A Dog of Flanders: Costuming


Figure 1.--The costuming in the film appears quite accurate, good late 19th century costuming. Here Nello is sketching. He wears a kind of military styled cap which was popular in the Netherlands and what looks like a sweater that nuttonns at the shoulder. His pants seem to have straps that loop around his neck.

The costuming in the film appears quite accurate, good late 19th century costuming. Nello wears a kind of military styled cap which was popular in the Netherlands and a short jacket like Dutch smock. He also wears long pants cut above the ankles. They may be meant to be kneepants. HBC is not sure as to just what length Dutch boys would have worn their pants. Both Nello and his grandfather wear wooden shoes--footwear especially associated with the Netherlands. While Nello's costuming is similar to photographs I have seen of Dutch boys, it is not anything like the illustration in the original book. There are a few fleeting shots of more affluent boys in knicker suits. I'm not sure how accurate this was. While Nello's costuming is similar to photographs I have seen of Dutch boys, it is not anything like the illustration in the original book.

Cap

The costuming in the film appears quite accurate, good late 19th century costuming. Nello wears a kind of military styled peaked cap which was popular in the Netherlands and neighboring countries. Nelo was a poor boy. We notice boys from affluent families in Belgium wearing a related cap style with a tunic during the mid-19th century. HBC hopes to develop mpore information on these military-styled caps. HBC has also noted the British princes wearing a similar style dyring the 1850s, this can be viewd on the HBC royalty site.

Smocks

Nello wears a smock like garment, almost a short jacket, which was common in the Nerherlands at the time. It was especially popular in the countryside. Readers may want to be review the information HBC has developed on Dutch smocks

Pants

Nello also wears long pants cut above the ankles. They may be meant to be kneepants. HBC is not sure as to just what length Dutch boys would have worn their pants. Both Nello and his grandfather wear wooden shoes--footwear especially associated with the Netherlands. There are a few fleeting shots of more affluent boys in knicker suits. I'm not sure how accurate this was.

Wooden Shoes

Nello wears wooden shoes, which were commonly worn by working class boys and boys in the countryside.







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Created: 6:42 AM 9/25/2004
Last updated: 6:42 AM 9/25/2004