7/11/24. Living Fashion. Daily Women's Wear 1750-1950. A selection of images illustrating the amazing clothing collection of Jacoba de Jonge Contains contributions from fashion curators and experts as well as accompanying an exhibition at the Fashion Museum in Antwerp Living Fashion by Leen Demeester, explains the influence of fashion on the daily life of middle class women in Western Europe between 1750 and 1950. The text focuses mainly on high fashion as women from the middle classes tried to copy these styles as well as they could. The powerful rise of the bourgeoisie in the 19th century provided them with new possibilities and created an accessiblity to a pastime which stimulated the purchase of fashion. Jacoba de Jonge attended law school in Leiden, Netherlands, but gradually her passion for costume history grew and she started with a unique collection of dresses, now containing over 2500 pieces. She worked at the The Hague Kostuummuseum (museum of costume) for a year in 1965 and organized many costume exhibitions afterwards.