Eco-Chic: Natural Clothes at Keukenhof Gardens

   On a recent trip to Amsterdam, I visited the world famous Keukenhof Gardens where they put on a yearly flower display from March to May. Inside they had a pavilion with flowers on display along with mannequins wearing very interesting garments. At first glance, the dresses looked like they were constructed from fabric of some kind, but upon further examination I discovered that these garments were not made from any fabric material at all. They were were created solely from natural materials, including tree bark, egg shells, tree moss, leaves, straw, and sea shells.

   My favorite dresses had to be the egg shell dress and the sea shell dress. From a distance, the first looked like a sophisticated black and white patterned dress with a figure-hugging silhouette. When getting closer to the garment it was intriguing to see how they used the inside and outside of broken egg shells to create the black and white pattern. 

    

     

   The second dress was slightly bulkier than the egg shell dress but because of the shells, the dress had this pearly shine that made it stand out. From far away you would never know this dress was made from various types of shells and starfish. Although I'm unsure as to the construction of these garments, the selection of materials that were used made each piece extremely creative and innovative.

By: Caitlyn Schultz