Costuber/Costuming Community - Part 7

[IrishBreakfastTea]

At the risk of being accused of being in the AD "cult" and thinking I'm going to get free shoes for doing PR for the company, I have 9 pairs of their shoes going back to 2014 and never had a problem with any of them. The Renoir Victorian boots were surprisingly comfortable - like genuinely felt great to wear all day, so much so that I walked around all day in them not just at reenactments but when I went to the city for running a day full of errands. I had other Victorian boots that felt like my feet were breaking in the middle and the Renoirs were like butter. I've danced for hours in my Regency shoes and my Antoinette mules; and when the shoes were new I didn't bother breaking them in at all, which was admittedly kind of risky. I thought I would suffer for not breaking them in a bit first, but life got away from me, so I just went ahead and wore them, anticipating a day of pain the next day; but I was fine. I would wear them more often only I just got orthotics 3 months ago, and my orthotics don't fit in them, so I have to plan carefully from now on how much walking I do in them (god I *love* middle age and genetic podiatric problems!).

I think it's funny that she goes full on conspiracy theory - thinking American Duchess must have some cult-like hold over its customers that they don't report the problems they have. By her own Twitter thread, her heel caps fell off, she was present when a friends heel caps fell off a couple of years ago, and one other person on her Twitter thread said they had it happen to them - 3 people. Maybe there isn't some grand conspiracy, maybe it was bad luck, or a bad batch of glue. I've paid good money (about 80 euro) for good shoes before and had them fall apart within a month. Like the entire sole came apart from the uppers and was flapping around! I took them back to the local shoe shop I bought them from and I took the risk that maybe it was just that pair and got a replacement pair of the same shoe (the shop had very little else that I liked). Also within 28 days the second pair fell apart - same exact problem. The shop said they probably got a batch of shoes with bad glue or something and this time I got my money back. I've also had this happen with a pair of boots from Marks and Spencers that I barely wore. Shit happens, even with otherwise good quality brands. But by all means, take to Twitter with a conspiracy theory that everyone's AD shoes are secretly falling apart and we're all just keeping quiet in the hopes of getting more of them.

[Iamnothere]

ZP was attacked yesterday. I'm not going to share the picture he posted. How incredibly awful, sending love his way.

[Bloopidybloop]

ZP was attacked yesterday. I'm not going to share the picture he posted. How incredibly awful, sending love his way.

Horrendous, I hope he recovers quickly

[Iamnothere]

Update from ZP

[Iamnothere]

Do you guys think he's doing one of those sarcastic jokes, or do you think he's serious? Because he has worked with and been recognized by, seemingly, a handful, if not more. Museums, events, magazines, the BBC, movie premieres, other costumers, I think a cologne atelier, I saw Molly Ringwold in his comments after his attack, people help him pay to visit his boyfriend in the US, have helped pay for his dental expenses, etc.

[SmileCat]

Oh lord. He's angling for sponsorships and collabs but in the most passive-aggressive "why won't they give me the free stuff and money I deserrrrrrve" way possible.

[Mako Shark]

Do you guys think he's doing one of those sarcastic jokes, or do you think he's serious? Because he has worked with and been recognized by, seemingly, a handful, if not more. Museums, events, magazines, the BBC, movie premieres, other costumers, I think a cologne atelier, I saw Molly Ringwold in his comments after his attack, people help him pay to visit his boyfriend in the US, have helped pay for his dental expenses, etc.

Did he delete it? I’m not seeing it in his stories anymore. If it was serious it was fairly tacky…

[Iamnothere]

Do you guys think he's doing one of those sarcastic jokes, or do you think he's serious? Because he has worked with and been recognized by, seemingly, a handful, if not more. Museums, events, magazines, the BBC, movie premieres, other costumers, I think a cologne atelier, I saw Molly Ringwold in his comments after his attack, people help him pay to visit his boyfriend in the US, have helped pay for his dental expenses, etc.

Did he delete it? I’m not seeing it in his stories anymore. If it was serious it was fairly tacky…

I took the screenshot yesterday, so it probably expired.

[andipales]

He's an unpleasant human and honestly it doesn't shock me one bit he's out here whining about being "unappreciated".

[Iamnothere]

He's an unpleasant human and honestly it doesn't shock me one bit he's out here whining about being "unappreciated".

He can be a pretty pompous and snarky know-it-all, thats something I don't like about him. His work is nice, and I like the spreads and shoots he's been in, but his attitude leaves a bad taste.

Also, who is he wanting to work with and be appreciated by? An American Duchess collab? A university? The Royal Family? English Heritage? A designer? It's weird to post that, then a couple days later thanking Ascot for hosting him, which appears to be something he's attended a few times.

I understand running a business that's an incredibly niche luxury brand is hard and not very stable, so it'd make sense to want to network to help with that. But, I don't know if that post is actually going to make people want to work with him. It may also make people who have worked with him feel a bit insulted that he doesn't appear to appreciate them or consider them well.

[PlainSalted]

He's an unpleasant human and honestly it doesn't shock me one bit he's out here whining about being "unappreciated".

I’ve never said it out loud because I wondered if I wasn’t getting a certain sense of humor, or if I was being sensitive, but this is generally the impression I’ve gotten too. He seems pretty stuck-up and I can’t figure out what has brought him to think so highly of himself.

[Iamnothere]

He's an unpleasant human and honestly it doesn't shock me one bit he's out here whining about being "unappreciated".

I’ve never said it out loud because I wondered if I wasn’t getting a certain sense of humor, or if I was being sensitive, but this is generally the impression I’ve gotten too. He seems pretty stuck-up and I can’t figure out what has brought him to think so highly of himself.

I have difficulty determining whether it's his humor or not, too. I've seen some of his lives, and he does seem to have that dry humor, but other times it doesn't feel like a joke.

[Notmycup]

Eh, isn't it what everyone online is doing these days? You feel the world is not treating you fairly enough and expect your subscribers to fix it for you. Very common, from what I see. Unless it's the starving artist thing, which is another can of worms.

If this is indeed a joke, this is how it lands.

[andipales]

Honestly, there's having a dry sense of humour, and there's being an entitled whiny child and he mostly falls into the latter for me. I've dealt with him personally and it wasn't a pleasant experience, I know I'm not alone in that either because his reviews for the business are not stellar, yet he still somehow has a fanbase.

[twosugars]

Not shockingly, Sewstine's new video for her Fetes Galantes gown does not mention anything about the problematic nature of the robe francaise, or about how basing it off styles popularized in the Louis XV era is inherently problematic for a variety of reasons (income inequality, the rise of black people being 'imported' into Versailles as servants dressed in what the Europeans thought were exotic costumes and the women who wore the types of gowns that Sewstine made would have likely had such 'servants,' Louis XV having a penchant for liasons with teenagers... etc etc) or about the implications of attending a party where you're meant to dress up as the 1% elite in ancien regime France.

Whereas we got a (clearly retroactively created as an addition to what was meant to be a normal sewing video, based on the sudden "oh no, chemise a la reines are no longer cool whimsy summer projects but White Racist Karen Colonizer Garb, Actually" trend) tut-tut video perpetuating unproven claims for the chemise a la reine because that was the flavor of the day with the callout crowd, now that it has died down... nothing here! Not a blip.

If you stand for nothing, what do you fall for, etc etc.

But like I said back when we found out she was going, I genuinely don't care on a personal level nor do I think she should have to preface any historical fashion videos with historical context or disclaimers. (I mean, I guess unless someone was making a costume based on Orientalist portraits or something? Then context would be appropriate.) Wear all the frilly 18th century clothes you want and don't feel compelled to say 'It's okay guys, I know that the historical imbalances between the rich and the poor blah blah blah.' But how hypocritical to hold that up as the gold standard when it was being used to target other people, and now suddenly that it's no longer a guaranteed attention-getter and people are fatigued from the bullying, it means nothing.

on a positive note, I do like watching her videos for the sewing aspect, since she has the time and money to put real effort into honing her skills. I can't believe she got that fabric for such a discount. I'd be berating myself every day for not nabbing more.

[Notmycup]

It has been brought up many times before in this thread that activism is a double-edged sword. If you focus hard on certain issues, you have to focus on similar issues as well. Once you start you can't just stop. The thing is, people won't question you as much for what you do or don't do, but they will for your inconsistency.

I tend to differentiate the 'HCC has a problem' context and the historical reality context for the sake of education though. The creators of the latter tend to be the consistent ones.

Regarding the video, I might be the only one who wasn't bothered by the event, but I also didn't need more footage of it. It might be not my favorite period or the kind of thing I find aspirational, but for whatever reason the non-sewing part wasn't interesting. The sewing one was great. I do realize she needs to milk that footage though.

[TabbyTwit]

Karolina posted that her car got broken into in Italy and her books, luggage, handmade & historic clothing, cameras, etc. all got stolen. I can’t even imagine.

[Ezzy]

Karolina posted that her car got broken into in Italy and her books, luggage, handmade & historic clothing, cameras, etc. all got stolen. I can’t even imagine.

Wait how did it all get stolen? Like was it all in one suitcase or did the thief steal the items individually? I understand that camera equipment can be worth quite something and that if you put it in plain sight, a thief with an opportunity may go for that, but books and clothing are usually not among the things they'll take. Chances are they may find the majority of the luggage back someplace else. I take it she's already made a police report, so fingers crossed.

[TabbyTwit]

There was a picture on her IG stories of her car windows smashed in. It sounded like they just took the suitcases as a whole, maybe they just assumed there were valuables in there? She’s in Rime/Trastevere

[Koalaty_knits]

Aside fron the laptop, the thieves will probably be disappointed.