Without her, autumn came and trees became austere,
And after that the time grew quickly, year by year by year.
Still, I listen for whispers of that song I could have known,
And look to my garden, gnarled and my flowers overgrown.
I tell myself, as winter comes, if I could just have her here,
She would be my finest rose.
Renaissance Dress “German Rose”
German Renaissance overdress with asymmetric hem
There is something to be said for understated beauty. Sure, you can wear as many jewels as you’d like, and adorn your dresses with shiny trim… everyone has their own personal standards of aesthetics. In this collection, we chose to instead look inward, allowing the stunning design of the dress, fine finishes, and quality textiles to speak for themselves. We feel that these aspects end up singing far louder than even the brightest and most decorative trims!
This dress is historically inspired, heavily based on a figure in “The Crucifixion”, an oil painting by Anton Woesam circa 1540. In the foreground a woman knees piously, wearing a short-sleeved overdress with a square neckline. Once we knew what we wanted this dress to look like, we got to work looking at other historical sources to understand how a German medieval clothing like this may have been put together and then worked on it further to apply modern tailoring techniques. Applying our expertise to historical garments means that we can still make them appear historical, but add aspects that make them more comfortable for modern wearers.
This dress probably would have been worn by a woman with servants or a handmaid, as there is lacing up the back that can be difficult to secure yourself. Not to say that it is impossible to do yourself - we just wouldn’t recommend it for your comfort. Thus, the wearer would likely have been higher socioeconomic standing than your average person.
The German women's dress itself has a fitted silhouette, giving you a dainty waist and high bust, with the voluminous skirt falling in fabulous pleats. This means that you end up with a very high waist, which was quite fashionable at the time, and makes people of all statures tall and graceful. As previously mentioned, we achieve this fitted look with the help of back lacing, which will help you get a good fit while the dress remains comfortable. The bodice of the dress is lined with fine natural linen. The neckline is low and square, which looks lovely when combined with our pleated chemise.
The sleeves of this dress are short but a bit billowy, secured at the top of your shoulder with a cord. This exposes the lining underneath, giving some contrast to your outfit. The hem of this dress is very interesting - it measures 9 meters around, which is a huge amount of fabric! To compensate for this, there are pleats at the waist to make sure it falls in the most flattering way possible. The hem is also asymmetric, so it at the front it falls to just below your knees, giving you room to kneel and move. At the back, though, it trails out behind you slightly in a magnificent way.
Here at ArmStreet, we love fine finishing. We apply all of our expertise to each and every item to make sure we’re finishing our seams in ways that are robust and look great. One way we have gone above and beyond with this dress is by applying linen tape to the bottom of the hem, which reinforces it and makes sure it sits correctly. We think that this dress looks perfect with our fitted kirtle dress and matching chemise - take a look and fall in love with the whole collection!
Because of the fitted nature of this dress, please ensure you measure yourself correctly, over any additional garments you wish to wear with it.
To check how to measure yourself please click here.
Please contact us if you have any additional questions.
Materials:
- 100% flax linen;
- 100% fine linen (lining);
- Metal eyelets;
- Cord.
Features:
- Low, square neckline;
- Tightly fitted bodice with lining;
- Short sleeves with lining;
- Asymmetric hem;
- Wide skirt.
This item is part of the “Renaissance Memories” collection
View collection
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11 Feedbacks
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Allegra 20 of November 2023:
I am so happy with my dress! The skirt drapes beautifully and it's great to get such an unusual dress that fits my slim frame! The color of the linen (green) is also really suitable because it is nice and clear, but not unrealistically bright!
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Tracy 03 of June 2023:
This overdress really makes the outfit pop. I would definitely reccomend it! Great seller!
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Annette Stubbs 27 of January 2023:
I've never been disappointed with my costumes from this company and I highly recommend them.
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Evonne Miller 09 of February 2022:
Garment is exceptional. Shipping was horrible. Not sellers fault. USPS lost package, when they found it they finally sent it.
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Joelle 22 of October 2021:
The dress is perfect, the size fits exactly, the finishing is of very good quality, as is the fabric. Very pleasant to wear, it's less suitable for the use I've been putting it to (fighting in LARP and climbing in the woods ;o)), but I don't regret this purchase at all!
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Sophie 03 of July 2021:
I wore this dress to an equestrian dressage event and it was a real eye-catcher, comfortable to wear even in the hottest weather. The German Rose set is an investment I haven't regretted in the slightest.
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Anne Evert 16 of August 2020:
Great, honest customer service. I ordered the under dress and the over dress separately- because it takes a few months for production and shipping...and Covid, I had gained some weight and the under dress didn't fit. They sent a modesty pannel for me when I asked for it without any problems! I have since lost some of the covid lbs and can fit both just fine. Perfect construction. Have continued to purchase from them.
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GERAUDE 21 of May 2020:
It's gorgeous! The linen is really comfortable to wear. The color is vibrant. And the train at the back gives this garment class. I'm petite, 1m58, so I took it in standard size and it fits me really well. I'm delighted to have an even bigger train.
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Nina 19 of May 2020:
After I liked the "German Rose" dress so much, I also wanted the overdress. It's made from the same gorgeous, sturdy linen as the dress itself and falls just as beautifully. Especially in combination, the two fall together incredibly beautifully. I love the asymmetrical cut of the skirt, which is slightly shorter at the front and even has a kind of train at the back. The upper part of the dress is lined with linen on the inside, but the skirt is not. I don't mind that, especially considering that it drags a little on the floor because of the train. Only the bust area didn't convince me. The "German Rose" dress makes a typical "Renaissance bust" relatively flat. However, the overdress is cut for a much rounder bust. That's why there's a bit too much room in the overdress and it hangs a bit loose around the bust. I then simply sewed it a little tighter and now everything fits as it should. In addition, the two cords that "hold up" the sleeves look a bit cheap for my taste. I simply replaced them. Nevertheless, it remains a dream of a dress.
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Anthea Tuley 13 of May 2020:
I have both the kirtle and the overdress. They are gorgeous and I am in love. My only complaint is the lacing itself being too short for solo dressing and not terribly nice, but that is super easy to replace. Everything else is stunning and the quality is phenomenal.
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Nina 12 of May 2020:After I already bought the corset dress and was so happy with that dress, I also bought the overdress of this collection. First, I really love the asymmetric cut of the skirt. The train at the skirt is a dream. The linen is beautiful as I am used to from Armstreet. The lacing at the back of the dress is also wonderful. A bit difficult to lace on my own but really easy if you have help. The only thing, I am not so happy with, is the fit around the breast part. The corset dress makes a really flat breast, like Renaissance dresses should do, but the overdress is more for a round breast. So if I wear it together, there is a lot of space and it does not look so super well. I already told Armstreet about this issue and their Support was super fast and helpful. I could have sent it back and they would have adjusted it for me, but I decided to change the darts myself because it was faster and I can sew myself. Now everything is fine and I love the combination of the two pieces of this collection. I later changed the strings at the arms, because they look cheap. But that's a personal opinion.
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1 Comment
Hi! I need an information: my measurements are halfway between size 6 and 8. Which of the two would be better?
Dear Anna, please send us your full height, bust and waist circumference so we could help you to choose the right size.