Middle-class women in Sweden during the 17th century

This is a reference post for a future project, put here for easy access when the future
comes. 

I have, thanks to several interested relatives, a rather good knowledge of my own family
tree. And sometimes when I can’t sleep I dig around the Net, and have found several
portraits of my ancestors. One of them is this grim-faced lady, Kristina Olofsdotter Spak.
(1616-1676). , who was a great-grandmother eleven generations removed from me.

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She was the wife of Johan Börjesson Carlberg, who as the mayor of Karlstad, which is the
biggest city in the province of Värmland, Sweden. Her father and her mother’s father had
previously also been mayors of the same city, so it can safely be said she belonged to the
upper-middle classes. When I saw this portrait I was struck by a feeling I had seen a lot of
similar clothes on the excellent site Dragter på epitafier og gravsten i Danmark (Clothes on
epitaphs and graves in Denmark) The focus is, of course, on Denmark, but they have also
included a fair number of pictures from Sweden (and also Germany). The time periods
stretch from the late 15th century to the 18th century, but most are from the 17th century.
There is also a heavy focus on priests and their families.

I went through all the Swedish sources (Apart from those from the provinces Blekinge,
Halland, and Scania, as those were Danish up until 1658, and I thought it likely Danish
customs when it came to clothing would likely hang around. As it is the female clothes are
pretty similar, but there are differences in details I wanted to catch.

A general overview of these dresses, married women a white shift, worn under a black
gown with an oval neckline, edged by a plain white collar. Sometimes a white apron is worn,
and sometimes a neckerchief covering the decollete. They wear a white cap, often worn
over either another white cap, or a forehead cloth, and nearly always with a black cap on
top. On several portraits from the regions around Lake Mälaren, red caps are worn with a
rather intricate veil. Lace is very rare, though sometimes the shift sleeves have a little frill,
and jewelry are worn sparingly, and mostly consisting of heavy metal chains. Sometimes a
black mantle is worn over the other clothes

As you can see Kristina Olosdotter Spak fills in most of the slots. She is on the plain side with
no frills and jewelry. It also seems possible she is wearing a jacket, which may mean she is
wearing a more gown-like bodice underneath.

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Here are a few similar portraits.

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Even if changes in fashion occurs, they seem to have been much slower than high fashion.
Here is Elisabet Persdotter who died in 1674 and her daughter Margareta Höijer who died in
1700, looking rather similar. Margareta is more fancy, though, with earrings and showing a
bit of hair.

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Of course, some portraits are posthumous, which may explain the stagnant fashion. Dead
wife has plainer cuffs, a back ribbon around and arm, and less visible hair. I also think wife
#2 looks like a real person, while #1 looks stiffer and more impersonal, so I suspect #2 was
actually painted from life.

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There are more fancy examples, but they are in a clear minority.

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And with white aprons and mantles. I need to hunt down my source, but from what I have
read, you wore mantles and aprons for church.

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Black mantle, and a somewhat surprising colourful bodice. Also those red caps with veils I
mentioned earlier. I'm so curious about them. Starch only, or some kind of wire construction?

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More mantles and red caps. It also seems red or gold belts were often worn in this region.

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With the black cap.

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A little unusual; no white cap under the black one, and another kind of collar, (or should I

say partlet?)

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Here’s the oldest picture I found, from the 1580s, but the main elements are all there: 

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There must be some kind of padding, or a very high bun because on many portraits the
black cap is placed very high.

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If anyone wonders about the difference between Swedish and Danish customs, here are the

main ones I’ve noticed. Black caps which have extremely deep curves. Black caps which
are flat and wide. And white aprons with a distinct V-shape at the front. At first, I thought
it was because they were worn under a bodice with a dipped front, but on some close-ups,
you can clearly see that they are worn as a top layer. I assume the shape comes from
pinning the apron- they don’t seem to be tied in the back, and very possible also starched.

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My future plan is to make a gown with a boned bodice, ca 1660 in black wool which I could dress up a little, and then the more jacket-like bodice my ancestress wears. I also want to make the white and black caps, though I don’t know if I can manage that strange high crown. I also need to work on my disapproving frown!

17th century frog purse- done!

I finished something during my vacation! And a UFO of long standing too- namely the 17th century frog
purse. I fell in this frog purse five(!) years ago and decided I wanted to make one. Apparently, frog
purses were quite a thing in 17th century England, and there are several extant ones. You can see a
post about them here.

I almost finished mine, but then I realised the back legs were too heavy and long, and I balked at re-making them. Until now.

It’s not a perfect replica of the original one. For one I had very few construction details, so I had to
guess a lot. What I did know was the measurements of the body, and how the legs and arms were
made, as well as the stitched on the body and the eyes. I tried to follow that as close as possible.

The body was made in green silk taffeta covered with needlepoint stitches made from gilt silk twist.
It’s padded with felt.

The arms and legs are made of wire and very thin millinery wire, which was first covered with linen
thread to bulk them up, and then they were covered with gold thread.

The eyes were made of vintage glass beads.

I attached the arms and legs on the front, then lines both front and back with gold silk taffeta, before
sewing it together. I still need to find a suitable cord.

It’s very small- I guess I could fit a lipstick inside it. Maybe.

The 17th century hurluberlu hairstyle with a short tutorial

I started to write this post in September when I was about to go to an 1680 ball and I was doing research for the hairstyle called hurluberlu. It was a hairstyle which became fashionable in the 1670’s, and it was seen as a very new and daring style. But after looking at a number of paintings said to depict a hurluberlu, I wondered what it was. It’s often described as a wild array of curls around the face, but in one form or another, that had been fashionable since the 1620’s. But from what I can gather from my research is that the new thing with the hurluberlu was that it the hair was cut quite short.. Women in the 17th century wore their hair long. Even if the hair around the face could be cut to a shorter length to accommodate to fashion, the hair on the back of the hair was long and worn in a chignon. (An overview can be found here.)

Wild curls, but far too early. Unknown woman by Justus van Egmont, 1650-55.

Margaret, Lady Tufton by David des Granger, before 1650

The right time period, but she's wearing her back hair in a large chignon, wound with pearls. Anna Maria Carpegna Nero by Jacob Ferdinand Voet.

The hurluberlu needed a shoulder-length hair cut in layers, not only in the front but in the back too. It
was then parted in the middle and curled. The curls were deliberately arranged to look disheveled,
and when the hairstyle was finished the curls should not reach more than a finger width below the
earlobes, all around the head. The exception was two long curls behind each ear or the temples
which could be shoulder-length, or even longer. To keep the curls they were stiffened with Gum
Arabic or egg whites. The hairstyle could be decorated with jewelry or ribbons. The hair made the
head look quite round, which also earned it the nickname “cabbage-style”. Some called the hairstyle
youthful, while other claimed it made women look like men.

Three possible hurluberlu’s.

Elisabeth Tallyarde by Godefridus Schalken, 1679

Portrait of a woman, probably Anna or Maria Meulanaer by Nicholas Maes

Marie Mancini by Jacob Ferdinand Voet

At this point, my hair reached halfway shoulders and was cut in layers, so I thought it would be interesting to try to style it in the was of a hurluberlu. To curl it I used my standard curling method; standing pin curls. I parted my front hair in the middle and used a pencil to curl my hair around. And I made a lot of them; about 50. I prefer wet sets, so I slept on it.

A not so brilliant drawing of how I curled the hair.

A curling test run (I forgot to take pictures later). There were a lot more curls in the final set, but you see the idea.

When dry I brushed it out. Oooops.

Very disheveled, but hardly the right look. I bruche it for a while longer, brushing down and in. I
backcombed the roots a little to keep the volume. I then rubbed hair pomade on my fingers and
started to make separate curls. I curled a strand of hair around a finger, starting halfway from the
roots. It took a little time to go over the whole head, but it wasn’t difficult.

Until it basically looked like this.

 I then pinned up some of the hairs on the back of my head to keep the style uniform in length.

I pinned two long fake curls at my ears. And decorated it with loops made of silk ribbons.

Overall I was pleased with it. It could have used a bit more oomph, and I’ll probably add some short
fake curls the next time. I also need a lot more ribbon loops for a more opulent look.

Read more

Challamel, Augustin: The History of Fashion in France: Or, The Dress of Women from the Gallo-Roman Period to the Present Time, 2013

Corson, Richard: Fashions in Hair: The First Five Thousand Years, 2005

Harrison, Molly: Hairstyles and hairdressing, Dufour, 1969

Kelly, Francis M., and Randolph Schwabe. Historic Costume: A Chronicle of Fashion in Western Europe, 1490–1790. 2nd ed. New York: Charles Scribner's Sons, 1929.

Coiffures femmes Louis XIV (1643 - 1715): Pictures and text

Reinette: The Fashionable Hurluberlu

OMG, OMG, OMG, squee!

Today I received this:

A friend in Czechia told me about it earlier this year, and with her help got into contact with the university who had it published. You can’t buy it, but if you are researching historical clothes you can get it provided you send them postage. I wasn’t sure I would qualify, but clearly I did. There are a lot of pattern diagrams from the 16th- to the 18th century, for men, women, girls, horses(!), liturgical clothes and a few tents. The wool gown I made a few months ago comes from this book, and now I have so many things I want to make.

Like continuing on my late 17th/early 18th century wardrobe. I now have patterns for stays, riding habit and something I very much will look like the kind of loose nightgown you see on a lot of Swedish and Danish portraits from this period.

Unknown Swedish woman, late 17th century

Elizabeth Faltz, Sweden, late 17th/early 18th century

My old pet-en-l’air which is too small, basically has the same fabric as this one, only the pattern is smaller. Doesn’t it just beg to be re-made into it?

Christiane Marie Foss, Denmark, 1700-1709

I also strongly suspect that the riding habit I want to make will look very much like this one:

Hedvig Sofia, Princess of Sweden by David Klöcker Ehrenstrahl

 Also, there is the pattern for a riding habit from 1769 which includes the waistcoat. I haven’t seen an old pattern for that before.And, from the same year, patterns for two pair of stays, one which would look a lot like this one made up:

Late 18th century stays

You understand why I’m a bit incoherent of joy?

Also, I found a gown which looks very much like my wool gown on a Swedish painting.

Hedvig Sofia, Princess of Sweden, detail from a painting atributed to David Klöcker Ehrenstrahl, painted in 1697