Clothing in a 16th Century (1510-1540's) German Women's Wardrobe

Dress / Kleid

Dresses from this time had many variations, much was dependent on region, and social rank, but there are a few things that can be looked at as rules. (There are exceptions to the rules, but we are looking at the most common factors, not the one random one.)

Dresses would be made out of (depending on your class) wool, silk, or velvet, linen would have lined a dress, but would most likely never have been an entire outer dress, Europe was in a mini ice age during this period, and it just wasn’t that hot. Skirts were always attached to the bodice, this cannot be stressed enough, there has been a recent trend amongst recreators, in which the skirts are not attached to the bodice, this is simply untidy, and frankly immodest, as the end result is always, your hemd hanging out. (The modern equivalent is bending over and showing your thong.) Some German men did wear their clothing with a bit of shirt hanging out, but that was the men. The skirt would have been most commonly roll pleated or occasionally cartridge pleated, there are cases where other techniques could have been used, but for the purpose of this beginner class, that falls under the heading of “Go forth and do your own more advanced research if you want to know that much.” Guarding (the decorative banding at the hem) was universally used throughout Germany in every class and region and would have matched what was on the bodice, you could have anywhere from 1 to 8 or more guards on your skirt.

The bodices were all side seamed, not the commonly used Italian side back seams in the other European countries of this period. The front is curved and most often center hooked or fastened. The bodices are where the real region and class differences are most clearly seen.

Saxons

Saxons wore one of the most distinct types of bodices, open fronted with a band across the bust and black lacing down to the waist. It was most commonly seen in red, black and gold, although there are other colors shown to include brown, gray, and green. This dress style is regionally specific to Saxony, if you see someone in a painting that is dressed in this style, you can bet they are from the Saxon court, this style doesn’t dress down, you cannot make it a commoner’s dress, You could simplify it to upper merchant class, but it is not ever appropriate to call this dress Landsknecht. (That one image you think you have seen of a camp follower in a Saxon dress is an illusion, besides that, it is Victorian anyway.) The sleeves are where the largest amount of variation can be seen in this dress style, there are two piece sleeves laced together, slashing, tabbed, simple, etc. all ending in a belled cuff that goes slightly onto the hand, research your own favorite style on this one and go wild.

Hausfrau

Hausfrau (literally meaning housewife) was a simple modest style most commonly seen with a squared or oval neckline, with guarding around the neck and down the front on either side of the center front closure, most likely laced or hooked shut. The colors tend to be somber, a lot of black, brown, and dark blues. The sleeves were very different to what other Germans seemed to be doing during this period, they were more fitted, not slashed and they widened from the elbow to the wrist progressively in a large bell.

Kampfrau

Kampfrau is the term we use for the Landsknecht camp followers, they had a very different look to any of the other German women of this time. Unlike their male counterparts, they were symmetrical (meaning that they had matching sleeves and guarding) and the slashing that we so heavily associate with the Landsknecht men was certainly less common and used sparingly. They had square necks front and back, with guarding about the width of the shoulder strap. Most people hear Kampfrau, and think plain, torn and simple (some even go for ill fitting) but that is not entirely true, the fact is they had access to damask, used sparingly in jackets, on cuffs and guards, but still damask. Their clothes fit them and were tidy, well made and dare I say it? Pretty. The only slashing would be seen at the shoulder, or over the elbow, with no guarding on either side of the slashes, occasionally it would be seen on the guarding, but much less often then you would think. The slashes have unfinished edges, that can be bee’s waxed or fray checked, if you would prefer (it’s easier if you cut the sleeve on the bias.) Sleeves were always sewn into the bodice and ended in a little bell that could be rolled back off the hand when needed. Think practical, fiddly and messy is not practical or fun to wear over long periods of time, if by the end of the day you are screaming to get out of your dress it’s not right. The Kampfrau are pretty well known for the kirtling of their skirts to show other lairs and outlandish hose, make sure that when you kirtle you catch all of the lairs all the way around yourself evenly, you want to be a mushroom (include your apron.)

Chemise / Hemd

Different styles were used regionally; the Saxons chemises were for the most part hidden and only viewed through sleeve puffs, Martin Luther’s wife wore high necks, but that would have been more of a sign of religious piety then the true fashion of the region. Hausfrau wore low to high necks, depending on the situation, and smocking and black accents were popular. The Kampfrau, appear for the most part to have high collared necks, most likely to protect them from the sun, black work can be used sparingly on collars and cuffs, but again think practical.

Underskirt

Everyone would have worn an underskirt, a very common color for this item of clothing was red, I have a theory that that was associated with being less stainable when it came to menstrual blood, but maybe they all just really, really liked red, other colors were seen too, pick your favorite and go with it. Linen is a good summer weight, wool a good winter weight, silk if you are going to be wearing it in a class appropriate situation. You can guard your underskirt if you so choose, you could even go crazy and wear more then one underskirt if you want! I like to hand gather (as a machine overlock stitch doesn’t gather the same way as in period) or roll pleat the tops of my underskirt into a band that is either tied or hooked shut.

Accessories

Belt

Needed for kirtling (hitching up) your skirts and holding your pouch, Saxon belts were mostly ornamental. There is a lot of evidence for the tongued belt as opposed to the common ringed belt buckle used in the SCA.

Hose / Stockings and Garters

You either need cloth or knit hose, striped or solid, bright colors, and depending on the look you are going for they don’t even have to match each other. The most correct would be if you could get your stripes running up and down your leg, but the most available socks seem to be striped around the leg, although they are acceptable for the purposes of a recreator. Garters are simply to hold your hose up and are a must have for anyone who has spent the day hiking their socks back up, A bias cut strip of fabric, to formal “garters” are all appropriate.

Pouch

Multi pocketed, and attached to your belt, occasionally dangling off a longer cord either drawstring, or with a metal top and smaller drawstring bags around the larger base. I have some images of it being a flat teardrop or heart shape and multi-pocketed.

Apron

Aprons could either go around your waist, or as an over the shoulder almost apron dress style. They were not necessarily white; in fact I would say that the colors would be preferable from the upper middle class down. Smocking was very common, and is a very achievable look in modern terms with very little experience needed. Roll pleats were also used. As you head toward the upper classes, an apron would have been made out of very fine material and would have been a status symbol, aprons would have been less common among the upper class Saxons, or at least they didn’t get painted wearing them.

Head wrap / Steuchlein and Hat / Beret

Okay here is my biggest pet peeve, I’m not trying to be rude…..well okay maybe I am, but where’s you hat????? The majority of German costumers forget about the hat. Women in German paintings naked as the day they are born except for one thing, they are always wearing a hat. The only time I have seen that situation be different is occasionally twelve year-old girls will have their hair loose, are you a twelve year-old girl? And promiscuous women were shown with their heads uncovered, are you promiscuous? Keep in mind the medieval message you are sending. For over a century in Germany women were wearing a padded head roll called a wulsthaube, over which was a white linen cloth, and once put together the hat was called a steuchlein. Hausfrau wore them from medium to huge in size, they would add fancy veils, blackwork and velvet bands. Kampfrau wore slightly smaller rolls, but still distinctly padded and high on the head. Over the top of the steuchleins were worn “starfish” or “pizza” style sun hats, they would always be worn when out of doors, the feathers would only be all white on the slightly upper class, so remember to add some color kampfrau! Saxons were a little different in they wore what we costumers call a goldhaube, a gold football shaped caul, that still defies me in terms of pattern shape to this day. Also occasionally false hair and braids were worn instead of a goldenhaube. The hats worn over these pieces were usually red, and either small and segmented, or large round ones, white feathers only please.

Shoes

If you put time and money anywhere on a German outfit, please do it in the shoes, details like this can make or break an outfit.

Optional Accessories

Bloomers

I personally don’t have any proof that this item was worn. I like to wear this piece of clothing based purely on the fact that it keeps me cooler, and I hate it when my thighs touch all day. Mine are white linen, one pair I have are braies I stole from my husband when they shrunk in the wash. Knowing female anatomy, I cannot imagine that some piece of clothing wasn’t worn as underwear, it would save underskirts from being soiled, and would have certainly made sense.

Gloves

Gloves would have saved the working hands of a lower class lady, and the slashed white gloves of a Saxon lady would have been a status symbol, as they are impractical and would have dirtied easily. (A word of warning, look closely at the white Saxon slashed gloves, none of them have the middle finger slashed.)

Gollar

A gollar is the short cape or little sleeveless vest that is worn over your German dress, it was worn in all regions and by all classes, gollars were made from some of the nicest fabric available to each of the classes, as they took very little fabric. They were usually fur lined.