2008
Bourgeois Pride and Princely Splendour.
Costumes from the Sixteenth to Eighteenth Century
20 April - 2 November 2008
daily 2.00 p.m. - 5.30 p.m.





Cologne school (Franz Kessler?), Portrait of Christina Virmond
Oil on canvas, 1626
Cologne, Kölnisches Stadtmuseum, inv. no. WRM 2074
© Rheinisches Bildarchiv, Cologne

Christina Virmond from Cologne, dressed according to her rank and adorned with the accessories of bourgeois fashion.



Bourgeois garments
Most of the costumes come from the collection of Baron von Hüpsch (1730-1805), who assembled eighteen upper garments of wealthy Cologne citizens, and bequeathed them to the Hessisches Landesmuseum Darmstadt. This is by far the most significant collection of its kind.



Ornamentation
Smooth silk satin was the outer fabric of choice in the seventeenth century. This could be elaborately worked to produce attractive, three-dimensional decorative effects and further embellished by the addition of a rich variety of trimmings, lace, and above all, buttons.



Clear shapes
Sophisticated tailoring techniques, padding, and stiff interlining gave the costumes a smooth, perfect fit, and the desired fashionable silhouette.



Fancy dress
To judge by the alterations, historicist elements, and simpler materials used, two of the five eighteenth-century upper garments were fancy dress.

Courtly fashions of the Renaissance
This magnificent, densely pleated gown with fashionable puff and hanging sleeves was worn by the Elector Moritz of Saxony (1521-1553). A state costume in the heraldic colours of Saxony, its broad, square silhouette underlined the prince's masculinity, power and dignity. Together with the doublet, ample trunk-hose, and yellow leather stockings, the gown constitutes the only such costume from the Renaissance to have been preserved in its entirety.