Katharina Mayrhofer

The Queen’s Gown

A faithful reconstruction of the 1744 engagement gown of Ulrika Lovisa, Queen of Sweden, after the portrait by Antoine Pesne. Made and worn by Katharina Mayrhofer.

Begin the story

Full-length view of the reconstructed gold court gown at Schloss Hof: a robe à la française of gold silk over an ivory damask stomacher, worn with a powdered wig by its maker Katharina Mayrhofer

01 · The story

From an oil portrait to a gown you can walk in: three centuries, stitched by hand.

In 1744, the young Princess Ulrika Lovisa of Prussia sat for the court painter Antoine Pesne on the occasion of her betrothal to the heir to the Swedish throne. Nearly three centuries later, that painted gown steps out of its frame: reconstructed thread by thread, from the whalebone stays outward, into a garment that can be laced, worn, and walked in once more.

She married that same year and was crowned Queen of Sweden in 1751. She is remembered as one of the great patrons of the arts and sciences in the North; her portrait by Pesne belongs to the Nationalmuseum in Stockholm.

02 · Source and reconstruction

One portrait, one gown

Every proportion was read from Pesne’s canvas: the square décolleté, the lace engageantes at the elbow, the sweep of the skirt over its panier. Each detail was then cross-checked against surviving court dress in Sweden’s own Royal Armoury, the Livrustkammaren.

Baroque oil portrait of Ulrika Lovisa of Prussia in a gold court gown trimmed with silver lace, holding a black masquerade mask — Antoine Pesne · Ulrika Lovisa of Prussia, c. 1744 Oil on canvas · Nationalmuseum, Stockholm · public domain

The reconstructed gown worn at Schloss Hof, its gold silk skirt spread over the wide panier, one hand raised — The reconstruction, worn by its maker · 2013 Gold silk, guipure lace, passementerie · Schloss Hof · Photo: Leo & Edit Fuchs

Read from the canvas, stitched into being

03 · Beneath the silk

Built from the inside out

A wearable court gown is an architecture. Hand-boned stays shape the body, a panier carries the skirt, and above them rise ivory silk damask, guipure lace and gold passementerie. Nothing is glued; everything is stitched.

The silk

The ivory silk damask is chosen from the sample book and laid beside the portrait it must answer to.

Bolt of ivory silk damask lying open in a fabric sample book — 01 · The ivory silk damask in the sample book

Ivory damask and lace samples arranged beside a printed reproduction of the Pesne portrait — 02 · The chosen damask and lace beside the Pesne portrait

The stays

Paper pattern, hand-stitched boning channels, hand-worked eyelets: the stays give the century its posture.

Rows of hand-stitched boning channels on the linen body of the stays — 04 · Hand-stitched boning channels of the stays

Ivory silk covering pinned onto the boned linen stays on a work table — 05 · The ivory covering pinned to the boned linen

Close view of hand-worked eyelets along the silk-covered edge of the stays — 06 · Hand-worked eyelets and silk covering, detail

The finished ivory stays on a dress form with a small Pesne reference card tucked into the front — 07 · The finished stays on the form, the Pesne reference tucked into the front

The panier

An oval hoop with ruffled casings, flat at front and back and wide at the sides, as the court fashion of the 1740s demanded.

The oval panier with ruffled hoop casings standing on a dress form — 08 · The oval panier with ruffled hoop casings

The wide oval panier tried on over a shift, seen from the front — 09 · The wide oval panier, tried on

The understructure

Stays, panier and knee breeches worn together: the hidden architecture, photographed at Schloss Hof.

The complete understructure worn on the Schloss Hof terrace: stays, oval panier and knee breeches — 10 · The complete understructure at Schloss Hof: stays, oval panier, knee breeches Photo: Leo & Edit Fuchs

Once the silk closes over it, the panier disappears; yet the sweep of the skirt, the line Pesne painted, is decided by these hoops.

Workshop note · on the understructure

The robe

Pleated petticoat borders, the gold silk bodice, the pointed back with its lacing: over the panier, the robe à la française takes shape.

Pleated petticoat borders edged with gold braid lying on the cutting table — 11 · Pleated petticoat borders with gold braid on the cutting table

Gold silk bodice and sleeve pinned on a dress form — 12 · Bodice and sleeve of gold silk on the form

The pointed, laced back of the gold bodice above the skirt — 13 · The pointed back with lacing over the gold skirt

Full view of the robe’s back spread over the panier on the form — 14 · The back of the robe over the panier

The nearly complete robe à la française on a dress form in the atelier — 15 · The robe à la française, nearly complete

Stomacher and vertical lace bands on the front of the gold skirt — 16 · Stomacher and lace bands on the skirt front

The hat

Black velvet and hand-made silver passementerie rosettes for the finishing piece.

The black velvet hat trimmed with silver rosettes on a head form — 17 · The black velvet hat with silver rosettes

A single silver passementerie rosette resting on the gold silk — 18 · A silver rosette on the gold silk

Several hand-made silver passementerie rosettes for the hat — 19 · The hat’s silver passementerie rosettes

The ensemble

Gown and justaucorps side by side in the atelier, ready for Schloss Hof.

The finished gold gown and grey justaucorps with tricorn displayed together in the atelier — 20 · The finished ensemble in the atelier

04 · The gown in the world

An afternoon at Schloss Hof

Created between January and May 2013 for a special exhibition at the Baroque palace of Schloss Hof, the gown was presented at the palace’s Barockfest fashion show. Katharina Mayrhofer made the gown; she is also the one wearing it.

The gold gown beside a companion in a silver-grey justaucorps and tricorn on the Schloss Hof terrace under a blue sky — With the gentleman’s justaucorps on the palace terrace Schloss Hof, Lower Austria · Photo: Leo & Edit Fuchs

Poster of the exhibition Historische Kleiderkunst by Katharina Mayrhofer at the oö Kulturquartier Linz, 2014, showing the gold gown — Exhibition poster · Historische Kleiderkunst, Linz 2014

05 · Exhibition and press

Shown, worn, written about

After its debut at Schloss Hof, the gown travelled on: it was shown in Katharina Mayrhofer’s solo exhibition Historische Kleiderkunst at the oö Kulturquartier in Linz in autumn 2014, and picked up by the regional press.

2013

Schloss Hof

Special exhibition and Barockfest fashion show · Lower Austria
2014

Historische Kleiderkunst

Solo exhibition at the oö Kulturquartier, Linz · September to October 2014
Press

MeinBezirk.at

Regional feature on the Linz exhibition
Read the press feature

06 · The maker

Katharina Mayrhofer

Katharina Mayrhofer is an Austrian master dressmaker (Kleidermachermeisterin) and costume designer for theatre and film, trained in haute couture and stage costume in Vienna. She reconstructs the dress of the Baroque and Rococo with historical precision: from the Vienna Opera Ball to the courts of the eighteenth century.

Master craft: Kleidermachermeisterin · master’s examination, Vienna 2012
Costume design: Costume design for theatre and film productions
Master classes: Haute couture (2011–12) and stage costume (2012–13), Vienna
Selected work: Vienna Opera Ball opening gown 2012 · Life Ball 2013 · Schloss Belvedere
Honours: 2nd place, Austrian Wedding Fashion Award 2013
Specialism: Baroque and Rococo costume, corsetry and historical understructures

07 · Contact

For enquiries, commissions and exhibitions

The gown can be shown, lent and discussed. Katharina Mayrhofer welcomes enquiries from museums, palaces, curators and commissioners of historical costume.

Write to Katharina on Instagram

Instagram · @dolls_buzz

The Queen’s Gown The Queen’s Gown

One portrait, one gown

Built from the inside out

An afternoon at Schloss Hof

Shown, worn, written about

Schloss Hof

Historische Kleiderkunst

MeinBezirk.at

Katharina Mayrhofer

For enquiries, commissions and exhibitions

The Queen’s Gown