Featured Artist: Natalie Ferguson of A Frolic Through Time

If you are someone who loves vintage materials and vintage themed designs, I know you will be inspired by Natalie Ferguson and her blog, A Frolic Through Time. Natalie does what many of us would love to do: she designs and sews period clothing for actual wear.

In her words: “Fashion is fun, but period fashion is more fun. Period clothing speaks volumes about a culture and evokes memories and ideas close to the heart. That’s why I enjoy researching and constructing period clothing and accessories; the feel of the process and the drape of the result open doors to another time and place…[I] am still reading and writing but now joyfully testing what I read on real fabric. Here are experiments and essays - and trials -  in costuming, shared with you.” (Natalie is wearing the feathered hat in the previous 2 photos.)

I learned about Natalie’s designs because she purchased some tiny vintage flat back chaton rhinestones from Bumbershoot Supplies.  She told me she planned to attach them to tiny pieces of fabric, then sew those embellished fabric bits onto a petticoat she was designing as part of a 1795 Full Dress Ensemble for the Jane Austen Festival in Louisville this July, at which she planned to volunteer.  Well, I had to know more and I knew I’d have to share this with you.

See the rhinestone in the center of the goldwork on the finished petticoat…

And here they are again on the buckle…

Every time I visit A Frolic Through Time, I can get lost there for hours, hours that seem to pass by in minutes. This is because Natalie’s designs and her blog bring together so many things I love: good literature, period fashion, living history, fabric, embellishments and accessories, the traditionally female arts, and an attention to detail and authenticity that I greatly respect.  

Plus, a bit of theatre too.

I am also in awe of Natalie’s generous spirit – she provides an incredible amount of detail about the sources she uses to create her designs, the designs themselves and her creative process.  Indeed, Natalie’s blog is a very rich source of information, links and resources on period fashion and I definitely recommend a visit just for the resources alone.  Her blog posts are true gifts.

I hope you will be inspired by a visit to Natalie’s blog for your own Frolic Through Time!

Beautiful Czech Bohemian Glass: Amethyst Sew Ons, History and Provenance

These vintage glass beads, available at Bumbershoot Supplies, are amethyst jewels, with faceted tops and flat backs. There are 2 holes in each, for the original purpose of sewing onto clothing and fabric. Happily, I was able to obtain these jewels with original packaging which dates them between 1939 to 1945. Here's their history:

The original packaging says "Czecho-Protectorate-Germany". This is interesting to me since the official name of this region during WWII was the Protectorate of Bohemia and Moravia.

This map is from: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Czechoslovakia_1939.SVG

The western region of Czechoslovakia, occupied by German troops on March 15, 1939 was declared by Adolf Hitler to be a German "protectorate". This region encompassed the central parts of Bohemia, Moravia and Czech Silesia in what is today the Czech Republic, and was home at that time to some of the finest glass artisans in the world. Bohemia and Moravia were autonomous regions administered by the Nazis and considered by them to be part of the greater German Reich.

This occupation, of course, had far reaching implications for everyone living in this region, including those involved in the bijouterie industry. Exports of glass beads and cabochons and completed jewelry decreased as European and American organizations boycotted Nazi treatment of the Jews (see my other blog post here). The bijouterie industry as a whole was belittled by Nazi officials and the jewelry produced was considered to be decadent and "unfit adornment for German women".  In addition, many factories were converted to military use. To learn more about the effect on these glass artisans of the ethnic and political tensions in this region before, during and after WWII, I recommend the wonderful resource Baubles Buttons and Beads. The Heritage of Bohemia by Sibylle Jargstorf. 

For me, part of the lure of vintage materials, along with the quality, unusual colors and designs, is the joy in being able to touch history in such a tangible way. And I am continually inspired by the beauty that is created and available all around us, even under conditions of great duress. Great little beads, and oh, the tales they could tell...

Products related to this history can be found right here on Bumbershoot Supplies.