The TRC exhibition on haori (a Japanese garment worn as a short jacket) is a wonderful banquet of colour and design. What I find most intriguing however, are the linings of the jackets, which often display designs not meant for outsiders to see. These for-your-eyes-only designs raise tantalizing questions. What does it feel like to carry these hidden pictures? What do these designs mean to the wearer?

Man's haori with a lining that has a woven design of Mount Fuji. Japan, 20th century (TRC 2024.1052).

These questions make the dozen or so black haori (TRC 2024.1051 to 2024.1066) in the TRC collection so interesting. The haori are mostly made for men, but there are a few for women. These garments are a monochrome black on the outside, sometimes with small, discrete family crests on the back and sleeves.

The linings, however, are another story. Inside are beautiful woven or painted pictures, like two boats sailing in front of Mount Fuji (TRC 2024.1052); or a dragon curved around a volcano (TRC 2024.1054); or a colourful mountain scene and a curled, sleeping cat (TRC 2024.1065). Why did the wearer select these scenes?

Man's haori from Japan, 20th century, with on the lining a painted design of a volcano (TRC 2024.1054).

Many of these haori were acquired last year, when the TRC conducted a crowdfunding campaign to purchase them. TRC supporters are a generous group of people, so the campaign was a success. As a thank-you, many funders, including myself, received a lovely cotton furoshiki.

My orange coloured furoshiki had a lovely repeating fan motif. But I had never heard of a furoshiki before. What was this squarish-shaped cotton cloth used for? I looked up furoshiki in the TRC’s on-line collection to see two further examples. One had a delicate geometric pattern (TRC 2009.0421), while the other was a green cloth with a rather non-Japanese looking paisley, or buteh, pattern (TRC 2021.2150).

Fig. 1. Cotton woman's plastron, hand woven and hand embroidered. Vergina, Greece, 20th century (TRC 2025.0221).I am happy to share my first post for the TRC. My name is Paul Cochet, and I am a Master's student in Design Cultures at the Vrije Universiteit, Amsterdam. Since early February, I have been an intern at the TRC.

Shortly after my arrival, I learned that the TRC had recently received a collection of garments and textiles from the former Yugoslavia. This immediately piqued my interest, as my grandmother was Slovenian.

However, I found the term 'former Yugoslavia' somewhat unsatisfactory—while the region shares many cultural similarities, national and regional identities remain strong. On Gillian Vogelsang's suggestion, I set out to identify the precise origins of each piece, secretly hoping to find some Slovenian artifacts among them.

This collection of 58 items, which included complete garments, but also embroidered panels meant to be added to such garments, as well as cords used to fasten them, was generously donated by Annelies van Eijk-Kuiper.

Long, straight and sleeveless dress made from three panels of cloth sewn together. Backstrap loom weave. Amuzga, Mexico, late 20th century (TRC 2025.0318).The TRC has the opportunity to welcome a group of Amuzga weavers and embroiderers from Xochistlahuaca, Mexico. The group (organised by the TuYu Foundation) has offered to give two workshops at the TRC Leiden on weaving (two days) and embroidery (one day).

In addition, there will be a small, pop-up exhibition about Amuzga woven garments based on garments in the TRC Collection, as well as the chance to purchase items directly from the weavers.

"One of our key projects is in Xochistlahuaca (Guerrero, Mexico), where we work with a group of Amuzga women, an indigenous community. Our project involves documenting local symbols and their meanings, while also preserving textile practices such as natural dyeing, backstrap weaving, and hand spinning. We aim to promote Amuzga culture and teach the art of weaving on the traditional Mexican backstrap loom."

"As part of our mission, we organize European tours featuring representatives from the community, and we host workshops and masterclasses in cultural spaces that promote traditional craftsmanship."

Amuzga woman while weaving. Creative commons.

Past collaborations include venues such as Saber Fazer (Porto), Loulé Criativo (Loulé), Dudúa (Barcelona), La Escuela Artesans (Mallorca), Ambacht & Beeld Festival, and Het WereldMuseum (Amsterdam/Rotterdam), among others."

Over the last few months we have been looking at presenting more information about specific textiles or groups of objects to the public. In this context, we have been talking with various groups about a range of scientific analysis techniques that can be carried out at the TRC or elsewhere.

A slightly domed metal button with an alpha-type shank, with flowers within flowers inside a dotted border on the front. The Netherlands, 15th-16th century (TRC 2024.2582).We are already working with various techniques. Emilie Lambert, a TRC volunteer and archaeology student (Leiden University), for example, is examining a group of 15th to 19th century metal buttons that were found in the Netherlands. She wrote a separate blog on the subject, published on 16th October 2024.

Emilie is studying the buttons with XRF (X-ray Fluorescence). This non-destructive technique sends radioactive signals through an object, and quickly provides precise ratios of its elemental components.

The knowledge gained is often used for provenancing. With respect to the TRC buttons, this work is being carried out in order to identify what exactly they are made from and perhaps determine their provenance, but also to see if there are similarities that might indicate  if any have the same profile, suggesting they might even have been made in the same workshop. The aim is to have some of the metal analysis results appearing in the TRC Database from May onwards.

My name is Mayte Van den Broeck, an MA student of Heritage and Memory at the University of Amsterdam, who started an internship at the TRC in early February. As my first month as an intern at the TRC has flown by, I wanted to reflect on the experiences I have had so far by describing what a day at the TRC can look like as an intern.

Fig. 1. An impression of the depot with the TRC collection.A typical day starts at 9am with a cup of tea, as I organise what I plan to do that day. One of my main tasks as an intern is to go through the Chinese collection in the depot (Fig. 1), box by box, to make sure that each textile piece is in order. This means checking each piece for issues such as mold or damage, as well as making sure all the information on each piece is present and correct in the database.

When I started with this particular work, the very first box I chose from the Chinese collection, picked at random, was full of shoes, particularly lotus shoes (see the TRC online exhibition on the subject). The practice of foot binding started over a thousand years ago in the Early Song Dynasty (960-1279) and lasted until the early 20th century.

The girls and women whose feet were bound, in accordance to this widespread practice, would wear these finely decorated lotus shoes. The colours and decorations would depend on the wearer’s social status and the symbolism that they wished to emulate through the decorative designs on the shoes.

As part of the TRC’s work on the history, techniques, designs and uses of textiles, we are working quietly and steadily on making the TRC and Leiden an international centre for the study and teaching of embroidery in all its multiple forms. We currently have nearly 5,000 examples of embroidery from all over the world. 

Fig.1. Fragment of linen with an embroidered design worked in wool, probably from a child's tunic Egypt, 5th-6th century AD (TRC 2000.0014).

Fig. 2. Fragment of linen with an embroidered design worked in purple, orange and blue wool, probably from a child's tunic. Egypt, 5th-6th century AD (TRC 2000.0015).

The TRC is an independent foundation (Stichting) that is exclusively run by volunteers. Please support us by transferring your donation to: (IBAN) NL39 INGB 0002 9823 59, in the name of: Stichting Textile Research Centre. BIC code is: INGBNL2A. Since the TRC is a recognised ANBI (Cultural Institution), your donation, if you pay taxes in the Netherlands, is tax deductible for up to 125%.

You can also, if you have the iDEAL app on your computer/IPhone, use the iDEAL button below and fill in the amount of support you want to donate:

TRC Intensive Textile Course, students at workFor many years the TRC has been running its successful five-day intensive courses on textiles. They are being taught in Dutch or English by Dr Gillian Vogelsang-Eastwood, textile and dress historian and director of the TRC.

The courses are a mixture of theoretical and practical elements, with an emphasis on trying out the various techniques of textile production (spinning, dyeing, weaving), on holding and examining fibres, textiles and finished items, all in order to learn and understand what is happening and why various combinations take place.

The aim is to make textiles less ‘frightening’ and allow people to look and understand a textile, from virtually any historical period or culture.

The courses are an absolute 'must' for anyone dealing with archaeological, historical and modern textiles, for designers and fashion students, as well as anyone who is seriously interested in all aspects of textile history and production, and simply wants to know and practise more. 

The upcoming editions of the course: 

Dates for 2025: 23-27 June; 25-29 Aug; 27-31 Oct.

Dates for 2026: 23-27 Febr; 20-24 April; 22-26 June; 10-14 Aug; 12-16 Oct.