1930's or 40's black dress

A second black dress. Understated and simple but with some wonderfull details on the bodice, sleeves and the (double)box pleating in the skirt. Made from flowy somewhat shiny rayon probably from the late 30's/40's.

Suitable for almost every weather (exept extreme cold or warm) and mood. A true 'petite robe noir'. I could not find pictures that closely resemble the design of the dress. The pictures below only share a certain 'look'. This dress form 1940 has got the same feel and silhouet.

The jacket of this suit from 1939 has a similar kind of front bodice as the dress.

Black dresses: part 1

I love them: black dresses. Unfotunately taking good pictures of black dresses is rather a chalenge as they are...black, light absorbing. I finally managed to catch the wonderful details of several black dresses on camera so I hope to post one every week. Acompanied by some fashion prints. Black is not a favorite colour in fashion prints either for pretty much the same reason that makes it so difficult to photograph the details of a black dress. Therefore the prints show dresses in colour (or grey). It is in the details and the design that they resemble the black dress from my wardrobe.

The first dress is made out of rayon/acetate crepe and rayon/silk cut velvet. It probably dates form the early forties (width of the shoulders) was possibly made in the late 30's (sleeve design is rather 30's). The velvet details make this dress very alluring to me as I have a thing for velvet and a thing for dresses that were composed out of different kinds of fabric.

My hairstyle was inspired by the crazy styles you see in pictures of Parisian women during the war. Rather extravagant and lots of volume and piled curls. Probably to complement the big hats and turbans of the day and to make up for the lack of new dresses.

More still to come :)

Autumn

Beautiful red with white dots that look like whip cream...... sounds like a piece of sweet cake.. nope poisonous mushroom. Very pretty nevertheless and it really does look tasty close up.

Looks so well with red lip stick too, it should have been either a cake or a hat :P

Enough of this dangerous mushroom. A clear sign that autumn has arrived and with it colder weather and warmer dresses and coats. Some examples: covers of autumn issues and autumn trends from 'Het Rijk de Vrouw'1939-1940

World animal day:crow

These pictures were taken in 2010 when I had a pet crow, world animal day made me remember them. The little crow fell out of its nest that was very high up in a tree. It was tame from the beginning, probably because I fed it(cat food, and about eveything else). Crows are wonderful pets, very smart and sociable. 'Kraai' was very fond of shiny and brightly colored objects (like a maqgpie). If it could get hold of something it would parade around proudly and hide the treasure when noone was looking (you could see Kraai checking out if people or other animals were watching). Spoons hairpins, orange pens etc. hidden all over the garden. Kraai was also very talkative and the pictures are suposed to be a 'conversation'.

At the end of the summer Kraai left and never came back. I hope I'll find another one someday.

The dress that went to see some sights

I bought this dress at the end of last summer so I have not posted on it before. It's probably late 40's made of cotton and features on quite a lot of photo's because I wore it on 'days out'. The color worked wonderfully well with all kinds of environments. Like pink flowerbeds our Boucher paintings.



Painting by Boucher in the Hamburger Kunsthalle.



When this picture was taken I had just bought a new camera with some surprising functions. I soon found out that some could be used to create funny effects, so i'm looking at Manet's 'Nana' in duplo.

My 1940's summer wardrobe

Well warm weather has arrived and as usual I've already started on the 'concepts'of my summer wardrobe(actually started in January). I normally split things up between a ca. 1935-50 and a 1950-65 part.
Last year I wore a lot of cotton 50's dresses. Most of the 40's dresses I owned were made of rayon crepe, a fabric that is somewhat chalenging to wash. The dangers of shrinkage an color bleeding are always luring over the side of my bathtub (where I wash most vintage pieces since I do not trust dry cleaning. Also: most of my 40's dresses were in autumnal wintry colors or black (lots of 3/4 and long sleeves too). Lately I bought several late 30's and 40's dresses that will do perfect for this summer.
For now just a quick repost of some 40's summer looks I already posted.



First is a late '40 or early 50's cotton dress. The hem has been taken up so it falls on my knee so the dress looks rather mid 40's.



A blue crepe dress. Perfect for days that are not too warm or to sunny. I wore it quite often last summer.......


A bolero suit ideal because it is not a floral dress but something a bit more serious.


Late 30's silk dress, quite frail,quite precious, not easy to clean,difficult.....

Sunny solemn sunday

Yesterday was the first day it really felt like spring. A perfect time to spend in the open air. Instead of a usual park I visited Zorgvlied a cemetery near Amsterdam with a friend. The atmosphere is ofcourse rahter solemn, a perfect place for contemplation.








As most old cemeteries Zorgvlied houses many animals and plants. These blooming flowers (also keeping in mind that flowers were used as vanitas symbols throughout history) make you think even more.......

Playing dress-up

Today I played dress-up with this dramatic '30's evening gown. I bought it as a birthday present for myself. It's condition was far from perfect but overall it is strong enough to wear. I suppose I'd never dare to wear a dress like if was in a perfect state.Now I can just be dramatic sweeping the floor with my train without worying myself about ruining it...



Because taking pictures of me just standing there in a dress is just too boring I tried something different....



I think the look in this photographs turned out more Victorian/Edwardian than 30's but that probably has something to do with my upswept hairstyle.

What I have been doing

Two outfits form around 1900 the brown one is regional dress.


I've not been a very diligent blogger these last months (or year even). Here's why:
the pictures below give an impression of the exhibition I 'made' for museum Freriks in Winterswijk (Netherlands). The exhibiton was an overview of their costume collection. And yes 'was' because it ended about a week ago.
So...this is what I've been doing the last half year or so. It was the second exhibition I 'did' for this museum. (the first was held in the summer and was on women's fashion 1925-65)



My favorite dress, style polular between ca. 1845-60. Just love it...so subtle and unpretentious but material is truly stunning.



Same dress with other dresses. Purple dress is a cross-over between regional and fashionablke dress. ca. 1860-75. The skirt of the black dress might have been sestyled to be an underskirt. The bodice has some padding in the bust area. ca. 1850-65



Me and the head of collections of the museum.



The intricate detail of a mantle (pelerine)



Small silk shoulder pelerine



Stages of dressing (regional dress) around 1900, underwear, underskirts with detacheable pocket, skirt jacket and lace cap, going out wear: pelerine (little mantle) and hat worn over cap.



Detail of skirts and stocking. Exept for the white cotton underskirt all the skirts are made of heavy material, mostly wool.



Hat with velvet and silk flowers, originally worn over a white cap.




Boned girdle with fan laced back. These kind of girdles were still worn in the 50's so it is hard to tell exactly how old it is. ca. 1930-1960



Cap made of cotton worn for parties (but not for church). Placed next to a mamoth tooth.


White lace caps. The blouse is made out of the delicate lace several old caps, possibly during or just after the second world war.


'Caraco' jacket. Probably form the closing decades of the eigteenth century. Possibly (still or again)worn in the early nineteenth century.



Infants or todlers dress, mid nineteenth century.



Jacket and cap for a baby. 18th century. The figuring is achieved by stitching.


Silk pin cushion. The needles form the words 'welkom in 't leven'(welcome to life).


This is where the clothes are usually stored.