PRINCESS CHARLOTTE’S WEDDING DRESS | Royal wedding dresses | Royal fashion history documentary
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 31 ธ.ค. 2024
- Princess Charlotte of Wales (daughter of George IV and Caroline of Brunswick, not Prince William and Kate Middleton) married Prince Leopold of Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld, future King of the Belgians and uncle to Queen Victoria, in London on 2 May 1816. As the heiress presumptive to the throne and the woman who should have been Queen, if not for her untimely death the following year, her wedding was the social event of the decade and she needed a dress fit for a Princess in order to match the occasion. She had one.
In this royal fashion history documentary from History Calling we look at one of the earliest surviving royal wedding dresses in British history which was recently on display in the Queen’s Gallery in Buckingham Palace. Despite the increasing popularity of white wedding dresses at the time of her nuptials, Charlotte wore silver silk and satin overlaid with lace and embellished with shell motifs. We’ll trace her dress’s journey from its creation by the Princess’s dressmaker, Mrs Triud of Bolton Street, to the day Charlotte wore it, to what happened to it after her death and how it came to be in its present home. By comparing photographs of the dress as seen today to historical descriptions and a picture of it from 1816, we’ll see how well the current gown matches early 19th century fashions, examine how much of the original garment is left and ask whether this unique piece of dress history can really be called the wedding dress of Princess Charlotte.
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Kay Staniland, ‘Princess Charlotte’s wedding dress’ in Costume, vol. 34, no. 1 (2000), pp 70-80. Available at www.tandfonlin...
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Have you noticed the quality of the clothing you buy changing over the past few years and do you think we should strive to go back to the way our ancestors thought about garments and try to reuse them as much as possible? Let me know below and remember to check out:
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We need to conserve our clothing consumption; the planet literally cannot take the trash from just our clothing
I’ve been trying to buy quality clothing and mending it when needed for the past decade and have actually enjoyed the process and my clothes more than before
Oh my goodness, yes! The clothes we are presented with now are so inferior to the clothes in the 60’s!
Yes, you're so right. I wish they taught some basic sewing skills in schools actually. I never learnt any of that, but I think if you can tailor your clothes, even a little bit, you can make even cheaper items look really good on you.
i agree with you on the attitude towards clothing having been better in the past
I still have the empire-waisted embroidered muslin wedding dress worn by my great-great-great-great grandmother Sophia Cogswell in 1804
I wore it myself in 1972
That's AMAZING! Please make sure it's insured. It's gotta be worth a small fortune. I bet museums would love to borrow it for displays.
Wow. A REAL hand me-down. Gotta be worth a King's ransom. Literally. Pun intended, I think!
@@HistoryCalling there is a museum in New Hampshire USA that will take it, the Cogswell family was prominent there. I am unsure of what I will do with it. I was petite enough (5'3") to wear it but a niece who could have worn it in 2019 did not. My own daughter (5'10")could not. It is very fragile now.
That is amazing..wow, way to go
Queen Victoria introduced the wedding dress in 1840
before that women wore their best dresses a bonnet
Whoever's dress it was, it's a true work of art. One of the most stunning royal wedding dresses ever
Yes, it's just gorgeous. I wish I'd been allowed to film it for you to give you an even better idea of its appearance.
I have my Mom's wedding dress from 1941. It was stunning, even by today's standards. I wore it, with a bit of alterations and so did my daughter's!
Obviously, they reinforced the seams but they were still holding tight!
I don't have any granddaughters yet, hopefully soon and perhaps she'll want to wear it.
That's amazing. I wish I had either of my grandmothers' dresses, but sadly they're long gone. I suspect they were reused though, so they probably didn't go to waste.
I wore my mom’s dress too (hers was from the 60s). I loved wearing it and it was so beautiful!
I have my mother's wedding dress hanging in my closet (my grandmother made it for my mom's wedding in the 80s). It's too small for me, so I'm saving it for future women in the family, in case they want to wear it. When my sister married, she bought a beautiful summer dress in good quality that she could wear on other occasions, and if I ever marry, I aim to do the same, and if I don't, I will still repurpose the dress in other ways later on. Not only do I try to treat all my clothes the same way, but sentimental as I am, I want to be able to actually wear my clothes again, even when they are technically just meant for a special occasion, because just seeing them hanging in my closet makes me sad 😄😊🍀✨
What a wonderful heirloom!
My mother's wedding dress was absolutely beautiful, and has never gone out of style. Unfortunately, it was made from a 'modern' 40's fabric (probably some sort of nylon), and it turned gray, a really ugly gray. I doubt it could even be dyed or restored because of the synthetic fabric. That said, it could be copied to great effect, if desired.
I wonder if it was hard for Leopold deep down to see Victoria and Albert get married with Victoria in her dress and if it reminded him of Charlotte. After all, Victoria was born because his wife Charlotte had died.
I wonder the same thing. Victoria had the life Charlotte was meant to after all.
@@HistoryCalling Personally, I would feel utterly heartbroken. Weddings are meant to be happy but that doesn't stop old memories.
Yes, I'm sure it stirred up a lot of old grief for him. He seems to have been genuinely devoted to Charlotte (just as Albert and Victoria were to each other).
And yet wasn't it Leopold that played Matchmaker between Albert and Victoria? He had remarried by then and had children of his own. I think instead of sorrow and bitterness, he looked at the marriage of Albert and Victoria as a happy do-over. If he could not have that happiness with Charlotte then his nephew could have it with her cousin.
@@JenniferKokoski Exactly. It satisfied vicariously Leopold's ambition to be married to a British queen. Maybe it even created a form of closure for him.
The dress is definitely a work of art
It's gorgeous. I didn't even know it was in the Queen's Gallery the day I went, I just stumbled across it and immediately thought 'I should do a video on that' and started photographing it from every angle.
@@HistoryCalling I’m so glad you did! What a happy accident 😁
It really was. I was mostly there for the portraits (which I also took 100s of pictures of).
@@HistoryCallingI loved the accidental video and can hardly not wait to see the videos that you'll produce from the portraits you photographed 😊 thanks for all your hard work 👍 😀 ❤
This is a very interesting program! I had always thought Queen Victoria was likely the only 19th century bride who took pieces from her wedding gown (the magnificent lace) to adorn later dresses. This attitude of remake and reuse allows beautiful garments to live on, even as the wearer's size and needs shift over time. As you noted, this was possible in the past because of the higher quality of the clothing. 👗👗👗👗👗👗
Thank you. It's a bit of a fluke that I even did this video. I just came across the dress by accident and thought it would make a good video.
And it is a great video! Thank you 😊 💓
To be honest pretty much all C19th brides would have reworn and remodelled the entire dress until it was worn out. After about 1850 fashionable wedding dresses tended to be cut in day dress cuts and if they were white they were then dyed for normal wear. And many of them just got married in a normal dresses. My friend did a similar thing, she got married in an ivory satin 1930s style dress and then had it dyed green to use as an evening dress. She made her veil into a matching summer stole
My aunt (after my grandmother passed) took her wedding dress & had it made it into 3 smaller wedding dresses, for the 3 granddaughters "American doll" s. She attached a photo of my grandma & grandpa on their wedding day (gramma of course in her dress) & on the back of the photo she printed the story of how they met. Now I will always have a piece of her to hand down to generations all because of re-purposing the dress❤
That's so lovely and what a great idea :-)
Sweet idea
I definitely agree that it would be so great to go back to the days when things were built to last. Not just clothes but furniture and appliances too. We live in a throwaway society. It is so much cheaper to buy something new than to get it repaired.
Sadly, one needs an empire & millions of colonials to pay for it
Yes, I agree. There's a problem with cheap, short-lived products all across the board. Even houses are sometimes poorly built nowadays and I'm sure nothing we build could last in the way the pyramids have done.
This is trivial but I broke the glass pot for my coffee maker and I was so mad that it cost more for a replacement then a whole new coffee maker ....
The worst part of cheap fast fashion is that some inexpensive clothes are being manufactured in countries that do not have or do not enforce labor laws and the clothes are being made by forced labor and/or child labor. On top of that, there’s a huge problem of what to do with old or returned clothes (yes I mean Amazon) that get dumped in some countries in huge mountains. It is so wasteful!! When I grew up I was taught how to sew and I made many of my clothes. Now I try very hard to purchase my clothing from companies or small businesses that have done their due diligence and don’t sell clothes made in factories using forced labor or children.
My father had a dance band in London. He and my mother went to many formal dinner dances. Her lace wedding dress from 1939 was first died pink with a black lace trim, she shortened the sleeves and wore black opera gloves. Then it was dyed black, after that it was shortened to ballerina length and trimmed with a spray of pink roses down one side of the skirt and pink opera gloves. She then gave it to her youngest sister who wore it to parties.
I'm a wedding minister/officiant, so see a lot of wedding set-ups. One ceremony I did recently had the wedding dresses from 6 family members (both bride's and groom's). Went back to the 1950s. Really cool way of remembering history, admiring tastes in clothing, and honoring/memorializing those who wore it. I hope to see that in future ceremonies.
Oh that sounds lovely and it's so much more cost-effective and environmentally friendly too. The wedding dress industry really has gone crazy when you look at some of the dresses created for one day. You could buy a car with what some women spend on those dresses.
@@HistoryCallingl p
My grandmother did this, as did my mother. I'm a seamstress and have re-used, re-purposed many things. I consider it very cool that I can. I'm grateful to my mother teachers. ❤
Here, in the US:
It costs less to buy off the rack than it does to make an outfit, these days. I'm not sure we'll be able to return to sewing our own clothes, in many cases. The new sewing machines are shoddy, fabric is mostly ridiculously priced and definitely not of good quality anymore. All notions have increased in price and availability. I could go on...
I know. It's really depressing. It took hundreds, if not thousands of years for humans to learn great dressmaking techniques and we've let it most of it go in the space of about 50 years :-(
I have the perfect machine, Bernina 830. I sew all my clothes and make them to last. I just lost 100 lbs so I am getting ready to sew some basics. You can sew, you just need to focus and refurbish clothing. You can find anything, if you look hard. I love sewing! Started sewing around 5 years old and will turn 68 by the end of January. We reused family clothing a lot and I still do.
God bless you all
@@gwendavis1623
I still have working Singer Treadle and hand crank sewing machines. They are perfect for heavy curtain/ canvas material. Sadly, modern machines just don’t do the job well.
I have 2 wardrobes full of vintage clothes, mostly from the 1940s but a few also from the 1930s. I have hats, coats, dresses, jackets, blouses and a couple of hand knitted sweaters. I wear them sometimes, when the occasion is right. So yes, definitely, clothes were much better quality back then. I can't imagine any modern clothes still being wearable in 80 years.
Ok, your wardrobes sound amazing!
My prom dress was my mom's rehearsal dinner dress. I didn't need anything altered and I loved the style.
My ex husband wore the suit his father got married in at our wedding. Cash was tight and he refused to spend money on something he felt he didn't need and wouldn't want to wear again. His mother had a fit when he announced that he was going to wear his jeans to our wedding - fortunately his dad's suit from the 40's fitted him and fashions had come around again so that it looked modern! It was really good quality and the ex kept it and wore it for interviews and formal events for years. My wedding dress was my "something borrowed" .
My mother makes her own clothes and is a fantastic seamstress, and it's such a valuable skill. I've moved 900km away from my mum, but I'll still bring clothes with me whenever I visit to have her mend or alter and learn how to do it from her. The clothes my mum has made for me are the pieces that I've been able to keep and continue wearing for my entire adult life, albeit with alterations to make them more fashionable as tastes change.
That's incredible. I so wish I had that skill. You're very lucky to have her.
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I always loved Princess Charlotte’s wedding dress, when I first saw it Royal Wedding Dresses by Joanne Marschner and Nigel Arch. My daughter loves it too. I’d love to pay my respects to Charlotte one day, albeit at her memorial.
Yes, it's lovely. I didn't even know it was in the exhibition. I just stumbled across it and immediately thought 'I'm doing a video on that!' :-)
Gorgeous, sparkling, glimmering, just what a VIP Princess of Wales should be wearing
My great-grandmother Mary Westaway Caple used to buy high quality coats for her daughters. When they outgrew them, she would take them apart and
cut them down in size to fit her granddaughters. She was a practical person who made her own clothes, raised and canned her own vegetables, raised farm animals and canned her own meat during wartime. I have some of her ceramic meat and milk pots.
She sounds fantastic. It's a pity we don't all live more by the phrase 'waste not want not' as she seemed to do. It would be better for the planet and better for our bank balances I'm sure.
The attitude to clothes in the past is something I strive towards! My grandmother has used her wedding dress in multiple different occasions, even in other people’s weddings. Her mother made it in a simple style and in a champagne colour. It was used until she got some bad stains on it that I believe is cherry or port and I believe it was a great party!
I am constantly working on my mending skills to make my clothes last for as long as possible. I have not altered many clothes as of yet, but I have done so a few times for clothes that had parts that were too worn to be mended. This is something I would love to get better at to make little worn clothes work better for me.
I always loved thrifting and charity shops being a teenager in the 90s. Nowadays it’s much harder to find the quality classics of yesteryear (but I still try!). I also sew/needle craft and really appreciate how difficult it can be to customize fit and have clothes look professional/not crafty/hand made. The skills we have been losing generationally! I love this crossover topic and would love to know more about fair isle knits worn by the uk royals. Thank you HC!
Yes, quality is so hit and miss and hard to find now. Honestly, I wish I knew how to make my own clothes sometimes. It would be great to have unique, tailored things. They don't even teach kids how to sew buttons on nowadays and haven't for a long time (I wasn't taught it for instance).
My husband still has his father's long woollen coat from the 1930s. In fact he is wearing it now, to help him keep warm in this cold weather. It is so very heavy, being knee length.
That's amazing. Tell him I heartily approve and I'm sure his Dad would too.
Ha ha, I'm not sure I approve but he's happy with it...speaks of the quality of the clothing though!@@HistoryCalling
I love that I have ties to Queen Charlotte. My Great Aunt x6 was the King and Queen's Goddaughter. Charlotte Augusta Sneyd. She grew up in what is now Keele University, Keele Hall.
Love this - almost a Bernadette Banner crossover ❤
Thank you. She's brilliant, so I take that as quite the compliment. I'm sure she could tell you a lot about the dress's construction that I don't know though. She'd have a much better eye for that than me. I just had to go by what I read in the literature.
@@HistoryCalling could be a future collaboration? 🥰
Ooh! Yes please!! ❤❤
My grandparents raised 7 children and, while the family was prosperous, everyone's clothes were remade and repurposed for younger family members. I have a photo taken of my mother, aged about 5, wearing a sailor-style costume made from my great-grandfather's naval uniform. Nothing went to waste, and the fabrics were of such quality they could literally last for decades.
Oh that sounds lovely. I like the idea of being to see the family's history in the clothing they wear. I hope your g-grandfather got to see his granddaughter in his old uniform. I imagine it would have tickled him.
How interesting! As a bit of a seamstress I totally agree about the quality of clothing from the past. Garments were made to be easily altered if necessary and made of good quality material. They were made to last. You are correct about a wedding dress being one of the most expensive dresses a woman will buy, and it is too bad we only wear them once. I am, however, currently taking lace off my own wedding dress from 30 years ago to make a veil for my own daughter who is getting married shortly, so at least part of that dress will be used. I will also be adding some of it to a robe she can wear while she gets ready on the morning. Thanks for this great video.
Oh that's a lovely idea for your daughter's dress. I'm sure it'll look gorgeous and it will be so full of meaning as well.
You are so right. All of that fine lace making, the silver threading..this was not anything to toss aside!! And today..at my grand old age, items i still own of 40 yrs, way out perform anything "new" i dare to try.. Still !! Yes,we'd all wish we could see the original ❤❤❤❤❤ nice topic, thx!!
Yes, the fabrics then (for a princess) were soooo luxury. I'm sure they could teach the big modern fashion houses a thing or two.
I absolutely love the idea of remaking clothes to fit the fashion of today! I have actually done this myself, buying outdated clothing second hand and taking it apart to modify and update it. It's so fun, and at the end, I have a one of a kind garment that is tailored to me!
In Shakespeare's "Much Ado About Nothing," Hero, a well-off young lady, decides the morning of her wedding day which of her dresses she will wear. Her maid, Margaret, who has been secretly trying on her clothes behind her back, tries to talk her into wearing a different dress, not the one that Margaret was wearing to have a tryst with a boyfriend. Hero overrides her because that is clearly her nicest dress.
I loved my wedding dress, loved wearing it and how I looked in it. I would have welcomed an occasion to wear it again. Unfortunately, modern society doesn't have other occasions for wearing a cream full-length dress with a veil and train. Too bad really! My sister wore it for her wedding without the petticoat and hoop, wearing a different headpiece and veil, and it looked fabulous, and completely different on her. Her wedding was six months later with many of the same guests and none of them realized that it was the same dress until she told them. Her silhouette was very different from mine. It made me so happy to see how nice she looked and that someone was getting more use out of the dress.
That's amazing that you and your sister were able to reuse the dress like that. I hope other women in your family are able to do the same with it. It would make a fantastic heirloom.
@@HistoryCalling It helps that we are roughly the same height and at the time, close in weight. A nephew's prospective bride wanted to use that dress but since she was about six inches shorter than we are, the alterations would have been prohibitive.
I got a chance to see the dress at the Queen's Gallery last year too and it is so beautiful - a little sad though knowing the woman who wore it would die so young
Yes, at least when you see Queen V's old dresses, you know the wearer got to have a long life.
The dress is still beautiful even if redone. This is a lesson we could learn again
A good option for wedding dresses after your big day is Turning them into Angel Gowns. I found out about this when my aunt did it, but basically you donate your gown to an organization that dismantles it and then uses the fabric to make beautiful outfits for babies that were stillborn or passed early as a way to save the parents from the heartbreak of finding an outfit to bury their child in. It’s morbid yes, but a good cause none the les
Really interesting video and with a great modernday issue that needs addressing. The dress looks beautiful and I should imagine was a showstopper at the wedding. I am glad that Queen Mary (yet again) managed to get hold of it, to preserve it. The practice of reusing clothing is very sustainable. I have stuff in my wardrobe that is from the 70's and I agree with you regarding the quality of clothing produced today. I try to buy quality stuff, on an infrequent basis, so I can get value out of each piece. Remember that Princess Beatrice reused one of the Queen's gowns for her wedding, so she is aware of the need to reuse clothing. In years to come, we will be ooohing and ahhhing over the creations that Angela Kelly made for Queen Elizabeth. My sister has my Mum's wedding dress from 1954. It was a bolt of fabric rejected by the Queen for her coronation. Goodness only knows how my great Aunt got hold of it, but she did work for the aristocracy. My Mum's dress looks amazing on the photos, like a Hollywood star, but then she was the best Mum on the planet. 💖🌍
That's such a great story about your Mum's dress. I was thinking of Princess Beatrice too and her dress really did look lovely. Kudos to QEII for having kept it all those years as well.
There are multiple reasons why I have started making my own clothing and I am much happier with what I'm making than with much of what I buy in the stores. Repairing and altering my clothes so that I can get more use out of them is something I'm incredibly proud and happy to do.
My mother still has all her formal gowns from high school (she graduated in 1964), and items crocheted by her mother. Last time i saw these items, they were still perfect.
I agree that the garments made today are made cheaply and quickly, and are more full of errors.
So do I. But I am truly amazed I ever fit into them 😊. 4 total, all made by me. (Mother refused to buy a fancy dress)
I was in a small museum in a town my family came from. Imagine my surprise when the lady said they had a dress from my grandmother from the early 1920s. It was holding up well. I have her christening gown which has been worn by 4 generations. Granted the babies only wear it once or twice but my great grandmother put a lot of time on the details.
That sounds amazing. I don't think my Mum has any clothes left from the 60s or 70s (or 80s actually, except her wedding dress), but looking at the pictures of her I think we have different styles anyway. :-)
That’s one of my favorite Royal dresses, period, especially because I can imagine how luminous it must have been by candlelight sparkling gorgeously with every movement. The style of it is so simple, but everything else is just sumptuous!
My mother made all of her clothes and mine when I was a young working woman in the 80s. The quality of a dress made by my mother was supreme to anything that could be bought in a store and I was often asked where I bought my clothes. To tell the truth, to round out the dresses that she made me I tended to buy wool skirts and tartans. A gift of cashmere sweater was several hundred dollars and not the single thread junk that is sold now. I didn't have a lot of clothese, but I stayed with black, red, grey, and ivory an added colors through ribbons and jewelry.
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Yes indeed we should start being more sensible with our clothing. Buy good classic well made clothing, well fitted & designed.although initial cost may seem a lot…you’ll never regret it. Love classics. Great video👏👏💐🇨🇦
History is used here to make a very interesting point. I know nothing about the garment industry, but have noticed that planned obsolescence is the rule of the era we live in. We're expected to replace electronics, in particular, almost before they're out of the box. Simple (but elegant) ballparks here in America that lasted seventy or eighty years are replaced with super-parks that may last twenty. Get on social media and ask if anyone knows a good repair shop (remember those?) in your area: all of your friends will simultaneously reply "It's called GET A NEW ONE!"
Yes, you're spot on. Our throwaway culture applies to so much more than just clothing unfortunately. :-(
Thank you for posting this video. You make some excellent points.
One thing that modern fashionistas usually fail to realize is that our pre-photography knowledge of past fashion is incomplete. The only records we have are written descriptions, drawings, and extant garments. While it is exciting to see extant garments, the issue with them is the reason they exist at all. For one reason or another, they were special. They weren't typical day to day wear.
Fabric cost way more than the labor needed to stitch a garment together. For most families, the cost of keeping the family clothed took up more than a quarter of their annual income. If you make $50k a year in modern money, imagine spending $12,500 of it on clothes every year.
Recycling fabric was a necessity even for the average person. Fabric was reused until it fell apart. As a matter of fact, many of these old keepsakes in museums are just scraps of fabric made into handkerchiefs, and the like, or sewn into quilt samplers. That's all that was left of some treasured garments. They were literally loved to death.
I have always hung on to clothes since I was young and many have been worn twenty or thirty years later. I’ve always tried to buy classic clothes that suit me instead of fast fashion that dates in twelve months. You’re right about the quality of the material these days, it’s dreadful. The alternative is to go to a fabric shop, find a pattern and get a dress maker to run it up for you if you can’t sew. It’s more expensive but will last for years and fit you properly. Thanks for the video, it was really interesting.
Yes, it's just a pity there aren't more dressmakers around now. Like you, I try to buy things that won't easily go out of style. I have a little black dress that I bought over 15 years ago (not even expensive - £45 in Next if memory serves) and it's still in great condition and I wear it to funerals of all things and always get compliments on it. Sadly I suspect the quality in Next wouldn't be that good today though.
I haven’t commented in a while but I get so excited every week when HC releases a new video! Thank you so much for all the hard work you put into making these videos. It’s a real pity our attitudes towards clothing have changed. I’ve seen and held some of the old, traditional red skirts worn by women from Conamara, in the west of Ireland, over the last hundred years - and the quality is just second to none. You can tell that these pieces meant something to people.
THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR THE VERY KIND DONATION PATRICK and welcome back to the comments too :-) Yes, it is such a pity that we don't value our clothing as much any more. It's stupid too, because current attitudes are costing us more money and harming the planet. We really are our own worst enemies.
I especially enjoy the "video by history calling" all over the pictures.
A sad necessity I'm afraid. People keep stealing my video ideas and research. I don't want to make it easy for them to lift my images as well.
It’s a lovely dress even it’s no longer in its original form. It’s a shame, though, that no accurate sketch was made at the time of the wedding so we could properly see what the original dress looked like.
I have to agree about the quality of modern clothing. I work for Marks and Spencer (and get most of my clothes there these days, because staff discount) and the quality honestly isn’t what it once was. It was better even six years ago when I started working there. The worst quality is possibly H&M, I stopped shopping there several years ago because their clothes were literally coming out of the washing machine full of holes.
I completely agree about M&S. I used to get jeans, t-shirts and undies there all the time (and still do sometimes) and I've really noticed the difference too. You can see through the t-shirts now when you hold them up to the light, as the fabric is so thin. I have a few items from H&M (mostly blazers) and while I'll use them til they're done, I bought them a few years ago now and wouldn't be rushing back. The lining in particular is horrible, cheap material that rustles when I move.
it’s a bit sad that it has been so heavily altered, although it’s fascinating to see how it has changed with history of the times. so cool you have your granddads wedding suit, that’s amazing!! i absolutely notice the quality of clothing today, thinner and so prone to tears, even harder to get stains out sometimes etc. i’ve been trying to find good quality thrifts to get instead of something new, a sort of new year’s resolution i suppose!
I didn't even know until a few years ago that my Dad still had it, then my Mum mentioned it one day and I still didn't believe her until I lifted it out of the wardrobe.
@@HistoryCalling that’s incredible, now it can be cherished for many more years 💜
I agree with what you say about the quality of clothing dropping significantly. I try to buy what I can second hand and being a seamstress I try to only buy only new quality items. They are getting harder to find.
Yes, it's thoroughly depressing. When I buy t-shirts now I can see through them when I hold them up to the light because there's so little cotton in them compared to what used to be there.
So true about modern clothes. My nicest piece of clothing is a leather jacket from the 70s. My best friend's grandmother gave it to me when I was about 17. I've taken good care of it, had to dry cleaned once, and it still looks wonderful! Meanwhile the raincoat I bought less than a year ago already needs the lining repaired.
Appreciate your thoughts on the way clothes are becoming such throw away items! Unfortunately the fabric we often use for clothes isn't as long lasting as cotton or wool or linen. My grandmother didn't remake her clothes, but used the worn garments to make quilts-we have a lot to learn from our ancestors! Hope you'll do another video on Charlotte!
That's such a good idea to use the clothes for quilts. That way she really did get every last drop of usefulness out of cloth. Good on her. :-)
Its such a beautiful dress ❤️I Definitely believe that clothes were made so much better back then... and I was going to say the same thing About taking clothes apart and making new one's With the material being so rich and luxurious people would make the most of everything.
Yes, I certainly wouldn't want to throw out silver and gold thread. :-)
I love the new upload schedule, HC! :) Such a nice thing to look forward to after a gruelling Monday. xx
Thanks Beth. I definitely prefer it too, though I think people are still getting used to it more generally. Fingers crossed it takes off though, as it really does make my Friday nights and weekends better when I don't have to worry about a new video.
@@HistoryCalling totally agreed! I really hope you get to make full use of relaxing on a Friday and over the weekend now. Great work as always ☺️ xx
Thank you :-)
For me, the fact that this is a repurposed dress makes it even more interesting, with an air of mystery. It's still historical, and it shows off the exceptionally delicate craftsmanship required to rework the piece. Skilled weavers and seamstresses were artisans -- needle skills were the ticket for my grandmother's sisters to travel between Germany and the US and be able to find employment in one country or the other.
I agree with you, HC. It's a shame that the vast majority of today's clothing isn't a durable product but just another use-and-toss-out item. Such a waste!
Yes, the craftmanship really is something else. I wish I'd been able to get even better pictures of it, but it was in a glass case, so I couldn't get closer and there were reflections to deal with too.
It is a STUNNING gown.
Absolutely breathtaking and I love love love it. x
I wholeheartedly agree with your views on modern clothing. I have often made similar comments myself. Do any people today darn their socks? I particularly liked your comments about your grandfather's suit. An interesting video and thank you once again.
Thanks Axel. No, I don't think many do darn their socks, though I tend to keep mine until the holes really are awful.
I darn my favourite socks. I have penguin socks over ten years old now. Although I use a wheelchair so my socks do last me longer than usual without darning.
I do love my better made clothes. They stay refreshed and beautiful. I do agree to repurpose items of clothing as much as possible. My hand bags are used and some I’m able to keep in a pristine condition. As my grown daughters hunts through my closet she reuses my clothes and handbags. 😊 which delights me too!
If or when hard times come and it becomes too expensive to buy, we will be making out own dresses or restyling old ones for our children. I used make my own dresses now it seems to be something of the past, I don't known anyone who still make their own clothes.
Princess Charlotte's dress in the presentation is absolutely gorges. Even though it's difficult to know exactly what it looks like it is in the style of the day.
Great video! I live in a house built circa 1930-40, and there is very little closet space. Back then people mended their clothes and repurposed them for decades. Today, we just replace anything old and torn, and keep consuming. Although I enjoy sewing and can mend clothes, some days it’s just easier to go to the store.
I haven’t bought much clothing in recent years because the clothes I bought 5 to 10 years ago for daily wear are holding up very well and still have a lot of life in them.
Absolutely fascinating! Makes perfect sense to me now that you explained it why so few original farmers survive from that era unaltered. Thank you for sharing.
Thank you. Yes, it's a shame there's so little, but also good to know that our ancestors weren't as wasteful as us.
My grandmother had her wedding dress remade into a baby Baptism dress, cape, and bonnet. Her children wore it, as well as her grandchildren. It has changed color from pure white to cream and champagne, but it is still as sturdy as the first day. We're hoping more generations will get to wear it, at least for pictures if not for the Baptism itself.
Good evening to history calling from Bea 🇬🇧
I still have items from the mid 1990s which are in a good condition & which I still wear - and this weren't high fashion quality clothes but brands like H&M - the quality was much different then.
I've got a few things from H&M which I've had for years now too, not the 1990s I'll grant you, but my point is that I agree with you that even so-called fast fashion can actually last a lot longer than people give it credit for if they'd only take care of it.
Same here- I still have a handful of clothes from the 90's that I still wear every so often- even name brand clothes now are not the same quality as they were 10-15 years ago, but the price was still the same :/
WOW that is a beautiful wedding dress
In September 2000, I saw this dress at the Kensington Palace historic royal dress collection there. I was thrilled to see it but did notice differences between the actual dress and the dress in the old paintings of the wedding. I just assumed that it had been remade at some point for re-use.
Thank you for a wonderful and informative video. ❤❤❤
History and fashion, two of my favourite subjects combined! Thank you. 💕
You're very welcome. I hope you enjoy it :-)
This was a fun one, thank you!
Awesome video. Patterns of fashion has a dress worn by a child Katharina zur Lippe in 1600 in the collection of Lippisches
Landesmuseum. The dress is exquisite and created from another garment cut down and pieced.
Oh wow. That's very rare, to have an item which has survived for that long.
I love your uploads. Thank you xx
I have to fasten the buttons of my blouses 6 months after I bought them. I learned a little bit of sewing from my grandmother. I wore her wedding veil that was passed down from her mother. It’s pearl white and embroidered with roses and pearls. I still have it and it’s in good condition. I hope to see my daughter wear it one day. Charlotte’s wedding dress was so beautiful. Thank you for this video. Have a good day.
I'm glad you took the trouble. So many people throw clothes away because they don't have the skills to repair them.
Thanks Leticia. I wish I had some sewing skills. Even a button is a stress inducing task for me. Your veil sounds gorgeous.
New subscriber here. Wanted to say I have enjoyed your voice the best, in regards to, the historical videos I’ve been binge watching today while healing from an E.R. Trip!
Oh my. Lovely video. Thank you.
Interesting. Your thoughts on attitudes to clothing are spot on, I mean, our recent ways of seeing especially fashion clothing as disposable represent a blip really in the overall picture, and it should be seen in this way for obvious reasons. I still have a handmade Montague Burton waistcoat which was my dads fave for Saturday night pre WW2 strutting about in SE London. A real quality garment. Thank you for posting! ⭐👍
A very good explanation of recycling clothing. But if I had that dress in my possession you'd have to pry it out of my hands. What a beautiful dress, original or no. Interesting you mention t-shirts being thin now. I still wear my daughter's shirts and they are quite thick and after 20 years are still wearable.
In my late childhood ( late 60s/early 70s) I played princess wearing a 1950s gown my mother used to wear to formal dances. Pink satin overlayed with lace, boned bodice, full skirts and a halter neck. It was magical!
I agree about today's lack of quality, I have a few items from 15 to 20 years old that are still going strong whereas more recent purchases last a few years at most. Cotton has got thinner and proper hems seem to have disappeared altogether...
I have been wearing a jacket made from a Donegal tweed coat (+- 1950) that belonged to my grandfather. It's one of my favorite pieces and I certainly won't see another like it. The quality of the cloth is far superior to anything available in the shops today.
Yup, they don't make 'em like they used to, that's for sure.
Dickins & Jones bag! I worked in the Regent Street store, very high class 👍
Sounds good to me :-)
I love the idea of wearing clothing for as long as is possible. Matter of fact, I think this might have inspired me to take up sewing.
Excellent. Go for it. I bet there are plenty of tutorials online if you need them. :-)
I have a Domani knit coat and dress set and a Mr Mort that belonged to my mother in the 1960s. The garments have held up all these years.
Such a wonderful video! Lamé however is pronounced “la-may” or “luh-may” at least here in the US and took me a minute to understand hahaha
Thank you very much for this program…. Very interesting..
Glad you liked it :-)
Thanks again @historycalling
You're very welcome :-)
@@HistoryCalling :)
hello Hc! hope your week is off to a good start 🙏
Hi there. Yes, all good so far. Just working away. Hope yours goes well too.
@@HistoryCalling same here, thank you!📚💪🏻
Fantastic video!! Liked & subscribed!
Thank you so much and welcome aboard. I have a whole fashion history playlist if you're interested.
Excellent episode!
Thank you :-)
I think it sad that most of the original dress is gone, but the one remaining is gorgeous
👏👏 I was happy to see this video drop after reading about Storm Isha, HC. Hope you're staying safe and dry. Lena makes sure any t-shirts I purchase are made well enough for public display. Otherwise, they're meant for working out and household use only. 😉
Thanks Stephen. Yes, all good here. Remarkably we didn't lose electricity, though lots of people did. The lights flickered a few times though.
@@HistoryCalling 👍
None of my old tee shirts fit me these days, so in the last year, I have spent the equivalent of a family fortune (small family) on replacing them with 2 sizes higher. Not because I'm fat or obese, you understand. I just like a loose fitting 😂
@@chrisbanks6659 I'm the same way, my friend. Absolutely hate even the slightest hint of restriction.
Hi, awesome live history video I enjoyed it. How are you doing? How is the weather where you are? I'm doing well and so is my cat Benjamin he's big and happy. We had cold weather last week very cold. Now we have plus weather not to bad. In Ontario Canada. Have a great day see you next video
Hi Michelle. Good thanks. Just getting over Storm Isha, which fortunately didn't lead to any power cuts for me. Glad to hear you're both keeping well. See you next week :-)
I always enjoy your videos because I never fail to learn something new - and you're absolutely right about our throwaway society and our poor attitudes toward clothing.
Thanks Laura. Glad you liked it. Yes, our throwaway attitudes (not just in clothing, but in all sorts of areas) are abysmal.
And happy to his daughter in the dress for her wedding
Lovely video, as always. Thank you! Yes, I agree wholeheartedly with you about the poor quality of clothing, its construction and fabrics today. It is most dismaying if you grew up in a time where even inexpensive items would last and hold together well. As you said, even items from "higher end" stores are very disappointing. I've often thought of sewing my own clothes again. At least I would know the quality!
Thanks Cheryl. I only wish I knew how to sew so that I could make my own things. Sadly, I can't even do a button :-(
Looove this combination - thank you!
If there is any information can you also do a video about Josephine´s gown at her coronation please?
Oh, interesting idea. I have no idea if it still exists though. :-(
Great video!! I think it's good to buy what you really need and really could see wearing for a long time. If I'm not totally sure about an item of clothing, I don't buy it. The way I see it for myself is if I buy something that I really love, I'll be more motivated to keep up with any repairs it might need. Clothes are art :)
Thanks Alicia. Yes, that's a great way to look at it and to shop. It saves so much money too if we only buy things we really need or love so much that we'll keep wearing them and mending them.
I so wish we had the quality clothing from yesteryears, and I do have a few, but far too many love the changes in fashion.
I have noticed this as well. I have some cotton t shirts, pj's and a dress from Catherine's I bought in the mid 2000s that are still in good shape. The dress I have mended several times it's my favorite. Now thier stuff is Walmart crap quality for a much higher price
Yes, I see the same thing with Marks and Spencer here in the UK. Their basic cotton t-shirts used to last for years. Now they're so thin I can see through them and you're lucky to get 18 months from them :-(
History, art and fashion are my favorite things. I just viewed the John Singer Sargent exhibit at the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston, Massachusetts, where they displayed some of the garments worn by the subjects in some his portrait paintings. I noticed that some of the garments were slightly different than depicted in the paintings. Perhaps it was because they were repurposed like you purposed in your video. Thank you for all of this history and information.
Oh wow. That's sounds like a brilliant exhibition. Sadly as I don't live in a big city I don't often get to see things like that.
You can see it on line if you wish. I know it's not the same, but you can take a peek.@@HistoryCalling
Also, Sargent used artistic license in conveying the clothing in paint.
@@edithengel2284 In most cases, you are correct!
Hello HC 👋, I totally agree with you. Clothes today Royally (pun inteded) Sucks. Fabric is thinner doesn't compare to even 24 - 25 years ago. It's awful. I do better at times in a Resale/thrift store. I look for certain brands from the 80s, 90s and early 2000s anything after 2004/5 that's when I noticed the quality was starting to go down and the fabrics weren't holding up in a washer. This is a beautiful dress even with it's changes. I'm all for recycling ♻️ and seeing what can be done to fix or update something old to be new again. Especially tailored styles never go out of style. That's one of the things I loved about Princess Diana & Princess Catherine, not afraid to re-wear ot alter something. Happy Monday ❤️
Hi Holly. Yes, I thoroughly agree. Nothing lasts all that long any more. Justine Leconte did a good video recently on her channel actually where she described how a relative (her grandmother maybe) reused garments until they were totally done and people today could take notes.
IKR? Me in the summer ... still wears espadrilles and linen baggies with Iron Maiden T Shirts. I'm that sort of person who DGAF. For I am a fashion guru. LOL😃
Princess Diana died when I was young; I love Princess Catherine, such a classy lady 😊
It is a beautiful garment. Sadly, we live in a "disposable" society. Everything is made with an expiration date - clothing, furniture, appliances, vehicles, and more. Lovely video - well researched as always. Kind Regards, Cherie
Thanks Cherie. Yes, you're so right that our throwaway culture extends far beyond clothing.
@@HistoryCalling It certainly does. We even throwaway people. Very sad. Rgds, Cherie
Mhmmm... It looks gorgeous
I have made quite a few of my little girl’s garments including nice dresses as well as play clothes. While I pass on store bought items to other families or charities as she grows out of them, I am keeping the things I have made for her children one day.
Oh yes, definitely do. That will be so special for them to have.
Good evening to history calling from Bea
Hi Bea. Hope you're in a fashion history mood today :-)
One day I'll remember you upload on Monday's now instead of being surprised each week 😂
Haha, yes it is an adjustment period. Even I'd forgotten about it until 20 minutes ago. I'm hoping it works out though, as it makes my Fridays and weekends much better.