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October is LGBTQ+ History Month and the TRC was recently given a cheeky textile memento of American lesbian life (TRC 2022.2570).

The object is a square-shaped appliquéd panel, approximately 48 cm x 38 cm, with a plain white backing. The front depicts a beach scene. Five couples are kissing and cuddling on beach towels, under big umbrellas. Strewn around them are four palm trees (including one with coconuts), sandals, bags and a beach ball. There are mountains in the background, birds in the sky, and a bright yellow sun.

Appliqué cloth from Hawai'i, early 2000s (TRC 2022.2570).

We also see the upper torsos of six figures swimming in the sea, and another two in sailboats. All the figures are nude and female, judging by their breasts and long, yarn-like hair. Care has been taken to show some individuality, as there are different hair and skin colours.

This appliqué, according to the donor, was purchased second-hand in Honolulu, Hawai’i (USA) in the early 2000s. The donor further said that the textile was made to commemorate Sandy Beach in Honolulu, where lesbians gathered every Sunday for many years in the late 1990s to at least 2010. Hawai’i, a Polynesian archipelago in the Pacific Ocean, has been a very popular tourist destination for decades. Honolulu is the state capital and port of entrance for most tourists.

Waikiki is the most popular, thus famous, beach near Honolulu. Given the fact the figures are nude, which is generally illegal on American beaches, and the affection the couples are expressing, it’s possible this is a private, women-only, beach.

Arpillera from Chile, 2015, Made to mark the disappearance of Chilean men and women (TRC 2015.0401).

The panel’s appliqué style is reminiscent of arpilleras from Chile (compare TRC 2015.0401). Both examples use appliqué, including small, three dimensional cloth dolls; are made from scrap fabric; and show normally invisible scenes from women’s lives.

In Chile, arpilleras were made by women, and while the maker of the lesbian panel is unknown, it was likely made by a woman, too. In the case of Chilean arpilleras, the makers showed scenes of human rights violations by the Pinochet military dictatorship (1973-1990). Smuggled out of Chile, arpilleras raised international awareness of the dictatorship’s abuses—which is why it was made illegal to own or publicly show arpilleras inside Chile.

Chilean arpilleras made during the dictatorship had a political message. While the scene depicted on the appliqué from Hawai’i is far more playful, the fact that it portrays lesbians enjoying themselves without shame or secrecy is also political. It is a statement of visibility and pride by a minority whose lives are still criminalized in many countries.

You can see more textiles about LGBTQ+ lives in the TRC’s digital exhibition Rainbow People.

Shelley Anderson, 24 Octobeer 2022

Can you believe it? Neither could we!

Obverse of paper 50,000,000 mark banknote, Bielefeld, Germany, 1923 (TRC 2022.2255).

We sometimes talk about the 'TRC effect', whereby the things we wish for tend to come through the door in a matter of days. Well, the fifty million was certainly on our wish list for some time. And there it was, in a fashion, on paper. And have you ever seen legal tender made from embroidered silk or printed linen before?

I feel exhausted! Last Monday, 3 October, people in Leiden celebrated the lifting of the Spanish siege of Leiden in 1574. A week before Willem and I attended a big gala in the Pieterskerk, and for the weekend of 1-3 October there was a large fair in Leiden, a parade, and lots and lots of people from all over the Netherlands and elsewhere. And I also experienced another feature of the Leiden fair – a flat tyre on my bicycle due to the broken glass (mainly beer glasses) that was all over the place….

TRC book fair, 8 October 2022

Tuesday saw the TRC preparing books and magazines for the textile book sale held on Saturday, 7 October, which we had promised would include at least 400 textile and dress books. It took a lot of work to sort, sticker and box the books and we were feeling very proud of ourselves until we discovered a couple of other boxes of unsorted books!

It is noticeable from the increased number of emails and phone calls that word about the work, collection and courses associated with TRC is rapidly spreading both nationally and internationally. The diversity of what we do and the wide range of backgrounds of those who reach out to the TRC is a sure sign we are doing something that is needed!

Detail of an embroidered dress from northern Jordan (TRC 2005.0078).

I have never been more aware of the importance and variety of dress and identity than this week!

The last few weeks were dominated by the death of Queen Elizabeth II, with many accounts of her life, reign, and of course her clothing styles over the decades and the outfits she wore for her coronation and other major events in her life. Following the announcement of her death, it was also noticeable that the royal family (as well as BBC television presenters) were in black for the ten days of official mourning, although members of the public seldom were.

The hearse carrying the Queens coffin emerges from the gates of Holyrood Palace, guarded by the Royal Company of Archers. Copyright: Brian_D_Anderson/REX/Shutterstock

(21 Sept.) A few weeks ago Gillian and I went to the province of Zeeland, in the southwest of the Netherlands. We spent some time in Middelburg, the province's capital. We visited the Abbey, a complex of buildings in the town's centre that dates back to the Middle Ages and that since 1576 (and the eviction of the previous Catholic occupants) has been the centre of the provincial administration. Right now it also includes the Zeeuws Museum, the provincial museum.

Detail of 'The siege of Veere', May 1572. Two 'rebel' ships attacking a Spanish ship. The tapestry was designed by Hendrik Vroom in 1599, and woven in Middelburg.

Detachable collar, the Netherlands, 20th century (TRC 2016.0806).The story goes that in the 1820s a New York housewife was fed up with the amount of laundry she had to take care of. The laundry basket contained a large pile of men’s shirts, many of which not even dirty, only the collar was greasy from rubbing against her husband’s neck and hair all day.

She took her scissors and cut off the collar from the rest of the shirt. She washed the collar and sewed buttons and buttonholes on both the collar and shirt to re-attach the collar afterwards. The beginning of a new trend.

Detachable collars were indeed first seen in the 1820s. During that time the white collar was a symbol of social affluence. Keeping shirts and their collars clean was costly and time consuming. A detachable collar simply meant less laundry, which attributed to its success.The introduction of the detachable collar also meant that a larger group of men could afford a white collared shirt. 

A recent acquisition of the TRC is a sampler made by a girl called ‘Sanneke’ (TRC 2022.2990). It has a familiar look: I have seen quite a few comparable examples offered for sale on online market places. Sanneke must have seen a chart, or she may even have had a kit of an original. That explains the two dates on the sampler: 1821 and 1978. The original must have been made in 1821; Sanneke's copy was finished in 1978.

Sampler from 1978, based on original from Amsterdam from 1821 (TRC 2021.2990).