Original: Dorothea Sabine's Gown

Gown, 1598, Bayerisches Nationalmuseum.

There are so few surviving garments from the 16th century, that it's a pleasant surprise to find pictures of any of them. This example, from the Bayerisches Nationalmuseum and featured in Patterns of Fashion 3, is Dorothea Sabina von Neuberg's burial gown. The young Pflazgräfin (countess palatinate) died in 1598, and was buried in this elaborate ensemble, which includes a silk velvet gown trimmed in gold with long hanging sleeves, worn over an underdress of plain-woven silk decorated in silver lace. Contrary to the photograph above (which appears to be burgundy and yellow on my screen), the museum describes the velvet gown as olive-green and the plain-woven kirtle as green.