My Flickr Favorites : Traditional Costume Zaanstreek, The Netherlands

Today we move south from West Friesland to the Zaan district, staying within the province of North-Holland. This was a very rich area, and you can see that clearly in the traditional costumes. The dress was 6 meters wide and made of silk damask. The headdress existed of a black under cap, a white intermediate cap with embroidery, an upper cap of batiste with broad lace and a golden head-iron of 7 cm width with a large number of golden needles, sometimes decorated with diamonds. To protect this expensive headdress if you went outside, the "Zaanse kaper" was put on top of it. This broad over cap, mostly made of shot silk (dark outside, light inside), was stiffened by whale bones and cardboard. The lower part formed a small cape around the shoulders.

For more flickr favourites see ArtMind's blog.

1. april, 2. Doopsgezinden gemeenschap 29, 3. Optocht, 4. 306356


And two picture postcards from my own collection.