LAUREN STOWELL
Lauren Stowell is an entrepreneur and author. She started sewing and costuming in 2003 and became particularly interested in the eighteenth century. By 2009, Lauren started the blog American Duchess to chronicle her historical costuming adventures—the good, the bad and the ugly. In 2011, Lauren launched her first eighteenth-century shoe design, which quickly snowballed into a broad collection of Georgian, Victorian and Edwardian shoes and accessories under the “American Duchess” label and a range of 1920s, 1930s and 1940s shoes under the “Royal Vintage” label. Along with a range of Simplicity historical costume patterns, Lauren co-authored and published her first book, The American Duchess Guide to 18th Century Dressmaking, in 2017. Lauren lives in Reno, Nevada, with her husband Chris and a lot of dogs. She loves historical dress, watercolor painting, travel, the stock market and racing cars.
ABBY COX
Abby’s passion for historic costume flourished while studying art history, history and theatre & drama at Indiana University–Bloomington. From there, she went on to achieve a postgraduate degree in Decorative Arts and Design History from the University of Glasgow, Scotland (MLitt 2009). After graduating and a fun jaunt around Europe, she began putting her knowledge and skills to use at The Colonial Williamsburg Foundation, where she served as an Apprentice Milliner/Mantua maker. There she learned and studied eighteenth-century dressmaking techniques and began her deep rabbit hole dive into historic hair care. In 2016, she left the museum world to work at American Duchess Inc. and Royal Vintage Shoes, where she serves as Vice President. A book, podcast, some dress patterns and several shoe collections later, she’s happily settled in Reno, Nevada, with her dog and partner.
CHEYNEY MCKNIGHT
Cheyney, founder of Not Your Momma’s History, graduated from Simmons College with a Bachelor’s degree in Political Science in 2011 and has since dedicated herself to the research and education of American slavery. She has interpreted eighteenth, early nineteenth- and mid-nineteenth-century slavery as a Living Historian in 26 states, and worked with over 45 historic sites. She is trained to the standards of the National Association of Interpretation (NAI) and is an experienced historical interpreter with more than 4,500 hours of interpretive experience. Cheyney has also crafted and written more than eighteen tours for sites in Virginia and has written thirteen specialized museum programs throughout America. In 2015, Cheyney took her passion for education and interpretation and created Not Your Momma’s History, as a way to help further outreach and understanding of the life of an enslaved person in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. You can find Cheyney at www.notyourmommashistory.com.