Wendy Gales – partner and founder

Times Past is the brainchild of Wendy. However, she does not come from a background one would expect - namely accountancy. After getting her SPD degree in 1996, we worked for various accountancy firms around Zwolle. She specialised in various fields and earned degrees in and beyond her profession. The latter can be attributed to an almost inexhaustible source of energy and interest in a varying range of subjects. 2000 was the year in which things changed considerably. In August of that year she established her own office and, by the start of 2002, she boasted a bulging and varied client portfolio containing companies from various sectors.

To counteract the endless numbers crunching, she came up with the idea of undertaking something completely different. An already present love for historical scenes, costumes and history, coupled with a particular interest in mannequins, lead to the birth of Times Past. Since 1 January 2007 both companies are being operated as a general partnership. At Times Past Wendy feels like a fish in water, or a spider in a web, and undertakes various tasks. She designs the clothes, is responsible for purchases (primarily international) and sales (national and international) and is involved with almost every other conceivable task, such as public relations, photography, writing texts and event organisation.

Marcel van Pijkeren – partner

Marcel came on board on 1 January 2007. Within Times Past he is responsible for developing the website. Further, he is another ‘spider in the web’ and coordinates and advises on all important issues. He also has an accountancy background. In the past he combined this with training in Advanced Informatics at the Hogeschool Enschede, which is something very handy for his current activities.

In addition to being web manager at Times Past, he also works full time in the administration and advice office. Before coming on board Marcel had many years’ experience at an accounts office near Zwolle. However, entrepreneurial spirit was something that ran in his family, so continuing that tradition only seemed like a logical step.

Marjan Wendt – cutter

Marjan was appointed as a cutter shortly after Times Past was founded. After finishing various training courses, including fashion and design school, she worked for various companies. She got her first taste of the profession during an apprenticeship at a fabric and furnishing company in the late Eighties. Thereafter, she worked for a children’s clothing company in Zwolle where they made all clothes themselves. Design, patterns and clothing – it was all done by hand.

In Epe she performed the same role at a ladies’ clothing business where, once again, everything was self-made – which, unfortunately, is something we rarely encounter these days. Within our company Marjan is responsible for fabric processing and realisation of designs.

Peter Hart – accommodation

Times Past only became reality thanks to Peter’s efforts and cooperation. When the idea was originally conceived in September 2005, Peter spontaneously made a part of his country house available for use. Along the road, he has made more and more space available, which has helped Times Past to realise its full potential.

Adelaarsweg 10 is a great location that does justice to our figures and offers facilities to warmly welcome interested parties.

Rita Hoogers – pattern designer

Rita, just like Marjan, started to work at Times Past shortly after it was founded. The work she carries out at Times Past is essential. The designs that are drawn and created by Wendy, are converted by Rita into custom-made patterns. We work primarily with patterns she has created, which helps us to realise an accurate end result. Even when she was a little girl, the games Rita played involved her having a clothing and fabrics shop. Her sisters would then come to the shop with their dolls, select the fabrics and have clothing made for their dolls. Even after that, she continued to be involved with clothes-making and handicrafts.

She earned various certificates at fashion and design school, relating to sewing, costume design, fitting and cutting. In her spare time, she worked for a company that made special evening and bridal wear. For a long time, she also made custom-made clothing and patterns for private persons. Over the years, Rita has realised that drawing patterns is the thing she enjoys most about making clothes. Calculating and scheming to make a pattern as good as possible, in the right size, is the thing that appeals to her the most. She now has great pleasure in doing this for Times Past. We are involved with unique clothing; the kind of items for which one normally wouldn’t make a pattern. That is what she finds so challenging!

Judith Menting – make-up artist

Judith has her own business and works as a make-up artist for various theatres, TV and film productions. However, she is more than just a make-up artist. She is involved with make-up, special effects, prostheses, body paints, fake wounds, tattoos and hairstyling. Judith started by following training in window-dressing/decoration when she was 16. She happily practiced this profession for many years, until she was encouraged by a friend who was involved with her current line of work. She then followed training in make-up and cosmetics.

In the meantime, Judith was 26 years old and expanded her knowledge by combining school with various workshops. Judith did a lot of work in Joop van den Ende productions such as the Lion King and Tarzan. Further, she was a make-up artist in Jungle book, Pippi Langkous, Crazy for you, K3 – the three little pigs and ‘Nooit meer alleen’. The film productions included 'Doodeind', 'De overleving', Karin and ‘8 minuten’. On TV she worked for Lijn 4, Call TV, various MTV commercials, and so on. She is active at trade fairs, where she regularly takes part in competitions and gives workshops to others interested in the profession - this allows her to channel her full creativity. Within Times Past Judith makes sure that hair pieces, moustaches and beards are cut and attached in a correct and historically accurate manner. Where necessary, she corrects the make-up used on the figures.