A moment of truth

 The big box of cards was on my agenda for today.  Old photos and postcards. You know all these Happy New Year and To my dearest one  and all that crap… Card after a card to be turned over and checked because many of them had been signed by quite famous musicians and artists. Thus they have some cultural heritage value.

So I was working hard and at 5 pm that was it! It hit me hard.  I had been doing this over a month now! I’M FED OFFFFFFFF with all this crap!
I was so close just to throw all the stuff out! And then one picture made my day… Not a post card, a photo, twice as big as a standard postcard (so quite large for the time). The street of a town in a fog. On the back it’s “Dear brother! Sending You this to show that not all about this war is straight forward. A lot of fog as well! Your Albert” After all these stupid glossy flowers and just another Kaiser Wilhelm on the horse… Just one pure moment of life…. A little glimpse into the reality!

I have no idea who took the picture or where it was taken, but it’s special. At least for me. One glimpse from the past.
By some reason it remained me the old novel Time and Again by Jack Finney. It was published somewhere in 70's if I'd remember right. How to return back, really return back, how to find the real people behind these frozen, faded faces in the old photos. Today I found one. I feel so rich right now!

P.S. Just few hours later. Harry Harrison has died. Do you remember his Technicolor Time Machine? Along with Time and Again, these two were among my favorite Sci Fi books.  Ray Bradbury did left us as well just two monhs ago... Another glimpse of the past... another tiny parachute of dandelion seed  blown away into the Time River..

Happy again

So now I’m happy. I was turning the house over and over as I was missing one important thing. The crown of the national costume. I did find all other parts but not the crown. OK, it’s just an old embroidered piece, falling apart and no big value but I hated the idea that it has been lost. Now I found it – alone a drawer in completely wrong company, but it’s survived.  It has lost it big glass beads on top which my granny has replaced by small round pearl-shell bits (but I still have the bag of original glass beads) so I will be able to find similar ones to replace the missing ones and repair it properly one day (or I will leave it to my daughters, they need some fun as well LOL).

Our national costume is basically the traditional festive outfit of peasants, craftsmen, fishermen, and other ordinary folk as worn through the centuries, approximately up to the 1870s.

 The traditional costume or rather stylised variations of it became a symbol of Latvian culture in the 1880s, as part of the national song festival. To this day, the traditional costume is an essential element of the song festival. Picture on the left shows a modern day copy, available on market for about $ 200.

The full outfit was not thinkable without a headdress: a crown, a hat or a headscarf. As far as we know, so for at least a thousand years, the head covering served to signify the wearer's marital status. The symbolic covering for a maiden was a wreath or crown ; in some regions, a ribbon served the same purpose

The little girls usually were wearing just a ribbon in their hair for an important event, or a wreath of wild flowers. Early teens started wearing an embroidered ribbon, a smaller, flexible version of a crown, and only grown up girls, ready for marriage, were wearing a full crown. Each area has it’s own style and patterns thus it was like an address book, telling from which part the girl comes. 

The teen stage “little crown” is already gone – I remember wearing it sometimes as a child and it was falling apart then but the main crown is still alive.  

And the best news – I’m back, digging in to my stash now and choosing the colours! Hey, sewing machine, glad to meet you again!         

Tales of the past 6. National costume

Do not worry, this is the last post dedicated to my granny's treasures. (Well, I had not had only one granny LOL). So today I am showing the most valuable bits (for me, of course). The national costume.

Latvian national costume had similar principles like Scottish kilts only instead of one family colours and patterns each village had their own. For women its mostly woollen skirt, linen shirt and bodice. Large woollen scarf with embroidery, rich knitted socks and the head bits - from simple ribbon for young girls to really a crown like creation for the bride and down to colourful head scarfs for married ladies.

In my drawers there are actually parts of two different national costumes, as my granny was the only child. She got them from both sides of the family and so they were kept.

This one is from Barta region - black skirt with the red line at the bottom, red bodice and white shirt with black embroidery. It has been well worn and some things are missing - for example, the silver brocade ribbons which decorated the bodice, but otherwise all in all in good condition.




Skirt

The wrong side (you can see that the decorative ornament is not weaved but just sewn in)

 

The shirt

Linen, with black embroidery

 The sleeve ends are wide and flat.

 The bodice

Bodice has been worn a lot and is really worn out. It has sateen lining which also is starting to break apart so now it needs a copy to be made. But anyway - I will keep it and I will pass it to my oldest dayghter... People here are strange to keep such old pieces but by some reason we are really proud to still have them.

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This shirt is part of Lielvarde national costume, the other part which is still alive is the belt I told before here. The united bodice/skirt bit my mother had been wearing during the WWII as a daily dress and it didn't survived.

The shirt also had been worn a lot and the sleeves needed some serious repair. I remember how my granny started the job, nearly did all the embroydery and then she had a heartattack.

The needle is still holding the red threar. And now I think - do I really need to finish the job or keeping it how it is it will have the memories about my granny.







The original sleeve end, Below the expanded copy (original is the narrow one), made by my granny (not finished, still one row missing)

Fishscale Embroidery

While digging through granny’s drawer I found another piece - pillow case - which might be interesting  because of once popular but now nearly forgotten technique. This manner of embroidery became a novelty during the nineteenth century. By using a variety of coloured fish-scales, very effective borders and designs could be made at a negligible cost.

The most suitable backgrounds for the opalescent tint of fish-scales were velvet, velveteen, plush, satin, or silk, in various shades of green, blue or pink.

 The best scales were those of brilliant iridescent hues with deep serrations, such as could be found in the perch and in some varieties of carp. Other type fish-scales that were beautiful were also utilised, amongst them the luminously coloured scales of the common goldfish. The most brilliant colouring, or rather iridescence, was found in the female; the scales were larger too.
Typically the scales were prepared while quite fresh by cleansing them thoroughly, or, if necessary, by soaking them in clear water until soft and pliable. The fishy smell would pass off entirely, and the thin membrane would roll up, only adhering at one side of each scale.
I remember soaking them in dishwashing solution before drying out as well as ironing them. In the picture you can see white little spots decorating scales – it’s simple punctuating by needle or awl.The edges were trimmed by scissors to fit the flat decor but Victorians managed to create really stunning 3D flowers.

Ancient bikini

I do not write fashion - there are so many who do it way better. But! I told at the beginning - I love history. And this again proves that history is worth to be loved. Fashionistas, hey, we all know about bikini... How it was invented and all that... Also a history, and a well documented one. Then...
how about these knickers?

A bit worn out for a 60 years old bikini? Well, yes, they are a bit older - date back to the 15th century!!!

And the whole history of bra now must to be rechecked as - again - recent discovery in a vault beneath the floorboards of Lengberg castle in East Tyrol, Austria shows a great linen bra, dated about 1480.
So no, it' not about our grand grandmother's generation - now this find takes us back into comfortable fashion designs of 15th century!
Read more here and here, it is well worth it.
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 And even more! Look at these wonderful laces!
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The info about them here for more detailed read.
And if you really want to know more, there will be a chance for these of you, who will be in UK in October.

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Saturday, 27th October 2012 9:30 am

Well Worn Weeds: Underclothes, Linens and Vegetable fibres worn next to the body.

Venue: The British Musem’s Stevenson Theatre.

The Conference will examine numerous aspects of vegetable fibre underclothes, from fibre production to medical philosophy. Highlights include the recent discoveries of 14th & 15th C linen undergarments from Lengberg Castle in Austria, including the two bra/bustier garments.
Doors open 9:00am for registration.
9:30-10:30, MEDATS AGM. Members only.

11:00 Conference begins.
Sessions throughout the day include;
Linen production in the Low Countries – Frieda Sorba
All indecent! – 15th century linen underwear from Lengberg Castle, East-Tyrol, Austria – Beatrice Nutz
Documentary Evidence of the Linen trade in Florence in the mid 15th C – Jane Bridgeman.
Linen and the Plague. – examining the medical beliefs surrounding linen in the period prior to 1600 – Susan North.
15th and 16th century linens, Evolutions in Cut – Jenny Tiramani
5:00 Conference ends.
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I think I have decided what I want for my birthday! LOL

And something just for fun... Carry him home! Carry him home!

Few of my favorite things... I

I like antique. I did like them as a child and was growing up surrounded by them. I did love the smell of an old book, glitter of china and all the mysteries about the items - some had full history, some needed a story to make. Do not get me wrong, I like modern things, but it's great feeling, for example, using my granny's Singer  which was bought for her wedding on 1907. Material value of such things do not bother me. My favorite things has no high market value and impressive price tags. They simply are priceless for me.


Few years ago I become a proud owner of this little bag which belonged to my grand grandaunt. It's in mint condition outside and inside, with so many little precious details, and the sateen inside...

Metal parts are plated silver but it does not matter because I simply love this little handbag - as a handbag and as a memory holder.

I remember visiting grand grandaunt as a little child and all I remember - she had an impressive china stand where behind the glass were china figurines. When she passed away, I got two of my favourite... a squirrel and a hippo. When you are five, squirrel is much more interesting than a handbag.

Now, when I look at this handbag, I always try to imagine my grand grandaunt... what she was wearing with it... Where she was taking it - knowing her, it was Opera for sure... But where else?

When I was 17, her daughter gave me pair of new, shiny shoes... From 1920's. Now I regret it so much because I did wore them until they completely gave up just in few months - such leather does age fast.

She was quite a lady - her husband was famous violinist, her brother - publisher and writer, and she had travelled a lot around Europe between the wars. Her last years were not so happy but she still had a lot of interesting peoples around, helping her ignore the reality.