Sources
Arnolli, Gieneke. “The Mysterious Hindeloopen Chintz Wentke Revealed.” ICOM, 2014.
“De Japonse Rok | Modemuze.” Modemuze, 7 May 2015, www.modemuze.nl/themas/de-japonse-rok.
Van Heemstra, Fejo Schelto Sixma. “De klederdracht van hindelopen.” University of Groningen, Jan. 1950, research.rug.nl/en/publications/de-klederdracht-van-hindelopen.
“Kanten Floddermuts - Museum.frl.” Museum.frl, 13 June 2019, www.museum.frl/collectie/objecten/100005648.
Van Slooten-Kaan, G., and T. P. Straat-Osinga. “150 Jaar Mode En Dracht.” DE VRIJE FRIES, 25th ed., pp. 33–48. koninklijkfriesgenootschap.nl/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/DVF_1972_52.pdf.
Teunissen, José, and M. Gibbs. “The Netherlands.” Bloomsbury, 2010, www-bloomsburyfashioncentral-com.access.authkb.kb.nl/encyclopedia-chapter?docid=b-9781847888570&tocid=b-9781847888570-EDch8039&st=friesland.
Vrielink, Anne. “Kledij Van De Bewoners Van Het Terpengebied in De Vroege Middeleeuwen.” Paleo-aktueel, no. 32, Sept. 2022, pp. 69–77. https://doi.org/10.21827/pa.32.69-77.
“OORIJZER”
The most typical part of the traditional dress of Frisian women is the headdress. This consists of a metal headpiece and one or more textile hats (Van Slooten-Kaan and Straat-Osinga). The metal headpiece keeps the headscarf or hat in place. Over time the metal headpiece evolves to become wider. Around 1600 the headpiece could be around 5 mm wide and through this evolution would almost cover the complete head around 1860.
The round buttons on the sides of the headpiece become bigger, more flat and move towards the ear. In the nineteenth century, the buttons were decorated with a flower in a pot. After 1850 they started to become smaller and decorated with a more delicate geometric pattern. The shape, the high costs and the influence of the urban dress made the headdress disappear from daily use (Van Slooten-Kaan and Straat-Osinga).
“FLODDERMUTS”
The “floddermuts” is a layered lace headdress which is part of the Frisian traditional dress (Van Slooten-Kaan and Straat-Osinga). In order to wear this headdress, the woman’s hair had to be kept short because it should not be visible. The hair was covered by a white undercap and a piece of jewelry in the neck . On top of this, a smaller black undercap and the metal headpiece were worn. The outside layer was the “floddermuts” which was further decorated by adding golden jewelry on both sides of the head. The “floddermuts” became shorter over time. Most women would only wear this “floddermuts” during weekend days. During the week the white and black cap with the metal headpiece sufficed (Van Slooten-Kaan and Straat-Osinga).
HINDELOOPEN
Hindeloopen is a small town in the southwestern part of the province Friesland (Van Heemstra). Barely any information is remaining about Hindeloopen in the early Middle Ages (500-1000). It is assumed that the people from Hindeloopen sailed the European waters, just like people from the neighboring cities. In the seventeenth century Amsterdam became more influential as a growing trading city. Hindeloopen’s trade became more and more focussed on Amsterdam and the city was the home port from which the Hindeloopen ships would depart.
After the Dutch-English war in 1780 Hindeloopen had a hard time financially and the Hindeloper ships almost completely disappeared from the sea. Hindeloopen slowly transformed from trading city into a fishing village and the population of the city halved.
The traditional clothing of the Hidenoper population was different from the traditional ways of dressing in other parts of Friesland. The Hindeloopen way of living has developed itself separately which is now (for outsiders barely) visible in a difference in belief and outlook on life. In language, architecture, traditional clothing, customs and decorative art this distinction is more obvious (Van Heemstra).
The traditional dress in Hindeloopen still used patterns from the sixteenth century around 1780. In the rest of the country this had already become unfashionable.
CHINTZ
In the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, Amsterdam was the city where products like Chinese porcelain and Indian cotton fabrics arrived and were sold. Hindeloopen flourished as well as Amsterdam throughout this time because of its connection with the city (Arnolli).
Long garments or wentkes in Hindeloopen, made of plain linen or wool in different colors were found in Hindeloopen inventories. In the eighteenth century Hindeloopen’s women started to discover the colorful Indian ginghams and chintzes that arrived in Amsterdam. Slowly these women started to use the cotton fabrics in their wentkes. The chintz had been spreading throughout Europe in the sixteenth century, but it became really in fashion only in the eighteenth century. The fabric was used only in the home environment at first for interior textiles and morning gowns. A Japanese kimono style gown became a popular garment. This was the Japonse rok, also using the chintz fabric, which was also worn outside as an outer layer (“De Japonse Rok | Modemuze”). Hindeloopen women were possibly inspired by the colorful fashion they saw in the streets of Amsterdam. As the chintz was an expensive material, these wentkes were garments for special occasions. The short version, ‘kassekijntje’ was worn more commonly (Arnolli).
FRISIAN DRESS
Vrielink, A. researched whether there was a particular and distinctive Frisian style of dress in the early Middle Ages (Vrielink). This study shows that more complex woven patterns like tartans were worn by most social classes, that lighter colors as well as dark colors were worn and that dress and accessories were used to express gender and social status. The research also indicated that even though a specific “Frisian” dress was not determined, the Frisian way of dressing had its specific elements (Vrielink). Examples of these elements are “het oorijzer”, “de floddermuts” and the chintz (Teunissen and Gibbs).
Unmarried woman in traditional costume of Hindeloopen, 1790-1792.
Collection Rijksmuseum Amsterdam. http://hdl.handle.net/10934/RM0001.COLLECT.515172.
Oorijzer West-Friesland, 1812-1813.
https://www.modemuze.nl/collecties/oorijzer-uit-west-friesland
Floddermuts from 1880-1900. Here worn on top of a golden headpiece (“Kanten Floddermuts - Museum.frl”).
