Welcome to the magic world of Gerritsen Theater Kostuums

The Collection

since 1878

for

Theatre, film and events

Era

  • Antiquity (… – 400)
  • Middle Ages – 400 – 1350
  • Renaissance – 1350 – 1600
  • The 17th century
  • The 18th century
  • Revolution empire
  • Romanticism
  • Biedermeyer
  • 1900 – 1920
  • Charleston
  • The 1930s
  • The 40s
  • The 50s
  • The 60s
  • The 70s
  • The 80s
  • The 90s
  • Millennium
  • Science Fiction

The Collection of Gerritsen Theatre Costumes: A Treasure Chest of Creations

At Gerritsen Theatre Costumes , we have an extensive and versatile collection of thousands of theatre costumes and accessories. From period costumes to contemporary outfits, our collection is a source of inspiration for creative productions and events. Each piece tells its own story and contributes to bringing your performance to life.

An endless collection

Take your events to the next level

Because of the size of our collection, and because we want to give you the clearest possible overview, we have divided it into categories.

Here you can see examples divided into times and themes. Due to the magnitude, we show some pieces to serve as a guide, but this is only ten percent of the true collection

Antiquity
… – 400
Gladiator
Antiquity (... – 400)

Earlier is actually not a good 'starting word', it's actually even before that! It is generally accepted that it is the period that begins with the development of writing and the emergence of a civilization. You have to think of Egyptian Pharaohs, Greek Philosophers and Roman merchants. There is no style of clothing 'antiquity'. There was a lot of use of cloths that were draped in a certain way. And for the feet, instead of Air-max the ever-ventilating sandals or.. Nothing!

Middle Ages
400 – 1350
Harnas
Middle Ages – 400 – 1350

Besides the fact that it was not an easy time for many, it was also a fertile period for the emergence of heroes who are still in our collective memory today.
Think of Floris and Sindela, Lancelot, Robin Hood, the brilliant eccentric Catweazle.
This was also the time of the jester, characterized by his many bells and the one who was the only one who could tell the truth to the king.
We can easily make you one of these greats.

Renaissance
1350 – 1600
Renaissance
Renaissance – 1350 – 1600

"Civilization" really struck now.
Thinkers reformulated ideas from antiquity and forged political and economic systems that we still use today.
The greyness of the Middle Ages is beginning to be a thing of the past.
'Memento mori' (I live to die) becomes 'Carpe Diem' (seize the day).
In the Netherlands, resistance arose against the tyranny of the Spaniards, the beginning of the Eighty Years' War.
Also a time of industry blurring: a homo universalis, such as Michelangelo; painter, sculptor, philosopher, writer and he was also a good cook.

The men, mustachioed and 'besikt', wore beautifully finished, fitted jackets with a white collar, puffy shorts and white knee socks.
The women wore over a tight corset, exuberant hoop dresses of heavy fabric to the floor.
All this is of course available for rent, with the exception of moustache and goatee.

The 17th century
The 17th century
The 17th century

A century to which the Dutch felt at home and which some politicians still refer to!
All over the world, 'we' brought back the riches.
Of course, we know many effigies from that time by Vermeer and Rembrandt, among others.
And they were introduced to coffee, tea, sugar and cocoa.

The man wore a hat with long hair coming out, a fitted long coat over a blouse and a draped scarf, puffy shorts and knee-high socks.
The woman wore a cap with natural hair up, an open-necked dress, many lace trims on the torso and arms, and a very wide variety of hoop dresses.

The 18th century
The 18th century
Lodewijk
The 18th century

An eventful time, the industrial age presented itself thanks to Thomas Newcomen, among others, who invented the steam engine.
In the middle of the eighteenth, the potato also acquired the status of 'staple food'.
Daniel Defoe writes Robinson Crusoe, Jonathan Swift writes Gulliver's Travels, books that still exert influence to this day.

The man wore a 'Chapeau bras', made known to many by the effigies of Napoleon, unlike Napoleon put on a long-haired wig.
Also an overcoat trimmed with gold embroidery over a richly decorated waistcoat, mid-length trousers and knee-high socks.
The woman wore a cap on her hair and a sober but certainly fitted dress with room for a bare neckline.
Gerritsen also has this in house, the bare neck is up to you.

Revolution empire
1790 – 1815
Empire Revolution – 1790 – 1815

As the title suggests, there was a lot of fighting during this period.
Goal: to expand the empire in question.
Napoleon, for example, conquered Austria, Italy, Switzerland, Holland, and parts of Germany.
He then lost a battle of Leipzig to the English, was exiled to Elba, and committed an unsuccessful suicide.
He then lost the battle of Waterloo and was exiled to Helena.

The man wore a top hat, a (dandy) draped scarf, a long, slightly fitted coat, tight trousers, stockings surrounded by splash dashes against the dirt when going on horseback.
The woman wore a mantelpiece hat, a high-waisted dress to the floor.
Gerritsen can of course supply this, but on the condition that you do not start a war with it.

Romanticism
1815 – 1840
Romantiek
Romanticism – 1815 – 1840

Although during this period there was again fighting all over the world, the desire for the beauty of nature was rampant.
People were fond of dramatic depictions of the world and when a battlefield was painted, the hero was depicted from below against a beautiful cloudy sky.

The man was wearing a long light-colored coat with rounded corners and a high neck over a short vest.
He had dark trousers, a beard, moustache and sideburns and a top hat that went with the coat.

The woman wore several layers of hoop dresses on top of each other.
The neckline was open in a chaste way, the dress was closed quite high.
The top, often richly decorated dress, was shorter than the bottom dress.
She was wearing a round hat with a feather and a bow.

Biedermeyer
1840 – 1860
Biedemeyer
Biedermeyer – 1840 – 1860

This period, named after the loyal, petty-bourgeois figure in the poems of A. Kussmaul and L.
Eichrodt is typical, just like the character of the namesake: the penchant for the simple, not precious.
As a reaction to the regal Empire style and the drama of Romanticism, we now go back to the domestic.
For example, a biedermeyer is also a certain kind of flower arrangement, described by some as 'frumpy'.
The style was especially popular with the cultural elite and the courts.

The man was wearing a brown, slightly fitted jacket, matching pants, and a mid-top hat.
The woman wore a flared cotton dress, underwear with long lace legs, and a lace cap on top of the ringlets.

1900 – 1920
1900 – 1920
1900
1900 – 1920

The machine was used to serve humans.
In addition to mass production, the industry provided a lot of annoying jobs: coal shovelers, machine greasers, porters and production workers behind the assembly line.
Only as a factory director was it bearable.

Men's fashion was not much different from the years before, although the man wore a beard and a narrow top hat.
The woman wore a dress that followed her curves to the floor.
She wore a boa and wore a wide hat with feathers.

Charleston
Charleston
Charleston
Charleston

The First World War had come to an end, the time for reconstruction.
There was a lot going on in the field of arts and entertainment.
Beautiful buildings were created, in the Netherlands including the movement 'the Amsterdam School'.
In design, the Art Nouveau and Art Deco movements flourished, and in music and fashion, the Charleston style prevailed.
Charleston was also a dance, the forerunner of the hi-hat and an Australian motorcycle brand!

The man was wearing a three-piece brown suit, white blouse and a dent hat.
The woman was finally freed from the corset, she was allowed to wear what was comfortable and what was good to dance with!
For example, a black blouse, trimmed with shiny sequins, a black skirt up to the knees.
The hair short, which could be called a revolution, and a white string of pearls.
At Gerritsen we can dress you up as if you had stepped out of a cinematic photo album.

The 1930s
The 1930s
The 1930s

In the 1930s, the crisis hit.
The good breeding ground for leaders with questionable goals who held up better times to the people.
The intolerance grew.
Charlie Chaplin's film 'The Great Dictator' unerringly predicted what was about to happen.
Picasso painted his 'Geurnica' as a protest against the bloodshed of the fascists in Spain.

The man was wearing a gray suit with a vest and a dented hat.
The woman wore a long fitted black dress with an open neck and back, a belt and a headscarf on the head finished with a red flower.

The 1950s
The 1950s
The 1950s

The build-up, each family a car, radio and a refrigerator, was accompanied by the Cold War.
Western capitalism was what was being fought for, communism had to be fought.

The man is wearing a blue tailored suit with a pinstripe, narrow-legged pants, a red tie, and a dark blue slouch hat.
The woman wears a blouse with a fitted short jacket with a brooch and a knee-length skirt.
On her head a cloth or a wide hat.
Or, of course, a petticoat.

The 1970s
The 1970s
The 1970s

Society was somewhat in line with the hippies: the soft sector reigned supreme.
Flower Power, a lot of understanding for smokers in the park, wide legs.
A birthday party was called a party and you ate space cake.
Brown walls, scrap metal, orange curtains and a sitting pit were the prerequisites for living room happiness.
The counter-movement presented itself: puking and agitating on/against all that and 'punk' was born.

The man was wearing long hair, blouse, tweed jacket, wide-leg pants.
Punks were creative with safety pins, wore black tattered clothes, had hair in bright colors that stood on end.
Meanwhile, there were also the Travolta supporters: fat quiff, open blouse, white suit with wide legs.
The woman was wearing a trouser suit, or a bright blouse and wide-leg trousers.
Very short skirts were also in.

The 1990s
The 1990s
The 1990s

The economy picked up, international optimism.
In Germany, the Wall fell, there was a dialogue between the superpowers US and Russia.
The U.S. was talking about a new world order.
Everything was possible, everything was possible.
There were no more major ideologies or beliefs.
As a result, all kinds of things were combined: in art and fashion (postmodernism), in politics (purple), in economics (polder model).

It was the time of the revivals: the sixties came back in short skirts, bright colors, short T-shirts.
The seventies were revived in wide legs and punk.
Fashion image: bright colors, Flower Power revived, short T-shirts, wide-leg pants, henna tattoos, piercings.

Science fiction
Science fiction
Science fiction

How many comic books and reading books, movies and songs have been made about that?
Looking to the future!
If there's one thing that tickles the imagination, it's the future.
Virtual life forms, implanted debit cards, the first dance party on the moon, the first cremation on the sun, a widescreen dream recording machine, internet and telephone in your wrist, a satellite connection with God and that ever-recurring tele-time machine of Professor Barabas...

Gerritsen's futuristic collection, designed by Pia Pekkanen, predicts a future in which everyone faces his/her own virtual world.
In the helmet, one can get in touch with fellow futurists who are on the same wavelength of this virtual universe.

The Collection

Take your events to the next level

If you are interested, we will make an appointment and discuss the theme and all the possibilities.
Then your guests will visit us and we will ensure that they are fitted with a nicely fitting costume.

It is also possible that we come to your location to dress people. Everything to make your day enjoyable. Of course, we can also take care of any hair and make-up. Actually, almost anything is possible in consultation.

The only limits are those of your imagination.

If you would like to give your event another special cachet with the beautiful costumes of Gerritsen, call us for an appointment.

Then we will take plenty of time to come up with a tailor-made plan for your special occasion with a no-obligation quote.

Warm greetings and see you soon at Gerritsen Theatre Costume Workshop.