Dressed: The History of Fashion

Episode: The First Book of Fashion: 16th Century Fashion Blogging with Ulinka Rublack and Maria Hayward (Dressed Classic)
Release Date: December 31, 2025
Guests: Ulinka Rublack, Maria Hayward
Hosts: April Callahan, Cassidy Zachary

Episode Overview

This episode dives into one of the most extraordinary primary sources in the history of European fashion: The First Book of Fashion, also known as The Book of Clothes, commissioned by 16th-century German accountant Matheus Schwartz and later continued by his son, Veit Konrad Schwartz. Hosts April Callahan and Cassidy Zachary sit down with historians Ulinka Rublack and Maria Hayward, who were responsible for translating, contextualizing, and reprinting this unique sartorial chronicle. The conversation explores the social, political, and personal significance of documenting clothing choices in Renaissance Germany—drawing vibrant comparisons to modern fashion blogging and influencer culture.

Key Discussion Points & Insights

Setting the Scene: The Book and Its Authors

[03:47]

• The Book of Clothes is a lavishly illustrated manuscript chronicling the evolving wardrobes of Matheus and Veit Konrad Schwartz over several decades.
• Matheus, born in 1497 in Augsburg, Germany, exemplified social mobility, rising to become head accountant for the powerful Fugger Merchant Company.
• Over 137 images, the book documents not just personal style but broader cultural and historical shifts in Renaissance society.

  "He starts when he's around 20, this absolutely extraordinary project, which is to chronicle in 137 images how he was dressed as a child...and he carries on doing this into his 60s." – Ulinka Rublack [05:51]

Augsburg in the 16th Century: A Fashion Hotspot

[07:41]

• Augsburg was a major center for politics, global trade, weaving, and the exchange of luxury goods.
• The city's cosmopolitan nature influenced Matheus's access to foreign textiles, dyes, and styles.
• The period also saw the rise of print and the dissemination of fashion-related information across Europe.

  "This is the first age of printing. And so he's got access to vintage items from Italy...he uses the whole network of people who work in different places in Europe for the Fugger to source some of the items he wears." – Ulinka Rublack [07:41]

Fashion as Memory, Identity, and Emotion

[09:29]; [11:11]

• The Protestant Reformation helped people become more attuned to the passage of time, with fashion serving as a personal chronicle of change.
• The Book is more than a sartorial diary—it's a record of status, emotional states (e.g., outfits for courtship), and self-fashioning.
• Accessorizing conveyed not just wealth and status but nuanced emotions, such as hope, romantic interest, and personal aspirations.

  "[Matheus] wears heart shaped bags...and the color of green when he goes out into the streets. I think this is something we just weren't aware of...that clothing was for men such a vehicle to express ideas and emotions." – Ulinka Rublack [11:11]

Life Stages and Dress Evolution

[13:21]

• The manuscript allows for tracking the “fashion lifecycle,” from swaddling clothes to the adoption of more adult, fitted garments.
• Milestones such as entering school, representing the family business, and marriage are all marked by sartorial shifts.
• Aging and bodily changes are candidly reflected in the evolution from flamboyance to comfort.

  "One of the most poignant images is...after he's had a stroke and he's recuperating and we see him dressed informally at home, surrounded by his children." – Maria Hayward [16:37]

Key Garments and Accessories of the Era

[17:13]

• Essential male attire included hats (headwear signified taste and identity), linen shirts, doublets (evolving in style and fastening), hose (tight, slashed, and vibrantly colored), and outer garments (gowns for the older, short cloaks for the young).
• The infamous codpiece is highlighted as a striking emblem of masculinity.

  "Gregorius Wagner...said that the codpiece attracted attention, quote, as if there was sweet honeycomb inside." – Cassidy Zachary [19:35]

Generational Differences and Continuities

[20:38]

• Matheus and Veit differed in their passion for dress and social ambition—Matheus being self-made and sartorially adventurous, Veit benefiting from inherited status and being less personally invested in fashion.
• Despite their differences, both used clothing to navigate youth culture, societal status, and family roles.

  "Veit...denounces his father's interest in fashion and the whole idea of keeping the book as sort of foolish activity, but then of course does it himself." – Maria Hayward [21:42]

Fashion Trends: Regional, Social, and International Influences

[26:05]; [28:13]

• The Schwartz's styles were typical for Southern Germany, recognizable even from other courts like Henry VIII's.
• Travel, correspondence, artisan mobility, and peer observation were all vectors for the spread of fashion before print magazines.
• The making of garments was highly collaborative, everything custom and indicative of social networks.

  "Everybody...is involved in this making process and therefore has that really good eye for what's changing and what might be possible." – Ulinka Rublack [30:36]

The Makers: Artists, Tailors, and Textile Workers

[31:39]; [34:34]

• Portraitist Narziss Renner documented Matheus’s attire, sometimes himself depicted naked, suggesting a close artist-subject relationship.
• Magdalena Renner, Narziss' wife, may have contributed artwork; women artisans often played integral but overlooked roles.
• Unfortunately, detailed records of tailors and other makers are largely missing.

Sartorial Strategies and Social Mobility

[35:46]

• Clothing played a central role in court politics, business advancement, and hopes for ennoblement.
• Explicit efforts to impress the Holy Roman Emperor Charles V are described, including an extravagant feather crown in imperial colors.
• Special occasions such as weddings, mourning, and festivals all demanded particular dress codes and coordination.

  "[Matheus] really tries his best to impress the Emperor and also his brother...[the feather crown] would have given Matheus enormous visibility." – Ulinka Rublack [37:14]

Fashion as Memory Capsule

[38:19]; [38:48]

• Clothing is enmeshed with memory; chapters begin with childhood mischief and family scenes.
• Styles are employed to commemorate, embody, and revisit life stages, encapsulating how individuals live through change.

  "At that time, it was believed that men entered full maturity at around the age of 28 to 29. And with Matheus, we see a real flurry of images just in 27." – Ulinka Rublack [38:48]

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On individualized, emotional menswear:

  "Heart shaped purses...it's romanticized love translated into commodity, which is perhaps something we are familiar with today." – Cassidy Zachary [12:31]

• On the fashion lifecycle:

  "From this point onwards we see him becoming increasingly fashionable in his appearance...especially at 14 he starts to represent his father's business and his clothes now become a reflection of his father." – Maria Hayward [14:23]

• On the codpiece’s allure:

  "...attracted attention, as if there was sweet honeycomb inside." – Gregorius Wagner quoted by Cassidy Zachary [19:35]

• On collaborative dressmaking:

  "Workshop production was just a seamless operation. So [Magdalena Renner] might have done more...absolutely the case that husbands and wives frequently worked together." – Ulinka Rublack [34:34]

• Fashion as memory and narrative:

  "He still says, you know, I'm wearing an old sword that was given to me by my brother, so always these citations as well, of things from the past." – Ulinka Rublack [39:38]

• On Matheus’s motorbike equivalent:

  "Matthias Schwartz is shown on a sledge. We must imagine, it's the equivalent of the early modern man's motorbike, they were racing through the winter..." – Ulinka Rublack [40:31]

• Favorite illustrations:

  "He notes in the text on the image that his doublet was made from a silk satin imported from Bruges...this whole thing is jaw dropping. It’s more spectacular than you can probably even imagine." – April Callahan [46:47]

• Significance of the Book:

  "They show how much of a tool for expression [fashion] was, and they show how, therefore, the entire sense of individuality was reflected through engagement with clothing...it is through clothing that Matthias Schwartz...reflects on time and what it means to be alive..." – Ulinka Rublack [44:55]

Timestamps for Important Segments

| Timestamp | Content | |-----------|--------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 01:33 | Introduction of episode and hosts | | 03:47 | Introducing authors Maria Hayward and Ulinka Rublack | | 05:51 | Overview of Matheus and Veit Konrad Schwartz and their Book of Clothes | | 07:41 | Setting: 16th-century Augsburg, global trade, and cultural influences | | 11:11 | Dress as status, aspiration, and emotion | | 13:21 | The life cycle of dress: infancy to maturity | | 17:13 | Standard male attire: hats, shirts, doublets, hose, codpieces | | 20:38 | Contrasts and continuities between father and son | | 26:05 | Fashion trends in regional and international context | | 28:13 | How fashion spread: travel, correspondence, artisan mobility | | 31:39 | Artists and makers behind the wardrobe and the manuscript | | 34:34 | Role of Magdalena Renner and women artisans | | 35:46 | Political dressing, court life, sartorial strategies | | 38:19 | Fashion as memory, passage of time, and playfulness | | 40:31 | Favorite illustrations and plates | | 44:55 | The enduring significance of The First Book of Fashion | | 46:47 | Discussion of favorite dancing outfit illustration by April |

Conclusion: The Book’s Enduring Legacy

The First Book of Fashion is not just a record of lavish costumes and changing styles—it’s a vivid testament to how clothing serves as a medium for self-expression, ambition, memory, and even vulnerability. The richly illustrated and contextually annotated edition, thanks to Rublack and Hayward, opens windows to questions still relevant: How do we use dress to construct identity? How do we document ourselves for posterity? And how will the memory of our own digital-era wardrobes endure in centuries to come?

“The book...shows that this is a long and deep history and one that...very much resonates with us today.” – Ulinka Rublack [45:49]

For images and further resources, check out the hashtag #dressed318 and visit the podcast's official Instagram or bookshop.org page.

Recommended further reading:

• "The First Book of Fashion"
• "Rich Apparel: Clothing and the Law of Henry VIII’s England" by Maria Hayward
• "Dressing Up: Cultural Identity in Renaissance Europe" by Ulinka Rublack
  All available via the Dressed bookshop.org store.