Her hair was a bonfire and eyes shining like wet stone,
Her heart was like a rosebush, stems as hard as bone.

“German Rose” Embroidered Chemise

Fine Linen Underdress with Pleats

Who says that history has to be plain and boring? Our “German Rose’ collection is all about walking the line between history and modern beauty, trying to create the perfect German renaissance costume without being a strict piece of reenactment. We have accomplished this stunning piece with high-quality fine flax linen, hand embroidery and professional tailoring techniques to produce the perfect underdress to complete your costume.

Designed to be the base layer for a German dress costume, a chemise is more than just a dress. It protections your outer clothes and absorbs sweat and oil, as well as putting a lovely soft layer next to your skin to keep you comfortable.

We took inspiration from 16th century under dresses, creating a loose-fitting dress that poofs out in a comfortable silhouette. Since it is meant to go underneath more fitted clothing, we did not make this particular dress tight or flattering in a traditional sense and left all of that to the “German Rose” collection of outer clothes. Looking at historical images of women in bathhouses, we determined that knee-length was the ideal length for this dress. This also works well with the weave and natural length of the linen bolts we use, meaning we can get a nice drape without the use of excessive gores. This length is also great because it won’t interfere as you kneel or run.

All of this beautiful, billowing fabric comes in at the neck and cuffs with dozens of tiny, perfect pleats. These are all neatly applied by expert seamstresses, and make for a finish that is both decorative and practical. These pleats also sit nice and flat and are reinforced at the top and bottom with a thin linen ribbon. This is the same ribbon that can be used to tie the chemise closed at the front, with a similar style used at the cuffs to allow you to close them as well. The sleeves are similar to the dress in that they aren’t fitted and instead give you lots of room to move.

As a finishing touch to this stunning dress, we’ve added one last bit of fine finishing - hand embroidery. Embroidery floss is used to create a pattern along the two ribbons on the neckline, as well as those at the cuffs. This creates a great little bit of contrast, and really steps the whole thing up a level to look incredibly high class without being gaudy. Remember to look at the rest of our “German Rose” collection for options of what to wear over the top of this chemise.

Please note that the maximum length of the chemise is about 130 cm (51 3/16 in).

To check how to measure yourself please click here.

Please contact us if you have any additional questions.