HistoryTube
  • Blog
  • YouTube
    • Ancient World >
      • Ancient Americas
      • Ancient Britain
      • Ancient Egypt
      • Ancient Greece
      • Ancient Rome
    • Africa
    • America >
      • Regional History
    • China
    • Georgians
    • Holocaust
    • Titanic
    • Tudors
    • Vikings
    • World War I
    • World War II
    • Royals
    • Time Team >
      • Anglo-Saxon
      • Castles
      • Church History
      • Prehistoric Era
      • Roman
      • Tudors
    • YouTube Channels
    • Tony Robinson
    • Lucy Worsley
  • History Meets....
    • History Meets English
    • History Meets Reality TV
    • History Meets Science
  • About Me
    • Portfolio
  • Privacy Policy

History Docs

Need a documentary?  Check out a review!

A Stitch in Time - Charles II

4/20/2022

0 Comments

 
YES!  I am so glad that I can finally blog about fashion history.  Absolute History has posted the series A Stitch in Time with Amber Butchart.  In this series, she uses historical portraits to recreate the clothes the people were wearing.
​
Amber Butchart explores the life of King Charles II and his impact on Royal Fashion.  The fashion she is having recreated is the three-piece suit in a portrait of him and his gardener.  King Charles II was the Restoration King and used fashion to consolidate his power.  King Charles had a rival in his cousin King Louis of France and he wanted to use fashion to one-up his cousin as well.

Butchart talks with historical tailor Ninya Mikhaila to carefully examine the portrait and talk about the suit in fashion.  Although the King was dressed simply, his clothing was still expensive.  The cloth could change colors.  The ribbons on his britches required yards of silk.  One thing King Charles did was encourage the use of English cloth.  Even though it was a simple suit, it was an expensive piece of fashion. 

The Victoria and Albert Museum has an ornate outfit from Charles II.  When he needed to dress for ceremonial purposes he went all out.  This outfit was completely different from what was portrayed in the portrait.  Butchart talks about how this outfit showed King Charles II as a walking contradiction.  However, the coat, a utilitarian garment, was declared as court dress and so would need to be blinged up.

Ninya starts to work on putting the patterns on the cloth.  Although he was King, it was waste not, want not.  The clothing was made piecemeal, using as much of the material as possible.  She talks about the history of tailors and tailoring.  As a woman, she would not be allowed to work in a tailor’s shop.  Then she sews the pieces to complete the pieces with linen thread.  The King would have thought of nothing to have those extra seems in the clothing.

When King Charles was painted, he was dressed in ceremonial outfits, but in public, he was dressed more simply.  He had to find the balance between Kingship and extravagance.  He had to distance himself from his father.  King Charles II dressed simply day to day, only on ceremonial he would dress up.  However, as a king, he was a more relatable man.  Despite this, the public still thought the court extravagant because the court had French taste.  King Charles II invented the vest and was credited with inventing the three-piece suit.  This changed the male profile.  Word was received that the King of France had his servants dress in vests.

Next, Amber returns to the historical tailor shop and learns who would be making the suit.  She works on making buttonholes.  She is finding sewing the buttonhole a bit of a challenge.  This is why tailors had apprenticeships of seven years.  To make a suit would take hours of labor.

After this, Amber explores the details of King Charles’ wardrobe and looks at his account books.  The first expenses were for his coronation robe and it was about the image of the king.  He ordered 30-40 new suits a year.  He wore muted colors because he could not be seen as an extravagant king.  The vest makes its first appearance in the account books and it would become part of English fashion.

So how successful are Ninya and her team will be when recreating this suit?  What will Amber say when she wears the outfit?  Tune into this episode to find out!

A Stich in Time is an awesome series to show in a history class as well as a home economics class!  It has elements of experimental history, sewing, and royal history.
0 Comments

    Author

    The reviews I do are my opinion and my opinion only.  My opinions should always be taken with a grain of salt.  I just want to help teachers out selecting documentaries. 

    I'm a librarian with an active imagination who likes to create.  Genealogist and Researcher.

    Like what you see?  Don't forget to smash the bookmark button!

    Blogs posted five days a week for the school year September-May and for summer blogs posted three days a week June-August!

    If you can, try to purchase these documentaries to support these historians!  If you can't purchase, subscribe to their channels or podcasts!

    Worksheets

    My Teachers Pay Teachers Store!  Worksheets available as a Word Document.

    Lulu Store

    I am also on Lulu!  If you're interested in genealogy I have several books available!

    Archives

    May 2025
    April 2025
    March 2025
    February 2025
    January 2025
    December 2024
    November 2024
    October 2024
    September 2024
    August 2024
    July 2024
    June 2024
    May 2024
    April 2024
    March 2024
    February 2024
    January 2024
    December 2023
    November 2023
    October 2023
    September 2023
    August 2023
    July 2023
    June 2023
    May 2023
    April 2023
    March 2023
    February 2023
    January 2023
    December 2022
    November 2022
    October 2022
    September 2022
    August 2022
    July 2022
    June 2022
    May 2022
    April 2022
    March 2022
    February 2022
    January 2022
    December 2021
    November 2021
    October 2021
    September 2021
    August 2021
    July 2021
    June 2021
    May 2021
    April 2021
    March 2021
    February 2021
    January 2021

    Categories

    All
    1065
    1066
    1900's Island
    Abraham Lincoln
    Africa
    Alexandria
    Alex Langladas
    Alfred The Great
    Amazon River
    America
    American History
    Ancient Egypt
    Ancient Rome
    Ancient World
    Ancient Worlds
    Andes Mountains
    Angkor Wat
    Anne Boleyn
    Athens
    Australia
    Austria
    Baroque
    Bath
    Battle Of Marathon
    Battleships
    Beatrix Potter
    Bernadette Banner
    Bettany Hughes
    Bismarck
    Britain
    Caitlin Doughty
    Caligula
    Cambodia
    Castles
    Central America
    Charlemagne
    China
    Christmas
    Cleopatra
    Cornwall
    Dam Busters
    Dame Patricia Routledge
    Dan Snow
    David Adams
    Denmark Strait
    Edwardian Farm
    Edwardian Home
    Edward The Confessor
    Egypt
    England
    Ethiopia
    Experimental History
    Exploration
    Farm
    Fashion History
    First Nations
    Flintstones
    France
    Francis Pyror
    Franz Joseph
    French Revolution
    Genealogy
    Genetics
    Georgian Period
    Germans
    Germany
    Gold
    Greece
    Greeks
    Gus Casely Hayford
    Gus Casely-Hayford
    Hastings
    Helen Castor
    Helen Of Troy
    Henry-viii
    Hidden Killers
    Highway
    History
    Holocaust
    Home
    Hood
    Ice-cream
    Immigration
    Inca
    Irish-palace
    Iron-age
    Jago-cooper
    Jane Austen
    Japan
    Jesuits
    Joann Fletcher
    John Gater
    Judith Flanders
    Kathleen Martinez
    Kew Gardens
    King George III
    Knights Templars
    Lady Jane Grey
    Leyte Gulf
    Lincoln-highway
    Lithuania
    Lost Kingdoms
    Lost Legions
    Lucy-worsley
    Lusitania
    Mammoths
    Marco Polo
    Marie Antoinette
    Mary Beard
    Mary Boleyn
    Maryland
    Medieval-period
    Meet-the-romans
    Mick Aston
    Middle Ages
    Ming Dynasty
    Minoans
    Monarchy
    Musashi
    Napoleon
    Neil Oliver
    New Zealand
    Nicholas II
    Paul Mearns
    Pearl Harbor
    People Of The Clouds
    Peter Ginn
    Phil Harding
    Pompeii
    Portsmouth
    Prince Philip
    Prince Regent
    Princess Alice
    Prussia
    Pyramids
    Queen Elizabeth II
    Queen Luise
    Reality TV
    Ronald Hutton
    Royal Fibs
    Royal Myths
    Royal Secrets
    Royalty
    Russia
    Russian Revolution
    Ruth Goodman
    Salem
    Serbia
    South America
    Spain
    Sparta
    Spy
    SS Atlantic
    STEAM
    STEM
    Stewart Ainsworth
    Stone Age
    Stonehenge
    Stuart Ainsworth
    Stuart Peachy
    Suzannah Lipscomb
    Tales From The Green Valley
    The Family
    The Vikings
    Time Crashers
    Time Team
    Time Travels
    Time Walks
    Tirpitz
    Titanic
    Tom Pinford
    Tony Robinson
    Top-10
    Tracy-borman
    Trojan-war
    Tudor
    Tudor-monastery-farm
    Tudors
    Turn-back-time
    Unitedstates
    USS Indianapolis
    Varus
    Victorian
    Victorian-bakers
    Victorian-bakers
    Victorian-farm
    Victorian-farm
    Victorian-home
    Victorian-pharmacy
    Vikings
    War Of 1812
    Warsaw Ghetto
    Wartime Farm
    White Palace
    White Star Line
    Who Do You Think You Are?
    Wilhelm Gustloff
    William Shakespeare
    William The Conqueror
    Winston Churchill
    Witches
    Witch Hunting
    World War I
    World War II
    YouTube

    Privacy Policy

    HistoryDocTube will not collect any personal information and will not sell any personal information to a third party.  We will not request any personal information. 

    ​The purpose of this blog is to share information on what can be used in a classroom, private school, or home school setting as well as serve as a portfolio of my personal and professional work. 

    The reviews are my opinions and should be treated as such.  I just want to provide a tool for teachers to select documentaries for their classrooms.

    RSS Feed

Powered by Create your own unique website with customizable templates.
  • Blog
  • YouTube
    • Ancient World >
      • Ancient Americas
      • Ancient Britain
      • Ancient Egypt
      • Ancient Greece
      • Ancient Rome
    • Africa
    • America >
      • Regional History
    • China
    • Georgians
    • Holocaust
    • Titanic
    • Tudors
    • Vikings
    • World War I
    • World War II
    • Royals
    • Time Team >
      • Anglo-Saxon
      • Castles
      • Church History
      • Prehistoric Era
      • Roman
      • Tudors
    • YouTube Channels
    • Tony Robinson
    • Lucy Worsley
  • History Meets....
    • History Meets English
    • History Meets Reality TV
    • History Meets Science
  • About Me
    • Portfolio
  • Privacy Policy