Earlier in the year – before the start of the Corona-virus crisis, we added a ‘Dutch farmer’s wife’ outfit to the TRC Collection. The garments were made in 1945 for a parade in the De Sitterlaan, Leiden, to celebrate the liberation of Leiden by the Canadians and others in May 1945. The dress will feature in the forthcoming TRC exhibition 'Textile Tales from the Second World War', which will open on the 16th September.

Mw Tineke van der Staaij, 81 years old, sitting in front of the Volendam-style outfit (with the characteristic white cap) made for her by her mother when she was six years old. She wore the garments at a liberation parade in Leiden (May 1945).The outfit was made by Mw. Van der Staaij for her daughter, Tineke, who was six years old at the time. The clothing was based on regional dress worn in Volendam in Noord-Holland and consists of a black blouse, bodice, scarf, white cap, as well as a striped skirt and apron (TRC 2020.0592a-f). All sorts of material were used to make the outfit, including part of a 19th century curtain for the apron. The family, so we heard, still treasures the sewing machine that was used for these and many other items.

This morning we welcomed two unexpected visitors – Tineke van der Staaij, who is now 81 years old, and her younger sister!

Although the exhibition is not quite finished, we did a special guided tour for them, including showing the ‘Volendam’ outfit which Tineke had worn as a little girl 75 years ago. She and her sister are going to come back after the opening on the 16th September, with more members of their respective families – it's not often that a six-year old Tineke is in an exhibition!

Gillian Vogelsang-Eastwood, 7th September 2020