Grand night out

About two weeks ago I had a very stylish night out with friends. I celebrated my birthday of the week before.

I wore a 1930's eveningdress that I got as a birthday present whilst shopping with my mother. It is of a liquid bias cut silk velvet en a very warm brown. I also bought the blue dress in the picture (which I wore to work on my actual birthday)

 

Below some outfit inspiration with similar dresses from 1937-1939 magazines.

 

 

 

 

One of the most stunning features of the dress is the deep back cleavage. A very common feature in the 30's but not without its problems, because normal lingerie would show.

 

These newspaper drawings from the early 30's show the popular bare back & a slipdress that was ajusted to it. 

 

Brassière, Le Grisina Ivisible, ca. 1928-1932, Rijksmuseum Amsterdam

 

This original brassiere from the late 20's/early 30's I've researched for my thesis gave me the idea how to ajust my own to the bare back dress.

 

The solution is a single elastic strap with hooks and eyes at the ends.

 

You clip it on one side of your brah wrap it around your body and attach it to the other side. Will work with almost every bra.

You CAN buy these ofcourse but way cheaper (and far more fun) to make it yourself.

 

 

 

As for the accessoiries, I kept it demure as the dress was quite sexy enough in itself:

My favorite haircomb again, earrings of glass beads with tassels & a wool fabric purse

 

 My friend Martine stayed over and we dressed up together. One of the things I love about going out are the preparations, and they are so much more fun when you are with more than one girl.

The picture below, again from an old newpaper, captures the atmosphere of dressing up perfectly I think.

 

 

This is me in the dress.

 

 

These pictures were taken at the party in the the powder room. It suits the theme of dressing up so I show them here. It really was a powder/dressing room where we all touched up our make-up and secured bits of our outfits (and took the occasional sip from a hipflask with  strong liquor ;))

 

These lovely ladies are: Sabra in a dress from 1928 she borrowed from me, Annemarie in an early 30's dress I found for her years ago, a girl we just met in white, Martine in a velvet dress she found the day before after her other dress dit not arrive in time & me.

 

Before going to the party we had dinner at Grand Café 1e Klas at Amsterdam Central Station where I tend to go a LOT. 

 

Another  vintage picture showing a decadent dinner with beautiful people, great inspiration for my birthday dinner:  

The atmosphere was (again) captured perfectly by Loïc. So all credits of the photo's below: Loïc Benot 

 

 

 Martine (there are two, confusing I know & more on het outfit later) and me in front of one of the 'palmtrees' at the restaurant.

The grand Café has a very authentic 19th century feel to it. It used to be the waiting room for the firstclass passengers. Because it is situated at Central Station it is an ideal place to meet up with people which I do regularly. It looks quite fancy but it is actually still affordable.

Lynn, her hair, such perfection!

 Martine expressing herself ;)

 

 Girls talk, talk talk ;)

 The clocks still remind you this was once a waiting room.

 

Then off to the party: Lili Marleen at the Grand hotel, so the theme was The Grand Amsterdam Hotel (parody on the title of the Wes Anderson movie, 'The Grand Budapest Hotel', you must see if you haven't already). I was lucky this party took place only a week after my birthday so I did not have to bother organizing anything myself!

 

Some more newpaper pictures from 1929, depicting a similar party ;)

 

 

The Grand used to be the town hall of Amsterdam and the room where the party was held used to be the city counsil chamber. It was refurbished in the late 1920's by some big names in Dutch design of the interwar years. The interior was designed by Willem Penaat, with statues of Hildo Krop, Mendes da Costa and others and wall paintings by Thorn Prikker. These names might mean little to people outside the Netherlands but they were proponents of the Amsterdam School style that dominated architecture and design in Amsterdam from the 1910's to the 1930's.  

 

We were a stylish bunch!

 

 

Those lamps, that carpet (though probably not original)!

 

Even more stunning than the council chamber is the wedding chamber, with the most amazing wallpaintings. These were done by Chris Lebeau, in an art nouveau/symbolistic style. The symoblism was so abstract tiles had to be put over it during WWII because it was considered degerarate art by the nazis. Luckily they were not destroyed alltogether!

 

 Martine matched the color scheme so perfectly! She wore the 1920's reproductiondress that featured in my last post but added a train with feathers from her shoulders & wore some more feathers in her hair. To me it almost looked like a 1920's court presentation ensemble! So chique!

 

 

This last picture was taken at the after-party at a café. A bit more intimate compared to the big council room. It looks like I'm telling a story around a campfire in my eveningdress ;)  

 

For some more photo's check out the internet page of Martine's company with Loïc's  vintage style pictures: http://www.beleefhetverleden.nl/vintage/

 

So this was my grand night out in Amsterdam. But I've got much more exiting stuff to tell and show you.  Next posts will include a weekend in Paris & a fashion exhibition opening!

 

Birthe