Weekend trips & Summer outfits

As promissed two weeks ago week the rest of my summer weekend trips and the outfits I wore:

The last  weekend of July there was another Club Interbellum camping weekend, just like last year. The venue was my parent's garden this time. There were a lot of guests, some slept inside however and others only came for a day. Only some die hard men slept in an old tent.

The entire group of about 20 people, photo: Loic Benot

I packed some simple floral cotton dresses and a chintz apron.

I also had a bathing outfit, because we planned on going swimming but it was pouring so I never got to wear it :(

Jip was the first to arrive on Friday, this is a 'we are bored waiting for the others' selfie.

On Saturday we visited Winterswijk instead of swimming.

For the evening barbecue Jip and I wore aprons and looked like peasant girls.

The last day I was so tired I forgot to put on make-up but I did manage to put my hat on, think it matches well with my new snood (made for me by Jip) Photo's: Loic Benot

The following weekend I had a birthday in Winschoten, in the nothern part of the Netherlands. Because it was so far it was a sleepover as well.

I wore a new to me rayon dress with abstract fruit print and a straw hat that matches ever so many dresses. 

The next day we visited Grongingen. I wore a floral cotton, with the same hat.

B-day girl and my personal guide Lisette :)

Guiding away

Groningen station

Train selfie with Martine, we travelled back together.

The weekend after that I went to my grandparent's (see last post).

Two weeks ago we had a girl's slumberparty in Alkmaar at my friend Lynn's place.

My outfit: 30's/40's rayon dress (has been on the verge of death ever since I bought it and I've mended it so many times but that print is just too lovely to let go). Again THE hat. Espadrilles my mother bought for me in Spain. I took a matching umbrella too, but luckily I did not have to use it.

Lynn is a wonderful hostess, all the food she serves is not only tasty but beautifully styled :)

We went to see some sights in Alkmaar. In the back is the 'waag' where they used to weigh things.

 

There was some wind...and up goes my skirt

This shop makes shopping for household utensils a joy! Those featherdusters!

Bought some things, starch (had been looking for it but seemed to have disapeared from normal stores), earrings and lipcote from Primark (yes Primark), and white jasmin tea.

Lynn made a lovely fruitbowl that drank like lemonade, but...

Cinnamon rolls!

Let them (us) eat cake!

Wine!

In the evening I changed into my pj's. I had made the pants as beach pyjama pants (two posts ago) but decided I wanted a pyjama fit for sleepovers (as I either had seetroughish nightgowns or flannel men's pyjama's). I still had a dress I made form the same fabric years ago that I did not wear anymore. So cut of the skirt to make it into the top. The turban is made out of the skirt.

When it was still a dress in 2010

Lynn's evening set.

My outfit for the second day: 1930's blouse combined with a 1940's/50's sundress. Most of the day we spent in our pj's on  the couch in front of the telly though, perfect Sunday!

I wore the new earrings right away together with my favorite brooch.

In the evening we went for a drink, to close off a lovely weekend!

Above is part of my packing list for the last weekend of August (no pictures of me wearing all of this though, so you'll have to imagine)

I rather like this collor combo: 30's sheer silk mousseline dress, 30's/40's cotton dress and apron, early 30's cotton dress, 40's cotton dress.

My new Primark earrings go with each of these!

Finally, after a relatively cold and wet summer it was tropical, so I could make use of some light summerdresses I bought especially for hot weather and had not been able to wear yet!

Next week I'll go on my yearly roadtrip with my father, so I'm planning outfits again. The aim is to pack light, yeah right...wishful thinking ;)

Birthe

Cycling trip down memory lane

The last and the comming weekends are full of sleepovers, but I'll try to post a full catch up somewhere next week. This post is about my trip of this weekend only. I went to my grandparents by bike togehter with my dad. We made this trip every year when I was little and was brought there to spend a few weeks during the summer. So it was very litterally a trip down memory lane.

Eventhough it was only a 3 day trip I packed several (too many) outfits.

We left from my parents house. I wore a practical skirt with kick pleat and a little rayon knit top. Practicality was important because it was a 70 km bikeride.

Some flowers along the way.

We visited the gardens of Warmelo Castle near Diepenheim.

Because the summer has been so wet (and cold) there was a lot of intense green.

View of the castle from over the pond.

There were some sand sculptures in the garden and here I'm posing in a silly way.

This is my childhood bedroom at my grandparent's, it has hardly changed since I was little. It is called the little flower room, maybe this is were my love for floral prints started. The walls are covered with paintings of fairytales made by my grandfather.

My grandmother was very happy to have a granddaughter (she had two sons) and spoiled me with lots of dolls that were dressed differently every time I visited. I had my own toys, books and wardrobe at my grandparent's as I spent several vacations a year there. My gran made clothes for me from her old (floral) dresses.

I dressed barbie dolls in clothes made from scraps of material and ribbons.

I only just realized how bizarre all the arrangements of toys really are ;)

I mean a bus full of plastic pigs?

From my bedroom window I could see the Palthe Tower on a hill. This fueled many Rapunzellike childhood fantasies (I loved fairytales). In fact it was built in the early 20th century by a rich textile family, so there was nothing romantic about it except the view.

In 1998 I first made the entire journey by bike myself and a picture was taken in the heather front of the Palthe Tower. The distance seemed so much longer when I was little. I was a bit apprehensive of getting a sore backside and legs but it turned out a piece of cake. We took another picture at the same spot, 18 years later. It was taken during a bikeride the next day as you can see by my changed outfit.

Before this we had made a walk on the heath during the morning. My grandparents live next to a beautiful nature conservation area on the 'Sallandse Heuvelrug'. My father and I go there for a walk when the heather is in bloom every August.

The dress I'm wearing is an actual 1940's red polkadot dress. Though many repro 40's/50's dresses are red with polkadots actual garments from the era with this print are not that common. I was in serious doubt whether to buy the dress because it might look to 'repro'. Quite silly, I know, with all those black dresses being around and this being a nice color and cut. So I bought it. I only had to add some new shoulderpads as you could still see where the old ones were cut out. Nothing beats a well padded shoulderline ;)

Contemplation on the moor

All the nature made me remember this girl's book from 1942. My gran got it as a present in 1944 when she was 13. I read it during my holiday at about the same age. The story isn't anything special, a soppy romance, but the pictures are wonderful. This was the reason the book was quite special to my gran, something so pretty during a time when there was almost nothing in the stores.

The paper is of that greyish wartime quality but the illustrations are on thick shiny pages.

Cornflowers and heather.

The main character sports some lovely outfits. You can see the pictures were drawn over several times (by my gran as a girl).

That red and white combo! Next to the outfits I like the flowers that are so particular for the different seasons. The illustrations look like they belong in a fairytalebook, yet they capture the look of the time too.

A very true 40's  autumn look.

The detail of the little girl's stockings! There is clearly some comment on social circumstances such as the main character's love interest being a healthy young man out of a job and finally becomming a farmer. Not sure how to place them in the time it was published.

The folklore element is also very present, the settings are all very Dutch.

Women in regional dress in the eastern part of the country. They're eating 'krentewegge', bread with currants.

And the very particular style worn on Marken.

I noticed the main character is wearing a dirndl style ensemble on this picture, which also has a (albeit different) folkore element in it next to being in fashion at the time.

The 3rd day we cycled back home without any pictures being taken and that concludes my trip down memory lane!

Will be back next week!

Birthe