Dressed the history of fashion is a production of Dressed Media.

With over 8 billion people in the world, we all have one thing in common.

Every day, we all get dressed.

Welcome to Dressed, the history of fashion.

A podcast that explores the who, what, when, of why we wear.

We are fashion historians and your host, April Callahan, and Cassidy Zachary.

Dressed listeners, today we bring you an episode that has been years in the making.

About a very special 16th century book of fashion that both April and I happen to have in our

personal collections.

Yes, or maybe we should specifically say that we have a copy of this book of fashion.

Which is entitled The First Book of Fashion and subtitled The Book of Clothes by Mateos

and Fight Conrad Schwartz of Osberg.

And that is because this has to be one of the most gobb-smackingly beautiful primary sources

in the history of European fashion, April. I'm sure you agree with me. It's insane.

So where today a fashion influencer can take a photograph and instantly post it to social media,

this was not a luxury afforded to say a well-to-do fashion conscious accountant by the name

of Mateos Schwartz in 16th century Renaissance era Germany.

As a member of the mercantile elite, fashion was incredibly important in projecting Mateos'

wealth and status. So important, in fact, that over the course of 40 years,

he hired a team of artists to capture his and his son's fights, Sartorial Triumphs,

in a series of incredibly detailed images that can only be described as illuminated manuscripts.

Yes, and this book or these books are truly extraordinary and really there, these incredibly rare

...