The Anatomy of a Cranach Princess Dress

University of Atlantia - February 13, 2021

Amie Sparrow

Introduction – Time, Place, Person

The time of these gowns is roughly 1510-1540. The place is Saxony (see red outlines in the graphic below), which was part of the Holy Roman Empire. You can see Italy’s boot at the bottom of the map, Spain to the lower left, and Great Britain on the upper left.

The women wearing this dress were high status women of the elite or ruling class. This class talks about “German” woman’s fashion even though these fashions came into being before there was a country called Germany. Now that we have established the time and place, let’s look at the dresses themselves.

There are no existing Cranach dresses that I know about. The only dress still in existence from that time period is a gown worn by Maria of Hapsburg, made in approximately 1520. The next picture shows the gown as it is currently displayed in Uppsala cathedral (but it is owned by the Hungarian National Museum).

There are some similarities that this gown has to the Cranach Princess gowns and some differences.

Similarities

· Open neckline of the dress bodice

· Large bell cuffs

· Guards of different colored fabric along the bodice front edges

Differences

· The skirt is not gathered on to the bodice

· There is no cloth across the bust

· There is no lacing across the torso

· Sleeves are not fancy

However, when you compare this gown that was made during the same timeframe as the Cranach gowns in Saxony, you can see that they are cousins.

Cranach Portraits

So why are Cranach princess gowns called “Cranach Princess” gowns, anyway? Lucas Cranach the Elder (1472-1553) was a court painter that lived in Germany at the time where these dresses were popular and he painted many ladies in these dresses. So many in fact that the dress is known by his name…a Cranach gown. See all Cranach’s artwork in the Cranach Digital Archive: https://lucascranach.org/UK_NGL_291/image

I’m going to show you several portraits and we’ll talk about the design features that are considered “Cranach” dress features when worn in this combination.

First up a 1535 portrait of three princesses:

The Princesses Sibylla (1515-1592), Emilia (1516-1591) and Sidonia (1518-1575) of Saxony

https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Lucas_Cranach_d._%C3%84._039.jpg

Common elements of Cranach Look

· Goldhaube (They aren’t wearing hairnets over golden braids. Those are cloth of gold head coverings embroidered with pearls.)

· Fancy hat

· Big gold chains

· Choker

· Open fronted dress with bust band covering and lacing across the torso

· Very fancy sleeves with bell-shaped cuffs

· Lots of guards decorating the dress bodice, sleeves and skirts

A goldhaube is very common. It’s a cloth of gold cap that decorated with pearls or other elements. Princess Sibylla on the left is only wearing a headband, which is a little unusual. It’s also quite probable that the braids on the top of her head are fake. My next class is about how to make a goldhaube. If you’re not signed up for that class, you can view it at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2gUaW8Lcm9A&t=97s

The next item is a very fancy hat, a lot of the times covered in ostrich plumes. These hats were made of wool or velvet, possibly silk. I’m teaching a class later this afternoon on the wide variety of hats that were worn in these portraits.

The next common items a choker and large chains. I have several that I purchased at a store that was going out of business. Just a note, if you are in the SCA and you are wearing chains, you should wear them with a ribbon laced through them so you will not upset the knights who are wearing their chains.

Now, on to the dresses.

The hallmarks of a Cranach gown are the wide open front with bands of contrasting fabric on either side. The bustline is covered by another fancy piece of fabric often decorated with pearls. The torso is covered with crossed laces. A white “hemd” or shirt is worn underneath. The sleeves are almost always fancy and the cuffs are often quite bell-shaped and over-sized. Sometimes the princess wears a belt. Many of these dresses look like the skirts have rolled pleats, which are a definite sign of conspicuous consumption, showing one’s wealth off to one’s neighbors or peers.

Dress Materials

· Wool or velvet for the base of the dress

· Canvas or heavy linen for the bodice interlining and the sleeve base

· Cloth of gold or another contrasting color of wool or velvet for the guards

· Finger loop braided cord for ties

· Linen for the under dress and fake sleeve poofs (alternately, the poofs can be silk)

· Pearls for decoration

Let’s look at some more examples of the dresses and I’ll point out the features before I talk about how to make one.

Portrait of a Lady with an Apple, 1527

https://lucascranach.org/CZ_OPH_HS242

Items of Note:

· Still wears a goldhaube

· No hat

· High necked gown

· Has more necklaces (but at least 1 choker and several chains)

· Bust covering

· Torso lacing

· Cloth of gold bands decorating the bodice, sleeves & skirt

Portrait of a Lady, 1541

https://lucascranach.org/PRIVATE_NONE-P259

Items of Note:

· Still wears a goldhaube

· Completely different style of hat

· High necked hemd

· Low necked gown

· Has more necklaces (but at least 1 choker and several chains)

· Bust covering

· Torso lacing

· Wide cloth of gold bands decorating the bodice, sleeves & skirt

· Dress opens all the way down the front or she’s wearing an apron

Judith with the head of Holofernes, 1950-1999

https://lucascranach.org/PRIVATE_NONE-P091

Items of Note:

· Still wears a goldhaube

· Completely different style of hat

· Low necked gown

· Has 2 necklaces and 1 choker

· Bust covering

· Torso lacing

· Wide cloth of gold bands decorating the bodice, sleeves & skirt

· Fancy sleeves

· Bell cuffs

And…

It’s a forgery!

This portrait is included because I want to point out to you the folly of assuming that just because a painting is included in an artist’s over, it doesn’t mean the art is real. You must read the fine print about any portrait you want to use as inspiration.

Judith, 1530

Cranach Digital Archive

Items of Note:

· Wears only hat

· We see real hair (which is unusual)

· High necked gown

· Has 2 necklaces and 1 choker

· Bust covering

· Torso lacing

· Wide cloth of gold bands decorating the bodice, sleeves & skirt

· Fancy sleeves

· Bell cuffs

Sybille of Cleves

Cranach Digital Archive

Items of Note:

· Wears only a goldhaube

· High necked gown and a high-necked hemd

· Has 2 necklaces

· The “choker” might be part of the hemd

· Bust covering

· Torso lacing

· Wide cloth of gold bands decorating the bodice, sleeves & skirt

· Fancy sleeves

· Bell cuffs

· Wearing a gold capelet

The Ill-Matched Couple, 1532 by Lucas Cranach the Elder

https://lucascranach.org/SE_NMS_258

Items of note: this young woman is not a princess but she’s wearing a dress that has the hallmarks of a typical Cranach princess dress. She is also wearing a caul around the back of her braids, showing that she is lower-class. But you must be careful in using this portrait as evidence. “The Ill-Matched Couple” is an allegorical tale. She is representing an idea, not a real person.

What are the pattern pieces of the dress and approximate amounts?

· Skirt – For a gathered skirt, you will need 2 widths of fabric the length of your waist to the floor (+ seam allowances and hem). If you are more amply proportioned that 50” at the hip, you will need more. If you are doing a rolled pleat, you will need much more.

· Bodice front – ½ yard

· Bodice back – ½ yard

· Sleeves – The length of your arm + how big you want your poofs, if any.

· Cuffs – ½ yard

· Bust band – scrap of fabric approximately 8” deep x 16” wide

· Decorative bands – Various, it depends on how many bands of decoration you want.

Patterns

There are several commercially available patterns for Cranach Princess dresses. I’ve bought several and used them. I don’t recommend any of them. The sizing is either terrible or the design is incorrect.

So, then, how do you get a pattern for this garment? You find a friend who can help you make a body block which you can then modify to make the dress. The skirts are easy, they’re just straight lengths of fabric. The sleeves are going to vary so enormously that you will be hard-pressed to find any pattern you like. The cuffs can be copied from any number of commercial patterns that have bell-shaped cuffs.

ConstructionThe Bodice

As I have mentioned before, the bodice is made of 3 pattern pieces, 2 fronts and a back. You will also want to interline the bodice with heavy canvas. This bodice is structural, which means it’s going to have to hold your weight as you sinch it tight.

To that end, I added two metal stays at the edge of each front to keep the fabric from buckling as I closed it over my torso and bust.

On either side of the bodice front, you can have a row of lacing rings or make eyelets. (Not shown here.)

The Skirt

The skirt, as I make it, is two lengths of fabric sewn together. This fabric is then gathered into either a waistband that is sewn to the bodice or you can add a length of fabric to the front to join that space across the torso. The skirt is closed by a hook and eye at whatever side you leave open. The opening is a slit about 7” down from the waist.

The Sleeves

The sleeves are going to take you a long time. The process is hard to describe in words so I’m going to show you with photos. (Another source of how-to information is my dress diary at https://amiesparrow.wordpress.com/dress-diaries-2/16th-century-cranach-princess-dress/

Something that might surprise you is that the sleeve poofs are probably faked. I’ve made dresses where I’ve tried to wear a shirt and pull the poofs through the sleeve openings. They don’t work at all. So for these two gowns, I’ve use a base of sturdy linen and added the fashion fabric on top.

Above, the pattern piece is on the left and the sleeve base in heavy linen is on the right.

In the photo on the right, you can see roughly how much fabric is being used to cover the sleeve base. The gold is silk bands. The red wool will make the slashed areas. The white lien will be the fake poofs.

Sew the wool down first. Notice that it is not yet slashed. It is easier to sew the wool to the sleeve base before it is slashed.

After you sew the wool down, you can add a layer of silk (or cloth of gold or whatever you fancy fabric is) to cover up the raw edge of the wool.

In these photos, the silk is pinned over the edge of the wool and sew into place.

It’s hard to see, but in the photo above, I’m checking to make sure that the wool and silk will match when I eventually sew the sleeve together.

Above, the silk is pressed down.

Here I’m getting ready to pin the lower edge of the wool to the line where the cuff will eventually be sewn.

The wool is pinned in place.

Sewing the wool down.

This photo shows the wool sewn into place. Now I’m getting ready to sew the wool again, this time making these ridges that will eventually be slashed.

A side view showing the ridges before they are sewn into place.

Here the ridges are sewn into place. I used white thread so it is seen on film.

At left, I’m cutting away excess fabric as shown from the back of the sleeve.

Above, I’ve made my first set of slashes by just snipping to the sleeve base (but not into the sleeve base) with my scissors.

At left, I’m checking again to make sure that the various layers are going to meet up when the entire sleeve is sewing together at the back seem.

Above, I’ve pinned the silk layer down for sewing.

Skipping a few repetitive steps, the sleeve above is ready to be sewn together. Note: I should have added the cuff before I sewed the sleeve together. Adding it afterwards is a pain in the backside.

This is the sleeve sewn together. See how the slashes naturally separate.

This is the messy backside. I left in the mistake. Do you see it on the left? The top band of silk does not match up accurately. This is why you must, at every step, make sure that your bands of material are lined up as you go.

In the photo on the right, you can see the first fake linen poof laying next to the sleeve. It will be added to the white space on the sleeve between the two bands of silk.

At left, the top of the linen poof is gathered.

Above, the poof is pinned into place.

Below left, the poof is sewn into place.

Above, the poof is pinned to the upper band of silk. This will be hand-stitched into place.

Here you can see more fakery. A length of linen is threaded through the wool slashing to make it appear as if the shirt underneath is filling the slashed areas.

Above, you can see the sleeves of another dress being prepped. The sleeve on the left has no poofs yet. The sleeve on the right has its poof. You can also see that the sleeve ties are also faked. They are lengths of finger loop braiding that are sewn into place.

Notes

· This is a heavy dress, so if you like light-weight clothing, this is not the dress for you.

· The sleeves will take just as long as the rest of the dress to make.

· If you sew this dress on a machine, use a walking foot.

Other Resources

Item

Link

1

My dress diary, good sleeve photos

https://amiesparrow.wordpress.com/dress-diaries-2/16th-century-cranach-princess-dress/

2

Reference portraits at the Cranach Digital Archive

https://lucascranach.org/UK_NGL_291/image

3

Cloth of Gold (although they don’t seem to have any in stock right now)

https://www.sartorbohemia.com/reproduction-fabrics/

4

Wool. They folks cater to reenactors. I recommend buying swatches before you buy yardage. Sometimes the colors or weight does not convey in the photos.

https://burnleyandtrowbridge.com/

5

Silk Taffeta (for the goldhaube)

Note: Silk dupioni is not heavy enough.

https://www.renaissancefabrics.net/product-category/silk/

https://www.silkbaron.com/

6

Linen

https://fabrics-store.com/

7

General online fabric stores where you can find fake cloth of gold.

(too many to list)

https://www.denverfabrics.com/Catalog?refinementIds=4096716&keyword=Gold%20metallic&pageSize=16&page=2

https://www.joann.com/fabric/

8

Swarovski 3-4mm Pearls

https://www.firemountaingems.com/

Or you can get natural pearls more cheaply on Etsy.

9

Faux “Gold” chains

https://www.joann.com/fabric/

https://www.michaels.com/fabric-shop/fabrics/992622616

10

My YouTube video on how to construct a goldhaube

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2gUaW8Lcm9A&t=97s

11

My YouTube video on how to construct a hat

12

My YouTube video on how to construct a hat for this class if you want to see it again

2