In Fall 2024, I began working on another 16th-century Saxon/Eastern German-style gown (Cranach style). In paintings of this style by Cranach, sheer fabric and collars are often shown. For a better breath of Cranach the Elder and workshop paintings, you can visit https://lucascranach.org/home. In the paintings, the collar and fabric could be the top of a halshemd (collar shirt); however, with no opening seam in the front, it’s likely a goller. It covers the chest and neck, when left uncovered with a lower cut frauenhemd and rock (dress) or acts as an extra layer for warmth or style. I have seen several articles discussing the layers of the ladies’ clothing in these paintings. I decided I needed a goller to achieve the desired look.

They have a variety of collar finishes; simple finished edges, pleated, embroidered, and can have woven metallic trim. Having the fancy collar and fabric as a separate layer makes a lot of sense, requiring less laundering. The goller is described in Textiler Hausrat as “In women’s clothing, “goller” referred to a garment worn over a dress and shirt, or as an insert instead of a shirt, which covered the chest and shoulders like a collar, or ended immediately below the chest as a kind of sleeveless jacket. Evidenced in all classes, it was one of the most versatile items of clothing of the period under study.” (Zander-Seidel, 1990) White linen gollers are discussed and listed in referenced clothing lists. The different styles are worn in various combinations across the layers of the outfit and likely reflect the wearer’s social class. My friend at RowanTree Workshop has created several types of gollars as part of projects for additional build examples. The Curious Frau has shared photographs of Goller from Schwäbisch Hall, an extant example dating to around the 1560s. I do not have an exact translation of the German term for the kind I produced in this project; possible translations include Textiler Hausrat, zipffeigoller, or halb-helsene goller (Zander-Seidel, 1990). I will use the term “goller” for this article.

I wanted to use ultra-fine linen for this style and add a fancy, finely pleated collar. Finely pleated and decorative collars appear in many 16th-century German paintings. Additionally, pleated collars and scraps of extant examples have been found in Germany. ( Kempten – Rast-Eicher & Tidow 2011; Alpirsbach – Fingerling, 2001, see pins of examples). I plan for this to go over my under-dress and frauenhemd and under my outer dress.

Planning and Design

Partlets show up in contemporary 16th-century Women’s clothing from Tudor England and Italy. Using examples from Tudor England and Italy, along with some German-style elements, I set out to create a panting perfect goller. I use some historical techniques and some modern. By sharing my process, I’ve provided sufficient insight into the construction to encourage others to experiment with this style.

I started by coming up with a plan. I have made a goller before for my Laureling outfit. Unfortunately, I rushed that project and only captured some construction elements. I did not keep a drawing plan and winged it. This time, I decided to make a more calculated effort. I started with some measurements from the previous one; I made adjustments to the fit. I then drafted a drawing. I went with an opening in the back with a separate pleated collar to keep the chest fabric smooth. I have a stash of metallic woven trim and decided to use some I had for a while.

Putting it Together

For the 1.65 oz Linen Voile from Tied to History, I took great care in the fabric preparation. I pre-washed the fabric on cold delicate and line-dried it, ensuring it was almost dry before steaming and ironing it to a smooth finish. Then, I measured and cut out the pattern as drawn along the grain with the weft horizontal. When working with linen, I never just cut it; I always measure and pull threads. Pulling the thread line, I cut along the grain line to create the rectangular pieces. Then, I cut the angle for the shoulder seam and the neck. For the neck, I was very conservative and then pinned it to my mannequin to adjust the fit.

Once I settled on the shoulder seams adjustments, I sewed the shoulder seam using a small straight stitch with a back-stitch every three or so forward. I went with a fine 100/3 ivory linen thread, some thread wax, and thin Bohin Crewel size 10 needles from  Burnley & Trowbridge Co. I cut the back seam allowance slightly shorter, folded over the front edge, and flat felled finished the seams. I pressed the shoulder seams using a bone tool and put it back on my mannequin. Note about using the mannequin: My mannequin is sized to me. It is a foam one. I customized the cloth shell to match me pretty closely so I can trust the fit.

Once on the mannequin, I adjusted the neck opening. I carefully added to the slits, allowing it to round smoothly around the neck.

The Pleated Collar

Then I switched over to the pleated collar ruff. I have a pleating machine that pleats the fabric close to the pleat depths of finely pleated extant collars. From experience, I knew I needed about 7 times my desired finish length of the collar. I wanted a finished collar around 15 to 15.5 inches, so I went with about 109 inches overall. I did it in 3 sections: the front, about 50 inches, and two 29.5-inch long rectangles. I ran the three individually through the pleating machine. The pleater will bunch up and lose the grain if you try to feed too much through at once. I use mercerized quilter cotton thread in the pleating machine. I pleated the fabric about 3 inches wide. I knew I’d cut it to the desired collar height later.

I then sewed each pleated strip of fabric together, sandwiching the longer piece in the middle of the shorter ones. I pulled out the edge of the pleater threads to allow for a seam. I was allowing about 1/4 inch seam allowance to sew the strips together. Before collapsing the collar strips, I back-stitched the 3 pieces together, leaving the seam unfinished for now. I then finished the top rolled hem of the collar. I went with a very small straight stitch to avoid puckering or snagging that might result when using a whip-stitch.

Once I finished attaching the strips and finishing the edge, I pulled the thread and adjusted the pleats to the desired collar size of 15 inches. I shortened the pleater threads at this point, tying them off two by two of the adjacent rows. I left about half an inch of play in each of the finished lengths of the pleater threads in each section. Then, I finished the joining steams by folding it and tacking it down to the pleats on the back using a whip-stitch. At this point, I did some hand work and secured the pleats below the top edge; I used an outline stitch to secure the pleats at the top of the collar right below the inside edge.

Next, I secured the collar pleats using the sewing machine instead of doing it all by hand. I have used this technique before and can do it without crushing the pleats. I used cut-away light stabilizers and temporary machine-safe adhesive spray to tack the pleated collar fabric into the hoop. I marked a straight line and finish width onto the stabilizer before attaching the pleated fabric to ensure it was straight. Then, I carefully set the pleated fabric across the stabilizer and adjusted the pleats to the finished width of 15 inches. I pinned it down around the edges to help secure it. I added a clear tear-away/iron-away stabilizer over the top, ensuring the sewing machine foot and stitches do not squish down the pleats. I adjusted my presser foot so as not to press so tight and used an applique open foot on my machine. I used a stretch straight stitch and adjusted it to 3 wide. I ran two stitch lines where I figured the bottom of the collar would meet the goller and about 1/2″ up to allow the metallic trim to cover it. Note I hadn’t done this in a while and screwed up some of my settings and ended up with a tight bottom stitch row. Luckily, it didn’t mess anything up.

\

Next, I cut the collar off the stabilizer, and I trimmed the stabilizer to the edge of each row of stitches on the inside of the collar. I trimmed the bottom of the fabric pleats just below the bottom stitch line, resulting in a collar height of about 1.75 inches. Then, I tested the collar over the goller body on the mannequin. I decided to put the attachment outside of the collar. I hand-stitched the gollar to the collar while on the mannequin to ensure it stayed nice and smooth around the neck. This way, the trim will cover the attachment of the body to the collar, and on the inside, the neckband covers the collar edge.

Finishing the Goller

I then took it off the mannequin and trimmed the goller body neck opening to about 1/2 an inch above the collar attachment. Once I was happy with it, I secured it with a whip stitch to the collar. Then, I folded and pressed a double-folded 1-inch linen strip for the inner neck band. I attached the neckband on the inside of the collar, just below the pleated collar. I left the back edge of the inner neck band unfinished to allow for the finishing of the metallic trim.

At this point, I added the metallic trim to the outside of the collar. I used some silk thread and a pin-prick stitch. I secured the bottom edge first, ensuring the collar attachment seam was covered. Once I finished the metallic trim, I secured and folded it over the back opening, tucked it under the inner neck back, and finished off the neckband.

I then finished the back opening, rolling the edge over and whipping it down. About 8 inches down, I added a seam to the two back panels and felled the seam, the same as the shoulder seams. I also made a bunch of hooks and eyes; I picked the best two and attached them to the inside of the collar.

To finish it up, I rolled the edges along the edges and finished them with a whip stitched. I took the 3-inch bands I had cut out earlier and secured them to the bottom of the goller in the front and back. I straight-stitched them about 3/4 inch overlapping. I then double-folded the bands along the goller bottom edge. I ensured a large amount of the goller fabric along the bottom edge was inside the bottom bands, allowing it to provide some support to the fabric. I then used a pin prick stitch to secure the band to the goller. Then I double-folded the ties down to around 1/2 inch at the ends and secured those with a pin prick stitch. Then she was was then done!

The Finished Goller!

Closing Thoughts

ALWAYS PRE-WASH THE TRIM……. So, I made two of these. The first trim I grabbed from my stash was a lovely cream and gold metallic. I am trying to remember where I got it. I generally pre-wash items like that before throwing them into my stash. After I finished the first version, I did a quick hand-washing, and the trim dye ran. It stained the fabric yellow, and I could not get it out. After having a nervous breakdown, I doubled back and just made another.

References

Fingerlin, I. (2001). Textil- und Lederfunde. In K. T. Stuttgart, Alpirsbach Zur Geschichte von Kloster und Stadt – Textband 2 (pp. 715-817). Baden-Württemberg: Landesdenkamalamt – Baden-Württemberg. Print.

Marion McNealy – Curious Frau. (2014) Photo & description of Gollar from Schwäbisch Hall This gollar is located in the Hällische-Fränkische Museum in Schwäbisch Hall, Germany. A concealed find, it was found in 1994 at Lange Straße 49 inv. NR.: 1994/0073. Online.

Rast-Eicher, A., & Tidow, K. (2011). Mühlberg-Ensemble: Die Textilien. In B. R. Habelt, R.
Atzbach, & I. Ericsson (Eds.), Die Ausgrabungen im Mühlberg-Ensemble Kempten (Allgäu) Metall, Holz und Textil. Germany: Otto-Friedrich-Universität Bamberg & Aarhus University. Print.

Zander-Seidel, J. (1990). Textiler Hausrat: Kleidung und Haustextilien in Nürnberg von 1500 – 1650. München: Dr. Kuntsvel. Print.