace! The 'Mary Anna Custis Lee' Dress is the latest Ball Gown edition!

Structural Change

I have finally been able to change the structure of yoreclothes.com! Since I introduced some 'Tudor' designs last spring, they have been more popular than I could have imagined! I have wanted to put them into their own section, since technically the 'Renaissance' is separated from 'Tudor' and 'Elizabethan' anyway. So I have added the 'Tudor' section to my website.

Some of you may be sad to see this, but I have also removed my 1970's section. I know clothes from the 70's are cute, but frankly I don't like to make them. It has also been hard to keep up with, so for now, I won't be offering 70's clothing. 'Tudor' is much more fun!

Hopefully the 'Spring 2013' collection will be coming out soon... I had intended to have them out already, but I've been so busy I haven't been able to sew them. However, I can promise that the new designs will be worth the wait! I am also bringing back my 'Off to the Faire' Dress - only this time not in yellow.

I've received some wonderful suggestions by email, and I can't wait until I get the time to act upon them! However, please remember that a design can take months to make it's way from my sketch pad to the website. Keep the suggestions coming!

--Emily

A personal tidbit + March 2013 Dress!

Things have been so busy here in SW Virginia!  Most of you readers know that I (Emily) run 'Doll Clothes of Yore', but you may not know that I also have another part-time job and I'm currently in my last semester of college. So if you ever wonder why it takes a long time for a dress to come out or for changes to be made... that's why. I wish I could give all my time to new designs, but alas, the current designs have to be remade too! I estimate that in 2012 I made 500 dresses - that's not including hoopskirts, bustles, petticoats, etc!

'Anne of Brittany' Dress

It excites me to be able to release a new design - it allows me to be creative and just have something new! My March 2013 Dress is one that I have been working on for the past several months, and it's finally done! I'm very pleased with how it looks, and I hope you are too! It has fur trimming and a 'pomander', both of which are new to my designs!

It is my goal to release my Spring 2013 collection before Easter - I had wanted it to be out sometime the first week in March, but I haven't been able to finish the designs. Also in March, I will be re-working the time periods, or 'Eras' that I offer in my clothing. Instead of offering 1970's, I will be splitting my 'Renaissance' section into 'Renaissance' and 'Tudor'. Besides being more historically accurate, my Tudor designs have become more popular than I expected - so they deserve their own section!

If you have any ideas for future designs, email them to me! I love to hear your comments and ideas. My email address is yoreclothes@ntelos.net.

'Lucy Knox' Dress - New Special Edition!

Brand new 'Special Edition' Dress! This beautiful green dress is named after Lucy Knox, a valiant woman during the American Revolution! But hurry, there are only 4 available!

February 2013 Dress - Brand New!!

Our February 2013 featured product is the 'Susan Ferrier' Dress! It's a beautiful outfit including an 'Empire'-waisted dress with puffed sleeves and a striped 'Spencer' jacket. It was inspired by the 2009 BBC miniseries 'Emma' starring Romola Garai.

Click Here to learn more about the 'Susan Ferrier' Dress!

New Website Section! - Archives

Have you bought a dress from 'Doll Clothes of Yore', and can't find the information? Well, I have always regretted that I could not have the individual dress information on my website permanently, so it could always be accessed by anyone who wanted it. Well, I have finally be able to set up the 'Archives' section - It is a page with a series of tabs organized by time period. The tables contain links to PDF documents that can easily be opened and printed or saved to your computer for future reference. The information is free for personal use, but please be aware that the images are copyrighted.

Note: the PDF's may not display correctly in an older browser, however, if you save them to your desktop, they will display correctly and will also print correctly.

Click Here to check out our 'Archives' Section!

What's new for 2013

Every month of 2013 there will be a special featured dress. Since January's birthstone is Garnet, a deep red gem, January's featured dress is a deep red as well.

The 'Montagu' Dress is named after Elizabeth Montagu, an 18th-Century literary patron and social reformer. 

I have wanted to make a 'sacque-back' gown for Doll Clothes of Yore for some time. It's quite a challenge since the dolls are small, and I need to be able to mass-produce these dresses. I was able to draft my pattern, and I now have the finished product! I am happy with how it turned out, and I hope you are too!

There are only 8 of these dresses available, so don't hesitate! Have a happy January!