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Period Clothing

Ghost of Gumby

Ghost of Gumby

Hi, Friends : )
How many of you have had dreams or memories of living in another era of time and you saw yourself dressed in the clothing of that era? I know that I've seen myself dressed in Victorian clothes wearing a bonnet ( I am a man in my present life, so this was quite a stunning revelation ) Also, I have always been attracted to the clothing styles of the past. Please share.
 
In ancient Egypt, I remember arguing with my husband about something.


I could see part of the wig I was wearing in the corner of my eye. It was thick and black. I can also remember feeling the weight of the jewelry I was wearing. Needless to say, I have always loved ancient Egypt :)
 
That is an awesome memory, Crystal. That is even more interesting when we can remember what the jewelery or clothing felt like, I do have some memories similar, where I am walking down stairs in a long Victorian age gown, and feeling like I am going to trip, so I take each step slowly with caution.
 
Haha, that is hilarious! I've read some of your online memoirs, Ghost of Gumby. They are amazing. I love how you remember so many details :)
 
I remember wearing a renaissance dress. It was heavy, hot and tight around the waist and breast. Breathing was slightly obstructed, but it was something you got used to. It also smelled slightly dusty. I remember the pleasure of getting into a light, loose night dress in the evening, being able to breathe properly and move freely.


I shared the bedroom with my sister and much to the annoyance and concern of our old maid getting out of our heavy, tight dresses would always make us silly and hyperactive, often resulting in laughing fits, pillow fights or other wild, childish games :D
 
I am nostalgic towards English womens' costume from about the 1870's to 1910. I love it all. In this life I have always felt comfortable in longish, full skirts. I experience an odd mix of emotions when I look at Victorian mourning attire: black taffeta, black lace, jet jewellery, black lace-up boots, as well as what was called half-mourning dress: grey or a puce-coloured outfit. I half remember the feel of wearing it and the rustling sound it made. In this life I wear a lot of black.


I adore the antique jewellery which survives from Victorian England. As I browse antique jewellery shops or books I experience an odd longing which has nothing to do with the present. I find hair-lockets particularly stirring in a melancholy way. I had a dream in which I watched my family at my graveside, mourning. They were all dressed in Victorian style clothes.
 
I think that I enjoyed dressing up, and a corset did not bother me, you just got used to that, actually it felt good. It really wasn't as bad as people think today. Some people with back injuries today wear such a support for thearpy. So in a way, the corset was therapeutic, promoting good posture which was, of course, important in those times. Actually I did not spend too much time in elegant gowns like that, my day dresses and evening dresses were mostly that kind that did not require the supportive aid of a corset. Many dresses of the time were designed more for comfort and function than the formal gowns.
 
I had a boyfriend (in this life) who has a very self-contained (even constrained) way of sitting. Once I saw him sit down and fold his hands in a particularly feminine manner and suddenly I flashed on an image of a lady (that I knew was him in another life) in that same pose wearing a long, dark Victorian dress with a high-laced collar.
 
I remember from my past life in ancient egypt looking down at my hands and seeing silver bracelets, fairly wide almost like cuffs that were decorated with deep blue lapis lazuli.


This struck me as odd because I assumed, given modern representations of ancient egypt, that most jewelry was gold. i did a little research and found that silver was actually more valuable to the ancient egyptians and more expensive. this would fit then since in that lifetime i was the wife of a pharaoh.


in a much more recent life during the Holocaust, i remember wearing a wear coat, possibly wool. i recall wearing this same coat regardless of the season and it was a dark color, maybe brown or very dark blue with a possibly a plaid pattern. it came to the middle of my calves and had a lining that was very smooth like silk or satin.
 
I remember visiting my brother. He was building a new house, and the columns were shaped like papyrus plants. The top of the columns was coated in silver leaf. I remember thinking that was weird as well, that they should have been gold, lol. Don't you LOVE that sort of validation. :D


I am interested if anyone has been able to confirm past lives with these sorts of details.


Sunniva, you said you remember your dresses in the Renaissance smelling dusty. Have you ever come across anything that validated this?
 
I wonder about the dusty smell, and I am thinking that in those times of course they did not have washing machines so they had to do laundry in a tub and hang the articles of clothing up to dry. If Sunniva lived in a dusty place, that may have caused her dresses to get a dusty smell. Also, if the dresses were stored for a long period of time in a closet, they would have also picked up a dusty odor. I think that much of the netted material that was often used in dresses of that time would not have been laundered very often, so it would aquire a dusty odor over a short period of time.
 
kemetic18 said:
I remember from my past life in ancient egypt looking down at my hands and seeing silver bracelets, fairly wide almost like cuffs that were decorated with deep blue lapis lazuli.
This struck me as odd because I assumed, given modern representations of ancient egypt, that most jewelry was gold. i did a little research and found that silver was actually more valuable to the ancient egyptians and more expensive. this would fit then since in that lifetime i was the wife of a pharaoh.


in a much more recent life during the Holocaust, i remember wearing a wear coat, possibly wool. i recall wearing this same coat regardless of the season and it was a dark color, maybe brown or very dark blue with a possibly a plaid pattern. it came to the middle of my calves and had a lining that was very smooth like silk or satin.
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This is wonderful that you can even recall the texture of the material kemetic18. When our senses become involved in the past life memory that makes it all the stronger and makes a more profound impression. The silver bracelets were beautiful the way you described them, with the inlaid blue stone. Such memories of the clothing, the styles, the jewelry, the scents of perfumes, are all very interesting. I think in my past lives as a woman, I liked necklaces with sparkling gems the most and pearls.
 
Not to change the tenor of the conversation, but I have particularly detailed memories of the proper and customary use of a cod-piece...a portion of clothing I have never worn in this lifetime. Outside of Jethro Tull, I am not sure they have been used in four centuries.


I also have great familiarity and comfort with a stock or cravat...interesting I was wearing a mock turtle neck a couple of years ago and as I passed a mirror at first glance I thought I saw myself wearing a wig, stock, ruffled shirt and jacket! With a start I glanced back at the mirror and I was simply dressed as I had been before...but the previous image left some distinct detail in my mind and also a strange scent or cologne seemed to have gotten on the shirt at that time and my wife commented on it as it was not a scent I have.
 
The codpiece was really a form of protection, more than support, similar to the modern athletic cup of today; and was one step above using a breechcloth. It was often heavily reinforced by leather and/or stiff layers of cloth. As male garments evolved from breechcloth and long overshirt, "breech" care and protection was a separate issue apart from leg protection, and it wasn't until relatively recent times that the two functions were combined into our modern day trousers and overalls. Native American garb is a good example of how European working men's clothing evolved, because they would often add leggins which were attached to the same belt which held the breechcloth. In the case of English working men, these were often made of leather and were called "Yanks", which is where we New Englanders get our name.
 
as I passed a mirror at first glance I thought I saw myself wearing a wig, stock, ruffled shirt and jacket!
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Something similar to that happened to me many years ago. I looked into the mirror and for a split second I saw what I presume was myself in a past life. It was a man with loose shoulder-length hair and a loose-fitting natural fiber shirt that I admit I didn't pay much attention to (this was just for a split second) but I think it was one of those that lace up near the collar. I've always had a penchant for shirts like that, as well as fancy hats and boots.
 
That is interesting how our clothing has evolved over time, Nightrain, especially trousers. It seems like it took awhile to get to the final product of what we would recognize as modern pants.


I think that would be quite a jolt to see oneself in the mirror dressed in the garb of another time, Jody & usetawuz, even if only for a fleeting moment. I wonder if this happens because we expect the mirror to give us an accurate image of ourselves, then the mind overrides this image and gives us an image of our former self. ?
 
I was looking through some old photo albums today and I noticed that many of the clothing styles I wore in the past seemed to reflect my taste in clothing from a former life. I tend to favor the colors blue and green and I like plaid, always did judging by my old photos. I remember that in many of my flashbacks to my past life as Ginny, I wore plaid dresses and I seemed to favor this pattern, especially for everyday wear. It seems that my taste in clothing has continued over many lifetimes. Has anyone else noticed such a connection between your preferences in this life stemming from preferences from a previous life?
 
I had 2 or 3 dreams I saw myself in clothes from other times... once was as a man in the WWII, I had a hand gun, I did a research on the net and I found out that was a berretta pistol... other more vivid I was a 19 century young girl... I saw my own reflection on a window, dress... hair....
 
As far as memories go, I remember my uniform from when I was a German soldier in World War II. I also vaguely remember being a working class Englishman during the 1700s. I was captive on a ship with a friend of mine somewhere in the northern Atlantic. Could have something to do with the American Revolution, however, reasons are unknown to me.


I also remember having a dream where I was running a marathon (runner 191 to be exact) and I could swear it was the 1960s or 1970s. It was white.
 
my 2 strongest are memories/dreams/etc of me in an SS uniform - not gonna say much about that 1. also in a late 15th c Spain wearing like a vest and stuff, but not like 1 of those poofy collars tho. and i was around 10-12 year old boy learning to paint from some old Italian guy who i hated that was teaching me lol.
 
I remember ringlets in my hair, holding a fan, puffy off the shoulder exposed pink dress. however this was around the civil war time in southern america
 
Usually I don't get straight up memories through my pl dreams, but every once in a blue moon I'll get one related to the era in some way that has some cool details. Several months back I had a short dream that involved meeting another soldier from my WWII era. Seeing the uniform wasn't really a new thing, of course I'd come across that stuff hundreds of times in photos and movies, but one of the things that was really distinct was the tactile details. The texture of his tunic and the way my own felt to wear were pretty sharp, I haven't worn or come into personal contact with any of those uniforms this time around and so I wonder if those details were really true. Either way it was interesting to experience. I'd never had a past life related dream so vivid.
 
I remember my uniform from the war... the jacket was a kind of scratchy material?? Not uncomfortable but not great to wear for long periods of time. My most vivid recollection of clothing has o have been my boots and socks though. I remember my feet being disgustingly damp and itchy from where my wool socks had gotten wet in my boots.... Eugh so gross.
 
I had a dream where I was wearing a pioneer dress similar to this one, but it was a light color. I was a young woman with long blond hair, and was walking through what looked like a meadow. That's all I remember about it.
 
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I've written about this before, but this one is pretty interesting I think.


Green kimono

...What a weird coincidence. Last night I was remembering something and it was just such a memory. It belongs with an affair I recalled a while ago, which unfortunately ended rather badly.
I have been trying out a new technique, which is to relax as per usual, then to imagine myself in front of a large wall of shelving and run my eyes over all the costumes there and see what seems to 'jump out' at me. Last night a delicate, pale green kimono was foremost and 'voila' there I was wearing it and sitting in a garden. It was not very comfortable really wearing all that and with the fancy hair style and all, but nonetheless I was feeling a bit pleased with myself wearing this lovely outfit and knew I looked gorgeous and was feeling very happy because I was in love...
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Ghost of Gumby said:
How many of you have had dreams or memories of living in another era of time and you saw yourself dressed in the clothing of that era? I know that I've seen myself dressed in Victorian clothes wearing a bonnet ( I am a man in my present life, so this was quite a stunning revelation ) Also, I have always been attracted to the clothing styles of the past. Please share.
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I had A LOT of past life memories in the form of past life dreams in which I saw myself as a different person dressed in clothing from a lot periods of history. I remember what my clothing looked like when I was possibly a ancient Egyptian woman in Ancient Egypt, a ancient Greek girl in Ancient Greece, a ancient Israelite scribe in Ancient Israel, a medieval French knight in medieval France during the Hundred Years War, a Ottoman Turkish man during the Ottoman Empire in Turkey during the middle ages or during the sixteenth century, a Scottish Noble woman in Scotland during the sixteenth century, a Korean navy sailor during Japan's Invasion of Korea in Korea the sixteenth century, a native American woman somewhere in North America during the seventeenth century, a Caucasian American man visiting Mexico during the nineteenth century, a American confederate soldier during the American Civil War, a Victorian English woman in Victorian England during the nineteenth century, a Native American man in the western part of the United States of America during the nineteenth century, a German/Prussian soldier during the Franco-Prussian War in Germany during the nineteenth century, a European boy in Europe during the late nineteenth or the early twentieth century, a British soldier during World War One in Europe during the twentieth century, a Caucasian American woman in the United States of America during the nineteen twenties during the twentieth century, and a British soldier during World War Two in Europe during the twentieth century.


PS: I really love, I really love looking at, and I really love wearing historical clothing from History as living historian/historical reenactor. (Especially historical clothing from Prehistory to the Sixteenth Century and from the Viking Age and the Middle Ages.).
 
I have memories of clothing (mostly armor) of Ancient Greece and 19th century France.


circa -650: I only know of helmet types, no particular garnement from that lifetime. I remember seing myself wearing a fairly archaic corinthian helmet; flat on the sides,crestless,with wide upturned eyeholes. I saw someone with an early archaic illyrian helmet, which is basically a helmet that does not offer any frontal protection,that is very long on the sides compared to it's smaller, upturned back.


-5th century B.C.: I remember wearing a tyrian red military cloak


(chlamys), held together with a golden broach. I was wearing it over white leather armor. I had a leather cord, strapped over my armor, that held a black leather sheath, adorned with a decorated bronze or golden tip. I was also wearing a 'classical' corinthian helmet, with a red crest.


Later on (this is few decades later, might be a different lifetime, although I am not sure..), I was wearing a dark colored chiton (knee length) with a dark mauve himation. Under my himation, I had a dagger, kept in a beautiful ornamented golden sheath. I wore at my feet, refined, well made sandals of a very fine leather.


I saw myself, later on, in fairly ornamented white leather armor with bronze scales. I had finely decorated bronze knemides (shin armor). I wore simpler sandals,military style,made in dark brown leather.


-4th century B.C.: I wore a simple short wool chiton of a 'natural' color. Held with two simple bronze pins. I had simple leather sandals at my feet.


-19th century: I wore a winter uniform, which consisted of a well structured black coat, dark pants tucked into black leather boots, that went to the knee. I also wore a 'characteristic' hat in an 18th century fashion (a sort of symbol of the military academy I was attending). I had a woolen scarf and white gloves.
 
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