Photograph, dated 22 December 1943, with Ida van Gent - van der Meij wearing her wedding dress from 1938, now dyed in a lilac colour.On Thursday, 26 September 2019, Gillian Vogelsang wrote:
Today (24 September 2019), we had a very interesting donation for the TRC’s Collection, namely a lilac coloured dress with a strong Leiden connection. The dress was initially made by Ida van der Meij (1910-1977) as her wedding dress, when she married Jan van Gent (1909-1983) in Leiden on 20 April 1938. At that time the dress was white. Ida van der Meij’s family lived at Hoge Rijndijk 254, Leiden, which actually is close to where the TRC is situated.
On 22 December 1943, when the Netherlands were occupied by German forces, her brother, Jacobus van der Meij (1917-1958), married Maria de Koning (1918-2008) from Leiderdorp, close to Leiden. It was wartime and clothing was scarce, so Ida dyed her wedding dress lilac, changed the shape of the sleeves and used this updated garment for her brother's wedding.
The dress (TRC 2019.2154) and photographs of the weddings in 1938 and 1943 will be on display in the TRC’s exhibition about textiles and clothing during the Second World War (summer 2020).
We would like to thank Mrs. Mieke van der Steen, daughter of Mrs. Ida van Gent - van der Meij, for the donation of the dress.
Lilac (wedding) dress from WW II, Leiden (TRC 2019.2154). It was worn on 22 December 1943 by Ida van Gent - van der Meij.If you have a textile or garment that has a wartime story and would be willing to donate it to TRC Leiden, please get in contact with us at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
