German Renaissance Support Layer- the sleeveless chemise

 So I never got around to making my early German Renaissance dress last summer (I did make costumes for the niblings though!) and instead have now found myself coming back to the dress lo these six months later. Today was a surprise day off work, so I spent it working on the foundation layer.

There seems to be no firm consensus as to what exactly was worn beneath 'Cranach' dresses of the early 16th century, but there is a particular style of undergarment which I've seen in a bunch of images both before and after this time period which makes lots of sense as a base layer. It's basically a sleeveless sort of chemise; tight enough in the torso to support the bust and provide the smooth white layer seen under the open front lacing of the dress itself, as well as having full skirts attached at the waist (which I imagine would also help keep the front waistline of the dress' skirt up where it should be in spite of the wide front opening... I'll guess I'll find out later if that's true or not!)

I've seen other bloggers/costumers refer to this type of undergarment as a bra-dress (based off the Lengberg Bra I believe), or a bra-shirt, or some other bra variation. Which again, these garments all have attached skirts, so I can't really get behind calling it some sort of bra, and am just going to stick with 'Sleeveless Chemise' for now. Probably not at all what it was called back in the day, but no-one in Saxony around 1515 ever said "I'm going to have a new Cranach dress made" either, so we'll all just be inaccurate together forever. Amen.

Isis over at Medieval Silkwork has done some great research into the earlier 14th and 15th century versions of this garment which seems to have mostly existed in areas of Germany, Austria, and Switzerland. It must have been highly practical and comfortable as you see it clear on through into the later half of the 16th century!

 Hofämterspiel, Kunsthistorisches Museum, Vienna, second half 15th century

Broadside of a Nuremberg bath attendant; with a hand-coloured woodcut of a lightly dressed female holding two pails of water, and with letterpress verses in German. (Nuremberg, Drechsel: [c.1585])

These two images are roughly100 years apart, and both depict nearly the exact same undergarment, which I am now it the process of making. As someone who gets twitchy about how chemise sleeves sit and layer on the body, I am super exited to be trying out this blessedly sleeveless chemise!

I'm using a white handkerchief weight linen for this project, with two layers in the main bodice, and one layer for the 'breast bag'/bust section, and one layer in the skirts. It will close with lacing on the sides of the bodice, and I'm using velvet ribbon for the black band at the front neckline. I imagine that velvet or a wool band along the top would help grip onto the dress itself and stop the Brustfleck from slipping or moving around. Again, total conjecture on my part at the moment... we'll see how it works out.

You can see here on my pattern how the shoulder straps curve out away from the body on the front piece. This is so the straps won't show beneath the nearly off-the-shoulder look of the dress itself.

I hemmed the top of the bust piece before gathering it and stitching it into the bodice. I'll gather up the bust/front neckline once it's on my body for a final fitting. I tried at on the other day as best as I could with no eyelets for lacing yet, and it looks like it'll be a good fit, so fingers crossed!

Costume in the Kingdom of Bavaria: 1825

As a sort of continuation of my last post, I wanted to talk about the second super useful book which I was shown at the Trachten Informationszentrum.  National Kostüme Des Königreiches Bayern is a reprint of a collection of prints from 1825, all of which show various styles of dress and genre scenes of everyday life across Bavaria.  (naturally, it is also out of print and not easy to find...)

Fig.1: [1825] Kellnerinnen von München (Waitresses/Bar-Maids from Munich)

The women pictured in Fig.1 are wearing gowns that appear to be in line with the fashions throughout Europe at that time.  The waistlines are at a fairly natural height, hems gently brush the top of the feet and carry various styles of decorative trim, and the sleeves are moderately full.  Over top of these gowns, the women wear a stays/corset-like garment called a mieder, which unlike the more broadly fashionable gowns is a specifically regional item of clothing.  Their ensembles are finished off with aprons, colourful kerchiefs, and a style of embroidered or beaded headdress specific to Munich and Upper Bavaria.

 Fig.2: [1825] Sennerinnen von der Kreutz Alpe Tegernsee (Milkmaids from Tegernsee, an area near the Alps not far from Munich)

The styles shown in Fig.2 appear quite different to those in Fig.1, but though highly regionalized, the silhouettes still reflect broader fashions of the time.  The waistlines are still raised to the height which had been fashionable about five to eight years prior to this point, and skirts maintain the volume as those seen in Fig.1. However, Fig.2 is particularly wonderful as it depicts nearly every item of women’s clothing typically worn in the Upper Bavarian region during this time period.  These garments consisted of a linen shift worn underneath everything, over the shift came the leibchen which was often armless and buttoned up the front, next is the mieder as mentioned above, skirt, jacket, kerchief, apron, and the footless stockings which were also worn by the men of the region.

 [1825] Kirchwieh Tanz in der Umgegend von Tegernsee (Religious Festival/Parish Fair Dance in the area of Tegernsee)

This last example is also featured on the front cover of the book, and for good reason I think.  It's great seeing men's and women's fashions side by side!  The book is chock full of a wide variety of wonderful imagery, but I'm rather leery of stepping on too many copyright toes and don't feel comfortable posting everything.

In the Streets of Munich: 1816 Style

There are precious few books on the subject of clothing in early 19th century Germany, and I was very happy to be shown a couple good resources during my visit to the Trachten Informationszentrum in November.  (I'll write a lot more about the TIZ in coming posts, but for now let's just say that I learned a lot there, and am very grateful to Herr Wandinger who was a veritable fount of information.)

The only two books within their collection which contained depictions of regional dress within my period of interest (1810-1830) were München Im Jahreslauf (Munich in the Course of a Year) by Paul Ernst Rattelmüller and National Kostüme Des Königreiches Bayern (National Costume of the Bavarian Kingdom) by Felix Freiherr Von Lipowsky.  Aaaand naturally both are out of print and not easy to come by.  The first, München Im Jahreslauf, contains a series of art works from the year 1816, one for every month of the year, each depicting a scene of average people on the streets of Munich.  The original pieces were three dimensional and created from wax and collage, and still remain super colourful and vibrant even when reproduced.

Fig.1 (1816) März. München Im Jahreslauf  

Fig.2 (1816) April. München Im Jahreslauf 

Both images above depict women selling various food goods in the Munich marketplace during the spring of 1816.  There is obviously a great deal of similarity between the clothing worn in both images, with the greatest similarity lying in the colours worn.  Blue and white are dominant, with black and red providing contrast.  Considering that the national colours of Bavaria were blue and white, it’s difficult to know if these artistic representations actually reflect colours that were commonly worn in the streets of Munich or if the colours served as a visual shorthand to more easily indicate the setting.

A closer look at Fig.1 shows many elements of fashion still hanging-over from the 18^th century, and which would have been considered old-fashioned in 1816.  The woman depicted is clearly not young, which might be why she’s not exactly on the cutting edge of fashion.  Her black, buckled shoes and blue, clocked stockings resemble those from the late 18^th century, as does the cut of her jacket with its cuffed, elbow length sleeves. These older styles are coupled with the high waistline of the time and short, calf-length skirt which, though not in line with high fashion, was ubiquitous amongst the lower sort and working class across Germany.  Perhaps the most uniquely regional aspect of her dress is her fur trimmed hat.  This style of hat had been worn in the Munich area since the 18^th century; although unlike the shoes and jacket depicted, its size is indicative of 1816 as the same type of hat worn in the previous century was significantly larger.

The younger woman in Fig.2 is a bit more up-to-date than her counterpart in Fig.1, yet also wears certain styles of clothing specific to the Upper Bavarian/Munich area.  Her skirt is of approximately the same length, although a little less full, than that in Fig.1, with an almost identical apron worn at the raised waistline.  Unlike the shoes in Fig.1, her blue shoes with the low, contrasting white heels are actually rather fashionable for 1816.  (It's possible that these shoes in the national colours of Bavaria are as much a symbol of national pride as they are of fashion.)  The rest of her dress is in the regional style, with a sleeveless garment called a Mieder worn over a white shift and finished with a kerchief around the neck.  I'll break down and discuss the individual items of clothing in much greater detail in the future, but the style pictured here is a very good representation of the time.

Other images from München Im Jahreslauf depict a wide range of individuals, including an old wood-seller, a sailor, gravedigger, farmer, bar-maid, and young boy carrying a Christmas tree on his head.  With the exception of the sailor, all the figures are pretty representative of the common people within Munich during the 1810s, and give a wonderful insight into the everyday life and clothing of the time.

Silver Hands

A slight change of pace today.  As the name itself implies, The Girl Without Hands features a main character who looses her hands (through a foolish deal with the Devil that her father made).  A little later on she receives silver hands to wear... eventually getting real, human hands again thanks to her goodness and the kindness of an angel.  I'm thinking of turning the angel into a female scientist in my rendition of the tale, but that's really by the by.  What really matters right now is that I'm planning on creating silver hands as part of the overall costuming.

I've spent some time looking at 19th century prosthetics, as well as metalwork from the 18th and 19th centuries plus some pieces of contemporary haute couture which thematically works.

I love this utterly creepy Victorian prosthetic arm.  I don't believe I want to make on myself that is articulated, but I still am fascinated by this piece.

At the moment I'm looking at a couple different techniques for making the hands, although it'll probably be a little while until I can get into the metals studio and try them out.  I'm interesting in trying both electroplating and electrotyping to create metal hands based upon life-molds taken from the model (whoever that turns out to be).

Electroplating permanently bonds a coating of metal to whatever it is you've properly treated and immersed in the chemical bath, while electrotyping adheres to the agent itself and creates a copy from a mold.  Since I want to create metal hands that are essentially wearable in glove-like fashion, whatever it is I make will have to be hollow.  Electrotyping seems like it would be an ideal solution in this instance, although the technique was maining popular during the Victorian era.  To create something like that through electroplating, I believe I would have to create a cast of the model's hand and arm out of wax, which I could then coat in metal using the electroplating after which I would melt the wax out.

I have no idea yet which techinque might be more appropriate or yield better results... if I want to do raised relief decoration on the silver hands (which I would like to do), it seems as if doing that on a wax cast would be the easiest way.  But I think I won't know until I get in the studio and actually try it all out.

Or I could do a combination of metalwork and stitchery... like these killer shoes by Alexander McQueen.

Oberbayern Tracht from the 1810s and 1820s

I found some really wonderful prints yesterday when digging around on the internet on the website of the Trachten Informationszentrum, which apparently is an institution not terribly far from Munich which specializes in fashion and folk costume from the Oberbayern (Upper Bavarian) region.  Their website contains a very small selection of their entire collection, which is comprised of over 4,000 items of clothing, 20,000 images, and an extensive library.

I think I need to go there.  According the website they are open to the public every Thursday, but are very open to setting up private appointments on other days to look at things. Hopefully I'll be able to take a trip sometime in the next month.

The first two prints are from 1813 and are by Ludwig Emil Grimm... and yes, that is Grimm, as in Ludwig was the younger brother of Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm.  Very, very cool.

1813 - Baierische Bäuerinnen vom Schliersee

I love almost everything that these two are wearing... the strange little pantaloon type things (also worn by the men in the print below), the decorated back of the bodice, the almost gauntlet-like sleeve things, the overall silhouette... I have a feeling I'll be drawing heavily from this sort of style in my designing.

1813 - Baierische Baueren vom Schliersee

1817 - Eine Bäuerin von Holzkirchen

 1818 - Ein Bauer von Flintspach

1825 - Bauern-Bursche & Bauern-Mädchen von Brannenburg

Royalty and Riches - journal entry from 27 Sep, 2013

So what were German nobility wearing at this time period (1819-25)?  It varies a little bit, but for the most part it seems as though they were following the same fashions trends found in France and England with only very slight differences.  I love the crazy amount of glorious silver or/and gold embroidery on a lot of these...

Therese of Saxe-Hildburghausen, Queen of Bavaria, by Joseph Stieler

1823 - Worn by Oscar I of Sweden and Josephine of Leuchtenberg for their wedding in Munich

Could anything possibly look more fairytale than this ensemble?  I kind of doubt it.

1819 German Court Dress

 1823 - Princess Augusta Amalia of Bavaria

 1820s German Court Dress

 1825 Queen Pauline of Württemberg

1825 Ludwig I of Bavaria

 1825 King Ludwig I of Bavaria again... this time all decked out in his regalia.  Check out those shoes!

Tracht - journal entry from 23 Sep, 2013

Nearly my entire morning and early afternoon has been pleasantly spent searching the internet for images of German Tracht (traditional folk costume).  One website in particular has been wonderful for images of mid to late 19th cen traditional costume, containing scans of a huge number of 19th and early 20th century postcards. In looking for images from the early 19th century however, I've mostly relied on google and pinterest searches; searching for 1819 Tracht, 1820 Tracht, etc... fortunately there's not a lot of overlap in search results, and there are several very interesting prints from nearly every year which pop up.  Unfortunately, I haven't yet found a single site where images of early 19th cen Tracht are conveniently compiled... perhaps that's something I should consider doing myself...

Some of the highlights from today's search:

Town woman and farm girl from Augsburg - 1820

Trachten aus Kammern und Kallwang, Aquarell um 1820 Matthäus Loder
Traditional clothing from Kammern and Kallwang in 1820

Bayerische national Trachten - Nürnberg, Renner, und Schuster um 1820
Bavarian national clothing in 1820

It's really interesting how even though this print is dated to 1820, the clothing is very strongly 18th century in style.  In the mens' clothing the short waistcoats and standing collars on the coats are indicitive of the early 19th century, but cocked hats and knee breeches had fallen out of fashion years prior.  The woman's outfit is obviously Tracht instead of 'fashionable' wear, but the cut of her jacket is also rather reminiscent of the 18th century.

Later images show a more fossilized and highly regionalized fashion:

Bayerische Volkstrachten - Unterfranken und Aschaffenburg, Uettingen
Bavarian folk costume

Hessische Trachten, Mädchengruppe, Sonntagskleider
Hessian traditional clothing, group of girls in Sunday dresses

 Niedersächsische Braut, Kleid mit Perlenhut

Bride from Lower Saxony, dress with beaded/pearled hat

Volkstracht aus dem Elzthal
Folk costume from Elzthal

This last one is super interesting, as the woman on the left is wearing a dress which is obviously modelled on 18th century clothing, as is the straw hat which the woman on the right is wearing.  Since this is an early 20th cen postcard featuring Bayerische Volkstrachten (Bavarian Folk Costume), I can't help but wonder if it is presenting the tradional clothing from two different eras... just shown side by side. 

If anyone has recommendations for good books or websites on the subject, please let me know!  I'm only just starting to study this particular area, and am still trying to figure out the best sources of information.

The Girl Without Hands - Mädchen ohne Hände

 Beautiful illustration by Winona Nelson

When thinking about what I wanted to do for my master's project, it made the most sense to follow through on the themes I've been more or less obsessed with for the last few years: dark fairytales, Germany, and the early 19th century.

The university library fortunately had facsimile versions of the orignal publications by the Brothers Grimm; both the first editions published in 1812 and 1815 (the latter being a follow-up of 'new' and different stories), and the last and most famous edition from 1857.  The first couple editions apparently weren't wildly successful, but after the third edition (which included all the tales from the first two) was published in 1819, the book started to garner a following and eventually became as well-known as it is today.

Title page of the first edition of Grimms' Fairytales or more properly, Kinder und Hausmärchen.

After reading through the original text, I eventually decided to design for the tale, The Girl Without Hands.  This story is not nearly as well known as other Grimm tales, perhaps because in spite of a happy ending, it is at it's core rather gruesome and phsycologically horrific.  It also was the only story to spark a strong visceral reaction when I was reading... that is, when I was reading it in German.  The next day I read a few English translations which were unbearably formal and stiff, perhaps providing another reason for it's lack of fame.

Regarding the costume design, I have decided to set the story in an alternate version of Germany shortly after the release of the compiled third edition of Kinder und Hausmärchen in 1819.  I'm looking at a lot of 19th century traditional German costume (or Tracht, as it's officially called) plus court dress and everyday wear of German royalty and nobility during the early 1820s.

Oh, 1797, you kill me with awesome

Next month I will be attending a Jane Austen ball and I must have a new gown for the occasion as it's held in a tavern from the 1790s, and I don't have anything from that period.

After looking at a LOT of fashion plates, I realized that most of the looks I particularly love were from the year 1797.  There's still a lot of crazy layering and some strange experimentation, but things have more or less settled into a stable "look".

I find I'm especially drawn to the style which features an overdress with a cross-over bodice and an asymmetrical skirt.  There were quite a few examples of this style that I ran across, and I've posted my favorites here.  Most of the extant examples of over-dresses from this period that I've seen are made of some sort of colored or pattern fabric with a white (often embroidered) gown or petticoat underneath.  However I was really interested by the 'Afternoon Dress' fashion plate from 1797 which shows a white overdress with a vivid blue petticoat peeking through the asymmetrical opening of the skirt.  Clearly not following the norm.

Evening Dress- Gallery of Fashion, Nov 1795

Afternoon Dresses- Gallery of Fashion, June 1797 

Concert Room Evening Dresses- Gallery of Fashion, April 1797 

The gown on the left of this plate is my absolute favorite of all the ones which I looked at.  I adore the drape of the skirts, the trim, the rich but subtle embroidery of the petticoat underneath... I even like the crazy helmet headdress!

Evening Dress- Gallery of Fashion, June 1797

I sort of mashed up all the elements that I really, really like and combined them in my quick little sketch below.  A gorgeous antique embroidered sari which I bought off ebay will become the petticoat and will also be used for the sleeves.  The over-all color scheme is creamy yellow and white with purple or midnight accents.  And of course there will be an epic headdress with large ostrich plumes dyed at the tips to match the trim on the gown...

At the Mayor's Office- working mens' clothing from 1795

A good friend of mine, Tyler,  is currently studying for his masters in material culture at Winterthur, and as part of his thesis is discussing working mens' clothing from the late 18th century.  He is looking at a particular advertisement from 1795 which lists a number of clothes that a certain criminal had made off with... ideally, there would be images of these types of clothes to use as a reference in this thesis.  Unfortunately, there are not a lot of visual references for working mens' clothes from the time, much less ones which contain the exact items listed.

This is where I, as the artist friend, came in.  I agreed to paint several illustration depicting specific articles of clothing mentioned in the ad.

The problem was, I'm not terribly familiar with men's clothing from the 1790s and really didn't want to completely bollocks things up.  Fortunately for me, Tyler knows a great deal about the subject (you know, it being the object of his thesis and all...) and he provided me with some prints and drawings of sailors and slaves, plus the original ad in question.

It reads as follows:

"At the Mayor's Office
Are the following articles of Clothing, all new, supposed to have been stolen out of some slop shops or shops.  They were found upon a Joseph Lone, a convict who not long hence escaped from gaol - They may be seen by the claimants.  Sep. 5, 1795

I pair cotton striped yellow, purple and white trowsers.
3 ditto- yellow and white do.
2 ditto- red and white do.
I ditto- black and white do.
I ditto- plain nankeen do.
I ditto- do with fringe.
2 sailor's jackets, plain nankeen, bound with black silk
I ditto- striped silk
I ditto- plain nankeen
I ditto- Raffia duck, bound with black
I red waistcoat, bound with black
I buff fustian waistcoat, striped yellow and grey
I white waistcoat, with red stripes and spots
I cassimere muff waistcoat, with blue and red spots
I white waistcoat with blue and white spots
I nankeen purple, striped waistcoat
I muslin waistcoat, with red spots
I cotton checked striped shirt
A sheeting bag with a drawing string"

These are the images that Tyler sent me to look at.  It's all his research, not mine!

 British Plenty by Henry Singleton- 1794

 Scarcity in India by Henry Singleton- 1794

 Barber scene by Benjamin Henry Latrobe- 1797

 Seaman by Thomas Rowlandson- 1798

 Industry and Oeconomy by Henry Singleton- 1800

 Making a Compass at Sea, London- early 19th Cen.

For better or worse, I am basing my illustrations off these images, discussions with Tyler, and what I read in the book The Dress of the People: Everyday Fashion in Eighteenth-Century England.  I fully acknowledge that this subject is not my strong point, but as it is, I've already learned a lot from this project.  The biggest thing that has jumped out at me so far is the prevalence of striped trousers.  Of the nine pairs of trousers listed in the ad, only one pair was completely plain.  Seven pairs were striped and one was fringed.

I'd have to look at a lot more ads from the time to really see if striped trousers are that common across the board, or if Joseph Lone happened to steal from a shop owner who was really fond of stripes.  But it's interesting nonetheless.

Next up, preliminary sketches and illustration progress...