Museum of Bags and Purses

   While in Amsterdam I visited the Museum of Bags and Purses where they had an exhibition of bags ranging from the 17^th century all the way to the 21^st century. Starting from the earliest decade and working their way to current bags of the 2000's, the museum was full of different techniques of bag creation and materials, including embroidery, beading, ivory, plastic, leathers and skins, lace, velvet, metal, straw, wood, and tortoiseshell. 

   Each century evolved into using more sophisticated materials but I found the 17^th and 18^th century to be most intriguing. During this time bags and purses were used by both men and women to transport coins, documents, papers, bibles, holy relics, and personal items like key and cosmetics. They hung from waistbands or were attached to belts using long chords. Each bag also had a specific function. There were bags just to hold documents, and bags well as bags to carry gambling chips in. A bag filled with fragrant petals or perfumed powder petals would be hung around the waist and was known as a sweetbag. The most expensive bags and purses were made with embroidery in silk, gold, and silver thread.

   As times evolved and materials become more and more sophisticated, beaded bags became popular during the 19^th century as well as the use of ivory mixed with leather, snakeskin, and tortoiseshell. 

   During the early 2000's novelty bags in various shapes including cruise ships, telephones, fish, postcards, and champagne bottles became a fad. At the end of the exhibit, there was a displayed filled with iconic bags over the years from designers such as Chanel, Pierre Cardin, Yves Saint Laurent, and Mulberry. This museum was very interesting because it really showed the evolution of handbags from the middle ages all the up to current times and how much styles, shapes, materials, and purposes of purses and handbags have changed over 400 years.

By: Caitlyn Schultz

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

Hidden Gem: the Davanzati museum

Last weekend, I went to the Davanzati museum, which is a building I walk by often, and had hardly ever heard of. Sometimes, like in this case, those hidden places turn into some of the best and most memorable museums in town. For only 2 euro, this well preserved Palazzo  from the 14th century shows perfectly how a Florentine house would be when the Davanzati family lived there (from 1578-1838.) Included in the palazzo, among the bedrooms, bathrooms (in original form) and general rooms, are tools used during the time, like kitchen cauldrons, an old recipe book, and some looms, and textile working tools, as this was part of their daily work.
It was very interesting to see the different types of machines they would use in fabric production. A spinning tool, to use by hand to spin cotton was there, as well as looms, very large and probably very heavy shears, as well as threads were visible. I remember reading about how sacred it was, and still is for tailors to actually cut the fabric and I could only imagine how precious these shears were at the time. They also have a large selection of lace, and the ones on display were nothing short of breathtaking.

These are so impressive because of their beauty, and the craftsmanship. All of this lace, of course, is handmade. The lace ranges many different time periods and styles, from scarves to table decoration. There are also paintings of people with lace collars for example, to reinforce the importance and probably the richness of lace.
I recommend for everyone to visit this wonderful, enchanting museum which brings you back in time! I won't spoil any more so that you can experience for yourself! Located at Via Porta Rossa 13 the museum is open Monday to Sunday, 8.15-13.50, but with many exceptions so look it up first!




by
Gabriella Bonatesta


Picture from http://bagnidilucca.wordpress.com/2011/03/03/palazzo-davanzati-a-house-in-florence/

When In Rome

When I was in Rome there were a ton of “Roman soldiers” in front of the Coliseum. The photogenic soldiers were dressed in red and gold outfits that comprised of a breast place, pleated skirt, helmet, and shield. This had me wondering what the actual dress of the Roman soldier was.

The Roman Army, at the peak of its power, conquered what we now call England/Wales, Spain, France, most of Germany, the northern coast of Africa, the Middle East and Greece. The lowest level of soldier in the Roman Army was the legionnaire. Between 5000 and 6000 legionaries made up a legion that was commanded by a legatus. Legionnaires were trained to fight in a disciplined and well coordinated manner. A whole legion could be punished for failing to fight well in battle even if they won the battle.

There were 3 main weapons that a legionnaire took into battle; the pilum, the galdius, and the pugio. The pilum was similar to the javelin today. This weapon was meant to be thrown at the enemy to disrupt their line of defense. The gladius was the main weapon during battle. The gladius was a very sharp blade sword. Lastly the pugio was a small dagger which was used a last resort. The legionnaire also carried a shield known as a scutum.

The basic clothing including the tunic or cloaks of the Roman soldier was either red dyed with madder or undyed material giving an off-white color. Braccae is the Latin term for trousers, a style of pants, made from wool, which became popular with soldiers in the colder climates of the Empire. The Military Tunic (Tunica) was a wide, shirt-like, undergarment made of a long piece of rectangular cloth usually made of wool, cotton or linen depending on the climate. The tunic was made with great care to the exact length considered correct for the rank of the wearer. Pteruges, (aka pteryges) from Greek word meaning feathers, refers to the decorative strips of leather (lappets) which hung below the waist and from the shoulders of Roman legionaries. The skirt or apron was made up of leather strips and heavily studded with metal. Offering little protection, the apron would have been used as a display and as a source of noise. The Roman Soldiers also used the apron / skirt as decoration by attaching tokens and discs to signify the campaigns he had fought in. The protective armor covered the clothes of the soldier and consisted of the helmet (galea) was made of metal (usually iron), shoulder, arm and leg guards. The socks (udones) were quite common apparel sometimes worn without a toe or heel. Leg wrappings or leg bindings (puttees) were strips of material wrapped from the ankle up to the calf of the leg.

While the costumes of the “Roman soldiers” outside the Coliseum are clearly not perfect replicas they definitely show elements of the true Roman soldier attire.

By: Marisa Silber