0:00:02 > 0:00:04Clothes are the ultimate form of visual communication.
0:00:04 > 0:00:06By looking at the way people dressed,
0:00:06 > 0:00:08we can learn not only about them as individuals
0:00:08 > 0:00:11but about the society they lived in.
0:00:11 > 0:00:14I'm Amber Butchart, fashion historian.
0:00:14 > 0:00:16And in the words of Louis XIV,
0:00:16 > 0:00:20I believe that fashion is the mirror of history.
0:00:21 > 0:00:25So, taking historical works of art as our inspiration,
0:00:25 > 0:00:27traditional tailor Ninya Mikhaila
0:00:27 > 0:00:31and her team will be recreating historical clothing
0:00:31 > 0:00:33using only authentic methods.
0:00:33 > 0:00:34Oh, look at that.
0:00:34 > 0:00:36It's changing colour in the air.
0:00:36 > 0:00:38And I'll be finding out what they tell us
0:00:38 > 0:00:40about the people who wore them...
0:00:40 > 0:00:43I'm assuming the King wouldn't be dressing himself, though, right?
0:00:43 > 0:00:44..and the times they lived in...
0:00:47 > 0:00:49..and seeing what they're like to wear.
0:00:49 > 0:00:50Oof!
0:00:59 > 0:01:02These days, it's royal women who provides the fashion talking points.
0:01:04 > 0:01:07But there's one male royal, Charles II,
0:01:07 > 0:01:10who, despite being dead for over 300 years,
0:01:10 > 0:01:13is credited with instigating a new form of menswear
0:01:13 > 0:01:15that's still with us today.
0:01:15 > 0:01:20This portrait shows Charles II being presented with a pineapple
0:01:20 > 0:01:22by his gardener, John Rose.
0:01:22 > 0:01:25Most likely dating from 1677,
0:01:25 > 0:01:28the year Charles shaved off his moustache,
0:01:28 > 0:01:30it's thought that the portrait could have been painted
0:01:30 > 0:01:33as a tribute to Rose, who died that year.
0:01:33 > 0:01:36Charles is the Restoration King.
0:01:36 > 0:01:40This is absolutely crucial in terms of the way that he's dressing,
0:01:40 > 0:01:42the way that he chooses to present himself.
0:01:42 > 0:01:44His position is quite precarious,
0:01:44 > 0:01:48and he uses dress and fashion throughout his reign
0:01:48 > 0:01:51as a means of consolidating his power
0:01:51 > 0:01:54and sending particular political messages.
0:01:54 > 0:01:57I find this portrait really fascinating.
0:01:57 > 0:02:01He's dressed in a very similar way to the gardener.
0:02:01 > 0:02:05The King here is essentially saying, "I am like you.
0:02:05 > 0:02:08"But, at the same time, you must kneel before me."
0:02:08 > 0:02:11So the way Charles is dressed here
0:02:11 > 0:02:15is really emblematic of a shift in the male silhouette.
0:02:15 > 0:02:18Now what's especially interesting is that this really came about
0:02:18 > 0:02:21as the product of political rivalry
0:02:21 > 0:02:25between two cousins who were also kings.
0:02:25 > 0:02:29So I'm really keen to investigate more about his dress,
0:02:29 > 0:02:31and especially about the way that Charles
0:02:31 > 0:02:35used his clothing to consolidate his political place.
0:02:40 > 0:02:43Given that this is such a rare portrait of Charles
0:02:43 > 0:02:47in plain, informal clothes, I'm really interested to find out
0:02:47 > 0:02:49from our historical tailor, Ninya,
0:02:49 > 0:02:52if there's more to this suit than meets the eye.
0:02:52 > 0:02:54So Charles II, Restoration King,
0:02:54 > 0:02:56the Merry Monarch himself.
0:02:56 > 0:02:59His suit here looks quite simple.
0:02:59 > 0:03:02Is it actually such a simple outfit?
0:03:02 > 0:03:05He is trying to do the "man of the people, simple suit" look
0:03:05 > 0:03:08but, no, it won't surprise you to hear me say
0:03:08 > 0:03:11it isn't as simple as it looks.
0:03:11 > 0:03:14For a start, you can see all these black clusters
0:03:14 > 0:03:16around the waist of his britches
0:03:16 > 0:03:18- and around the bottom of his britches there.- Mm-hm.
0:03:18 > 0:03:21Also at his cuffs here and the shoulder.
0:03:21 > 0:03:23They're loops of silk ribbon.
0:03:23 > 0:03:24They were called knots.
0:03:24 > 0:03:27And that would be yards and yards of silk ribbon.
0:03:27 > 0:03:29And they're completely without function.
0:03:29 > 0:03:32They're just added for the effect.
0:03:32 > 0:03:34And you can see all these buttons and buttonholes.
0:03:34 > 0:03:35I've counted them.
0:03:35 > 0:03:40There are more than 100 buttons that we have to source or make.
0:03:40 > 0:03:41That is fiddly work.
0:03:41 > 0:03:43It is fiddly and it's time-consuming.
0:03:43 > 0:03:45Even when you work quite quickly,
0:03:45 > 0:03:48and I'd say I could do a nice buttonhole in maybe five minutes,
0:03:48 > 0:03:51- that's more than a day's work just doing buttonholes.- Wow.
0:03:51 > 0:03:54Charles had a thing for encouraging the use of English cloth
0:03:54 > 0:03:58but it was really the finest cloth, still very, very costly.
0:03:58 > 0:04:01And I think it's quite clear to see that the lining here,
0:04:01 > 0:04:05- what the artist is trying to show is that it's a silky fabric.- Mm.
0:04:05 > 0:04:08I think it's what we call shot fabric today,
0:04:08 > 0:04:10so the threads going one way are one colour
0:04:10 > 0:04:13and the threads going the other way are a different colour.
0:04:13 > 0:04:15And at the time, they called it changeable,
0:04:15 > 0:04:17because the colour changes.
0:04:17 > 0:04:19Like this sample here,
0:04:19 > 0:04:22you can see the yellow threads coming out there and the red there.
0:04:22 > 0:04:24It is, in fact, changeable.
0:04:24 > 0:04:26- It is, in fact, changeable. - Yeah.- Yeah.
0:04:26 > 0:04:29Even though this looks quite simple, it is still a display of wealth.
0:04:29 > 0:04:30It absolutely is.
0:04:30 > 0:04:32There's an awful lot of money being spent on that suit,
0:04:32 > 0:04:35even though it's not immediately obvious where it goes.
0:04:38 > 0:04:42While our suit might be more ornate than first glance would suggest,
0:04:42 > 0:04:44the suit Charles's brother, James II,
0:04:44 > 0:04:46wore for his wedding to Mary of Modena
0:04:46 > 0:04:48is definitely fit for a king.
0:04:51 > 0:04:55No longer on display to the public, it's held in storage at the V&A.
0:04:55 > 0:05:00But curator Susan North has allowed me to come along and have a look.
0:05:03 > 0:05:06It's absolutely incredible.
0:05:06 > 0:05:10I mean, the gold and silver embroidery here,
0:05:10 > 0:05:12I can just imagine it kind of glinting in the candlelight.
0:05:12 > 0:05:15It would have been an absolute spectacle.
0:05:15 > 0:05:18Yes, and you can see in areas,
0:05:18 > 0:05:21like the inside of the cuff and under the arm,
0:05:21 > 0:05:23where it's a bit more protected,
0:05:23 > 0:05:27that gives a sense of just how spectacular
0:05:27 > 0:05:29the suit would have looked when it was worn.
0:05:29 > 0:05:32I'm absolutely in love with this colour of the lining.
0:05:32 > 0:05:35It's very similar to the colour of the lining in the portrait
0:05:35 > 0:05:37that we're looking at.
0:05:37 > 0:05:41You can see almost a familial relationship, I think,
0:05:41 > 0:05:45between this and the clothes that Charles is wearing in the portrait.
0:05:46 > 0:05:51I love the amount of buttons that we've got going up here -
0:05:51 > 0:05:54it's very similar to what we're recreating
0:05:54 > 0:05:56and with these buttonholes as well.
0:05:56 > 0:05:58It's remarkable that they all survive.
0:05:58 > 0:06:01Very often on older garments, you know,
0:06:01 > 0:06:03they recycled the buttons into something else,
0:06:03 > 0:06:04and they cut them off.
0:06:04 > 0:06:09It seems to me to embody some of the contradictions
0:06:09 > 0:06:11that we see in some of Charles's wardrobe
0:06:11 > 0:06:13at around this time as well.
0:06:13 > 0:06:15You've got the wool,
0:06:15 > 0:06:18but you've also got the extravagance of the embroidery.
0:06:18 > 0:06:20You've got this sort of much simpler,
0:06:20 > 0:06:23more workaday silhouette, in a way, but then again,
0:06:23 > 0:06:27you've also got this really showy extravagance as well.
0:06:27 > 0:06:31The coat itself, of course, was never a fashionable garment.
0:06:31 > 0:06:33It was strictly utilitarian.
0:06:33 > 0:06:40What Charles does with the suit is he decrees that this is court dress.
0:06:40 > 0:06:44Now, you'd never show up in court wearing your ordinary riding coat.
0:06:44 > 0:06:46I mean, you just wouldn't do that.
0:06:46 > 0:06:51So if you're going to take what is a utilitarian garment
0:06:51 > 0:06:53and make it court dress,
0:06:53 > 0:06:56well, you have to bling it up a bit.
0:07:00 > 0:07:04Charles's finances were tightly controlled by Parliament.
0:07:04 > 0:07:06So, while his clothes may have been made
0:07:06 > 0:07:10from the most luxurious fabrics, there was no room for waste.
0:07:10 > 0:07:15So these britches don't fit on the width of this cloth.
0:07:15 > 0:07:18I'm going to do what's called piecing,
0:07:18 > 0:07:21which is where the excess of the pattern is folded back
0:07:21 > 0:07:24and it means we're going to have an additional seam.
0:07:24 > 0:07:26But that's very period.
0:07:26 > 0:07:28Even the King is waste not, want not.
0:07:29 > 0:07:31It was seven years' apprenticeship
0:07:31 > 0:07:34and then you'd have to work as a journeyman,
0:07:34 > 0:07:36and then you would essentially have to do an exam.
0:07:36 > 0:07:39And a lot of tailors specialised in particular garments,
0:07:39 > 0:07:43so they only made coats or they only made britches.
0:07:43 > 0:07:47So I do often think when we're doing these sorts of reconstructions
0:07:47 > 0:07:50that a period tailor would just find it absolutely laughable
0:07:50 > 0:07:52that we attempt to do so many different things.
0:07:54 > 0:07:58I probably wouldn't qualify in the period tailors' eyes.
0:07:58 > 0:08:02And I'm a woman. I mean, how ridiculous is that?
0:08:02 > 0:08:05No, tailors were all most definitely men.
0:08:06 > 0:08:10I'm leaving quite small gaps between the patterns
0:08:10 > 0:08:13because the seam allowance can actually be very small.
0:08:13 > 0:08:15The smaller amount of seam allowance you have,
0:08:15 > 0:08:19the less wasteful this process is going to be.
0:08:19 > 0:08:20And the happier the King will be.
0:08:32 > 0:08:37So these just get backstitched on with linen thread,
0:08:37 > 0:08:41and the matching silk thread is saved for things that matter,
0:08:41 > 0:08:45like buttonholes and sewing on trims, things that really show.
0:08:45 > 0:08:48It breaks quite easily as you sew it through the fabric -
0:08:48 > 0:08:51the friction of that action wears away at it quite quickly,
0:08:51 > 0:08:55so what you have to do, is run it through a block of wax
0:08:55 > 0:08:58and that smoothes down all the hairy fibres
0:08:58 > 0:09:01and enables the thread to slide through the fabric easier.
0:09:07 > 0:09:13So you can see it will have this strange extra seam on the side,
0:09:13 > 0:09:16which is odd to the modern eye, often,
0:09:16 > 0:09:18but when it's nicely pressed flat,
0:09:18 > 0:09:22it will disappear into the coat and be barely noticeable.
0:09:22 > 0:09:25And I think all these funny extra seams
0:09:25 > 0:09:28make it more interesting a garment, personally,
0:09:28 > 0:09:30because they are there on the original ones.
0:09:34 > 0:09:36Charles II had lived through civil war,
0:09:36 > 0:09:39exile and the abolition of the monarchy.
0:09:39 > 0:09:41More than any other English king,
0:09:41 > 0:09:43he understood the powerful political message
0:09:43 > 0:09:45a monarch's clothes conveyed,
0:09:45 > 0:09:47so most of the time chose to be painted
0:09:47 > 0:09:50in classical dress or armour.
0:09:50 > 0:09:52I'm keen to find out from historian Rebecca Rideal
0:09:52 > 0:09:57how Charles navigated the tightrope between re-establishing the monarchy
0:09:57 > 0:09:59and separating himself from the excesses
0:09:59 > 0:10:01that had contributed to its fall.
0:10:04 > 0:10:06So here we can see Charles II in a way
0:10:06 > 0:10:10that is much more typical of how he liked to be represented.
0:10:10 > 0:10:15How important was it that he sort of transmitted this very regal style?
0:10:15 > 0:10:18Well, he had a really difficult balancing act
0:10:18 > 0:10:20because, on the one hand,
0:10:20 > 0:10:23he had been invited back as a monarch,
0:10:23 > 0:10:27so he wanted to project this image of monarchy and kingship
0:10:27 > 0:10:28but then, on the other hand,
0:10:28 > 0:10:32he was very aware that his father, Charles I,
0:10:32 > 0:10:38had been executed for being too extravagant in his style and tastes
0:10:38 > 0:10:41and also being a little bit remote from the people
0:10:41 > 0:10:44and aloof in some respects.
0:10:44 > 0:10:48So how did Charles II try to distance himself
0:10:48 > 0:10:50and his image from his father?
0:10:50 > 0:10:53By not actually being that extravagant on a day-to-day basis.
0:10:53 > 0:10:58The clothes that he wore were pretty sensible, the colours weren't loud,
0:10:58 > 0:11:00and it was only when it came to the ceremonial occasions
0:11:00 > 0:11:04that he really upped the ante, as did the rest of the court,
0:11:04 > 0:11:06and this is where we get these fantastic accounts from Samuel Pepys
0:11:06 > 0:11:09about people being clad in silver, gold,
0:11:09 > 0:11:11him not being able to look at the court
0:11:11 > 0:11:13because it was hurting his eyes too much.
0:11:13 > 0:11:15The other thing to bear in mind as well
0:11:15 > 0:11:19was Charles II grew up, spent his teenage years in disguise,
0:11:19 > 0:11:21going from various city to city,
0:11:21 > 0:11:25across the continent, he mixed with all and sundry.
0:11:25 > 0:11:30He was more of a relatable man than his father anyway.
0:11:30 > 0:11:33So it's a real tightrope that he's walking, isn't it?
0:11:33 > 0:11:35Yes, it is, very much so.
0:11:41 > 0:11:44Charles had spent time at the French court
0:11:44 > 0:11:46while this man, Louis XIV
0:11:46 > 0:11:49was establishing it as the centre of fashion -
0:11:49 > 0:11:52an idea that still persists today.
0:11:52 > 0:11:56Charles envied Louis's wealth, his style and his absolute power,
0:11:56 > 0:11:59and Louis fully understood the relationship
0:11:59 > 0:12:03between political power and the spectacle of fashion.
0:12:03 > 0:12:05There's no doubt that Charles was influenced
0:12:05 > 0:12:08by his cousin's sartorial splendour.
0:12:08 > 0:12:09SHOUTING
0:12:09 > 0:12:12Despite his careful manipulation of his public image,
0:12:12 > 0:12:15Charles II's court, with its French tastes,
0:12:15 > 0:12:17was still considered profligate.
0:12:17 > 0:12:19The public's antipathy was intensified
0:12:19 > 0:12:25by three disastrous events - war, plague and in 1666, the Great Fire,
0:12:25 > 0:12:28an event which many blamed on the French.
0:12:28 > 0:12:33So on the 7th of October 1666, Charles issued a declaration
0:12:33 > 0:12:36that his court would reject French fashions
0:12:36 > 0:12:38and create an English style,
0:12:38 > 0:12:42and this was the long vest worn with the knee-length coats.
0:12:42 > 0:12:46This gave the male silhouette a much leaner appearance,
0:12:46 > 0:12:50a complete change from the more triangular doublet and hose.
0:12:50 > 0:12:53Now, because of this and his championing of the vest,
0:12:53 > 0:12:57Charles II is credited with creating the three-piece suit.
0:12:57 > 0:12:59What's unusual in fashion history
0:12:59 > 0:13:03is that we can place this innovation to its exact date,
0:13:03 > 0:13:05and it's all thanks to Samuel Pepys.
0:13:07 > 0:13:108th of October 1666,
0:13:10 > 0:13:12the King hath yesterday in council
0:13:12 > 0:13:15declared his resolution for setting a fashion for clothes.
0:13:15 > 0:13:17It will be a vest.
0:13:17 > 0:13:18I know not well how,
0:13:18 > 0:13:21but it is to teach the nobility thrift.
0:13:21 > 0:13:24Sadly for Charles, according to Pepys,
0:13:24 > 0:13:27Louis thought so little of his cousin's vests,
0:13:27 > 0:13:29that he dressed his servants in them.
0:13:30 > 0:13:3322nd of November 1666.
0:13:33 > 0:13:36Monsieur Batelier tells me the King of France hath,
0:13:36 > 0:13:38in defiance to the King of England,
0:13:38 > 0:13:41caused all his footmen to be put into vests,
0:13:41 > 0:13:44which, if true, is the greatest indignity
0:13:44 > 0:13:46ever done by one prince to another.
0:13:57 > 0:13:59So have there been any particular challenges so far?
0:13:59 > 0:14:01No. It's fairly straightforward.
0:14:01 > 0:14:03We're really doing the preparation now
0:14:03 > 0:14:05to actually begin the epic buttonholing.
0:14:05 > 0:14:09And so how many people would have worked on the original outfit?
0:14:09 > 0:14:11We've got the King's tailor.
0:14:11 > 0:14:14Yes. He would have had probably a journeyman tailor
0:14:14 > 0:14:17working with him as well, so the King's tailor is a master tailor.
0:14:17 > 0:14:20- Mm-hm.- He's the one that would have cut out all of the pattern pieces
0:14:20 > 0:14:23and decided where the pieces, the seams were going and all of that.
0:14:23 > 0:14:26He would have then handed it to his journeyman tailor,
0:14:26 > 0:14:28- so let's say that Harriet's the journeyman tailor for today.- Yeah.
0:14:28 > 0:14:31She's doing the actual putting the pieces together
0:14:31 > 0:14:33once they've been cut. And then we'd have an apprentice.
0:14:33 > 0:14:36That can be Hannah, over there.
0:14:36 > 0:14:38So Hannah's got to a stage in her apprenticeship
0:14:38 > 0:14:40where she's allowed to put some of the pieces together
0:14:40 > 0:14:42but we've given her the linings,
0:14:42 > 0:14:45- rather than the expensive top fabric.- Right.
0:14:45 > 0:14:47So would you like to try a working buttonhole?
0:14:47 > 0:14:50I would. I would like to try very much.
0:14:50 > 0:14:53Great. What you need to do is use this buttonhole cutter.
0:14:53 > 0:14:55Oh, wow! Yeah. OK.
0:14:55 > 0:14:58So you hold that on there, kind of upright like this.
0:14:58 > 0:15:01So I'll just show you that. So following the line like that,
0:15:01 > 0:15:04and then you're just going to tap it smartly with the hammer...
0:15:04 > 0:15:06- Wow!- ..to make the cut.
0:15:06 > 0:15:09This is a lot more tool-heavy than I was expecting.
0:15:09 > 0:15:11OK.
0:15:11 > 0:15:14- Oh!- That's it.
0:15:14 > 0:15:16There we go.
0:15:16 > 0:15:18- Perfect, lovely.- That's done it.
0:15:18 > 0:15:22So then, you take your needle and thread,
0:15:22 > 0:15:24so we're going to put the needle through the slits,
0:15:24 > 0:15:25so take it all the way through
0:15:25 > 0:15:28- so the knot's going to go through to the back.- Yeah.
0:15:28 > 0:15:30And then we're going to go back in
0:15:30 > 0:15:32and we're going to come up just beside
0:15:32 > 0:15:34where that thread was coming out.
0:15:34 > 0:15:36Right, yeah.
0:15:36 > 0:15:38That's it, and before you take the needle all the way through,
0:15:38 > 0:15:41you're going to loop your thread around the end of your needle,
0:15:41 > 0:15:44and this is what makes the buttonhole stitch.
0:15:44 > 0:15:45And pull it back towards yourself
0:15:45 > 0:15:48so you don't get too much of a tangle and what should happen...
0:15:48 > 0:15:49- Oh!- Pull it back towards...
0:15:49 > 0:15:51- Oh, yeah.- ..the edge of the hole, that's it.
0:15:51 > 0:15:54And that's made your first little buttonhole knot.
0:15:54 > 0:15:55- Great.- And you keep going
0:15:55 > 0:15:58until you get all the way to the end of the slit.
0:15:58 > 0:15:59AMBER PUFFS
0:15:59 > 0:16:01THEY LAUGH
0:16:01 > 0:16:03OK! I feel like it's going to take me
0:16:03 > 0:16:05a lot longer than five minutes.
0:16:05 > 0:16:08Well, it will, yes. This is, um...
0:16:08 > 0:16:10This is why tailors had apprenticeships of seven years,
0:16:10 > 0:16:12because there's so many things like that
0:16:12 > 0:16:15that you've really got to perfect the art of before you'd be allowed
0:16:15 > 0:16:17to get anywhere near the King's coat.
0:16:17 > 0:16:19What's incredible is that we're looking
0:16:19 > 0:16:24at these tiny details, of which there are hundreds on this garment,
0:16:24 > 0:16:28and, I mean, the amount of work and time that goes into
0:16:28 > 0:16:31just these tiny details is immense, isn't it?
0:16:31 > 0:16:33All that's involved is mere hours of labour.
0:16:33 > 0:16:36"Mere hours of labour"! And so you're telling me that this -
0:16:36 > 0:16:39that I'm, you know, I'm killing myself over here -
0:16:39 > 0:16:41is unskilled labour?
0:16:41 > 0:16:43Essentially, it is, really.
0:16:43 > 0:16:44It's not worth an awful lot.
0:16:44 > 0:16:45That's a shame.
0:16:47 > 0:16:52So I think I'm really coming up to the end of this buttonhole.
0:16:52 > 0:16:53I've just been finishing the...
0:16:53 > 0:16:57- Oh, the little bar across the end. - The last edge, yeah.
0:16:57 > 0:17:00If you lay it down on the surface, then we can snip it off.
0:17:02 > 0:17:05- So let's have a look.- OK.
0:17:05 > 0:17:08- Er, I think I might have accidentally...- Ah.
0:17:08 > 0:17:11Yeah, I'm not sure your button's going to go through there.
0:17:11 > 0:17:13Shall I see? Shall I have a go?
0:17:13 > 0:17:14OK, OK, let's see.
0:17:14 > 0:17:17Ooh, ooh, is it going to go?
0:17:17 > 0:17:19- THEY LAUGH Just about!- It's fine, it's fine.
0:17:19 > 0:17:21Just about.
0:17:21 > 0:17:25It's not complicated but it is very fiddly.
0:17:25 > 0:17:28- You have to be very dextrous, don't you?- You do.
0:17:28 > 0:17:30And there's still an awful lot of hours' work,
0:17:30 > 0:17:33even in an apparently very simple suit.
0:17:33 > 0:17:34Yeah, hours and hours.
0:17:34 > 0:17:36I mean, who'd have thought that a suit fit for a king
0:17:36 > 0:17:38would take so much work.
0:17:38 > 0:17:41I guess it's kind of obvious when you think about it, yeah.
0:17:46 > 0:17:49Charles II's wardrobe accounts are held at the National Archives,
0:17:49 > 0:17:51and provide a fascinating insight
0:17:51 > 0:17:53into his carefully constructed image.
0:18:01 > 0:18:05Looking at the actual accounts of Charles II's wardrobe
0:18:05 > 0:18:07is quite a strange feeling, really.
0:18:07 > 0:18:10It's really exciting seeing all of this stuff, how...
0:18:10 > 0:18:12You know, the detail... That it's been documented.
0:18:12 > 0:18:14This was clearly something quite important
0:18:14 > 0:18:16that money was being spent on
0:18:16 > 0:18:20and actually seeing it here in this sort of glorious handwriting
0:18:20 > 0:18:23is really amazing. It feels quite special.
0:18:27 > 0:18:31So some of the first orders that we can see in the account book,
0:18:31 > 0:18:37unsurprisingly, are for his coronation robes of purple velvet,
0:18:37 > 0:18:43lined with powdered ermine and laced with embroidered gold lace,
0:18:43 > 0:18:46and is really about creating a spectacle of power.
0:18:46 > 0:18:48This is what a king looks like.
0:18:48 > 0:18:51These accounts show that Charles loved clothes,
0:18:51 > 0:18:56ordering on average between 30 and 40 new suits a year.
0:18:56 > 0:18:58However, while his cousin, Louis XIV,
0:18:58 > 0:19:02might have been able to parade around in diamond-covered clothes,
0:19:02 > 0:19:04Charles knew he had neither the money
0:19:04 > 0:19:07nor the political clout for power dressing.
0:19:07 > 0:19:09We see a lot of plain cuts,
0:19:09 > 0:19:12a lot of muted colours as well,
0:19:12 > 0:19:15especially grey and also this one I particularly like,
0:19:15 > 0:19:18which is references to "sad colour".
0:19:23 > 0:19:29So the vest first makes its appearance in the accounts in 1666,
0:19:29 > 0:19:32and we see it numerous times here.
0:19:32 > 0:19:36"For making His Majesty a purple cloth coat, hose, and vest."
0:19:36 > 0:19:41We see "vest" really starting to feature throughout.
0:19:41 > 0:19:45However, while Charles was really proclaiming this
0:19:45 > 0:19:51as an English style, what he didn't mention so much at court
0:19:51 > 0:19:53was that this was actually an order
0:19:53 > 0:19:57to his French tailor, Claude Sourceau.
0:19:57 > 0:20:01So Claude Sourceau is quite an important character here.
0:20:01 > 0:20:04He was Charles's tailor when Charles was in exile.
0:20:04 > 0:20:08Charles brought him back to England when the monarchy was reinstated,
0:20:08 > 0:20:12and he remained his tailor for the next ten years.
0:20:12 > 0:20:14So this really shows that,
0:20:14 > 0:20:20although Charles was very keen on promoting English fashions,
0:20:20 > 0:20:25he couldn't fully escape the influence of French style.
0:20:25 > 0:20:27For me, the most telling and poignant entry
0:20:27 > 0:20:30of the wardrobe accounts is the very first.
0:20:30 > 0:20:32What's interesting about this is,
0:20:32 > 0:20:35despite these accounts beginning in 1660,
0:20:35 > 0:20:38the year of Charles's restoration to the throne,
0:20:38 > 0:20:42they're stated as being in the 13th and 14th year of his reign.
0:20:43 > 0:20:47So what we're seeing here is the reign of Charles II
0:20:47 > 0:20:53being dated right back to the time when his father was executed.
0:20:53 > 0:20:55So all of those intervening years
0:20:55 > 0:20:58have just been written out of this history.
0:21:02 > 0:21:06Despite only being at the start of their sartorial journey,
0:21:06 > 0:21:10it's easy to recognise the vest and coat introduced by Charles II
0:21:10 > 0:21:13as the forerunners of today's waistcoat and jacket.
0:21:15 > 0:21:18The britches, however, are another matter.
0:21:20 > 0:21:21These are his britches.
0:21:21 > 0:21:23They have a waistband.
0:21:23 > 0:21:25It's going to have a button at the front.
0:21:25 > 0:21:28And, at the back, there's a little gap.
0:21:28 > 0:21:30So on the waistband there'll be some eyelets.
0:21:30 > 0:21:33So he can sort of put some weight on,
0:21:33 > 0:21:35and let the back out a bit for a bit of ease.
0:21:35 > 0:21:37But he can't get smaller.
0:21:37 > 0:21:41At the moment, I'm putting in some gathering cord,
0:21:41 > 0:21:43so that we can draw them up into the waistband.
0:21:43 > 0:21:45If I pull this one...
0:21:46 > 0:21:51This form of gathering is now called cartridge pleating.
0:21:51 > 0:21:56It forms the sort of folds that you can imagine on a cartridge belt.
0:21:56 > 0:22:00It's just like where you put the cartridges in.
0:22:00 > 0:22:02But these aren't going to fit high on the waist -
0:22:02 > 0:22:04they're going to be quite low-slung.
0:22:04 > 0:22:05If you look at the painting,
0:22:05 > 0:22:09there's a whole abundance of shirt hanging out over the top.
0:22:09 > 0:22:12He really does give the impression of someone who...
0:22:12 > 0:22:15You know, he's got his coat open, he's got the shirt out,
0:22:15 > 0:22:17and the britches are sort of hanging low.
0:22:17 > 0:22:19It's really, very, very like he's undressing.
0:22:21 > 0:22:24Yeah, a very sort of sensual look,
0:22:24 > 0:22:29compared to the slightly more buttoned-up clothes of other eras.
0:22:29 > 0:22:33They might look a little bit short compared to trousers these days.
0:22:33 > 0:22:35And obviously quite vulnerably loose.
0:22:35 > 0:22:38But he would have had a pair of drawers underneath.
0:22:38 > 0:22:39Linen drawers.
0:22:39 > 0:22:42And they were drawn in round the leg more snugly.
0:22:42 > 0:22:44So there wouldn't have been anything, er...
0:22:45 > 0:22:48..inadvertent being displayed.
0:22:48 > 0:22:52I think that side of things was kept for private matters.
0:22:53 > 0:22:55Although, he obviously had quite a lot of those!
0:22:55 > 0:22:56THEY LAUGH
0:22:56 > 0:22:59He was a bit free with his private matters.
0:22:59 > 0:23:02I've either miscounted or done one extra so...
0:23:02 > 0:23:04- Ah, well, then that's a spare. - There we go.
0:23:04 > 0:23:09So is it worth pinning on, say, 16, all just on one front?
0:23:09 > 0:23:10Yeah.
0:23:13 > 0:23:15Oh, they look really nice.
0:23:15 > 0:23:17- Already.- Mm, they do.
0:23:24 > 0:23:27- Aww.- Look at that.
0:23:28 > 0:23:32- That is gorgeous.- You can imagine him frolicking around.- Yeah.
0:23:34 > 0:23:37- They are merry britches, aren't they?- Yeah.
0:23:37 > 0:23:40You see, that's the joy of it, even though there are original garments
0:23:40 > 0:23:42that we can look at, when you make something
0:23:42 > 0:23:46and it's got its freshness about it, it's really exciting.
0:23:46 > 0:23:48And it is slightly different.
0:23:48 > 0:23:50Put the bounce back in the King.
0:23:55 > 0:23:57I initially chose this suit
0:23:57 > 0:24:00because I was fascinated by its simplicity.
0:24:00 > 0:24:03But, as I've learned was often the case with Charles II,
0:24:03 > 0:24:07there's much more to it than meets the eye.
0:24:07 > 0:24:10Worn on the body, clothes change from lifeless fabric
0:24:10 > 0:24:13into a potent means of communication.
0:24:13 > 0:24:15I cannot wait to find out what I can learn
0:24:15 > 0:24:18from taking a walk in the King's new clothes.
0:24:38 > 0:24:40Oh, look at that.
0:24:41 > 0:24:43That is amazing.
0:24:43 > 0:24:45That is so good.
0:24:45 > 0:24:48You've got this real sort of elegance in the arms.
0:24:48 > 0:24:52And then these gorgeous cuffs here.
0:24:52 > 0:24:56And then these just sit so low down.
0:24:56 > 0:24:58It seems really unnatural. So you've got...
0:24:58 > 0:25:01Obviously, I knew you had all of this volume here,
0:25:01 > 0:25:05but it's just kind of the contrast between the two,
0:25:05 > 0:25:07it's quite an odd feeling.
0:25:07 > 0:25:11We don't sort of associate this with a men's silhouette,
0:25:11 > 0:25:13especially with a king's silhouette.
0:25:13 > 0:25:16But it just feels...
0:25:16 > 0:25:18And we expect men to be more...
0:25:19 > 0:25:22- ..built up around the shoulders... - Exactly.- ..than they were then.
0:25:22 > 0:25:24And today the whole point of tailoring, you know,
0:25:24 > 0:25:28Savile Row style tailoring, is to create that broad,
0:25:28 > 0:25:33sort of triangular torso that we associate with very manly men
0:25:33 > 0:25:36and the epitome of the classical masculine ideal.
0:25:36 > 0:25:39- And you'd never want to emphasise your hip area.- No, no.
0:25:39 > 0:25:42It's all about narrow hips.
0:25:42 > 0:25:44You seem quite comfortable there.
0:25:44 > 0:25:47Yeah, I think I would have been very comfortable then.
0:25:47 > 0:25:51I think I'd be comfortable wearing this today.
0:25:51 > 0:25:52I love it.
0:25:52 > 0:25:55You could quite happily kind of lounge about in it.
0:25:55 > 0:25:58- And I guess that's kind of the point.- That's brilliant.
0:25:58 > 0:26:00It's the posing. It's...
0:26:00 > 0:26:02You can stand still in that and look amazing,
0:26:02 > 0:26:05as long as you just open up and have a bit of lining on show.
0:26:05 > 0:26:08But that's the effect that it has on you.
0:26:08 > 0:26:11Like, feeling these different proportions, feeling the fabrics,
0:26:11 > 0:26:12feeling the clothes on you,
0:26:12 > 0:26:15actually makes you stand
0:26:15 > 0:26:20like we're used to seeing people stand from that time.
0:26:21 > 0:26:23It's a very exciting feeling.
0:26:23 > 0:26:26Clothes want to be worn a certain way, don't they?
0:26:26 > 0:26:27Yeah, exactly.
0:26:27 > 0:26:29And the effect that they have on the stance
0:26:29 > 0:26:33and the way that we move, it's kind of living history.
0:26:33 > 0:26:35I'm particularly enjoying seeing the flash
0:26:35 > 0:26:38of the little rows of button when you turn around,
0:26:38 > 0:26:41- cos they're just so sweet, aren't they?- Yes.
0:26:41 > 0:26:44And, Hannah, all of those ribbons just look great, don't they?
0:26:44 > 0:26:49I know, it is so bizarre to have seen them in a massive black pile,
0:26:49 > 0:26:51and then to all of a sudden see them flowing.
0:26:51 > 0:26:54You can imagine just all the movement in there.
0:26:54 > 0:26:58- It's amazing. - I think it's less silly.
0:26:58 > 0:27:00Cos those britches on their own -
0:27:00 > 0:27:03- they're a very silly garment, aren't they?- Yes.
0:27:03 > 0:27:05But with the outfit they make sense.
0:27:05 > 0:27:07- Yes, they do.- On the body.
0:27:07 > 0:27:10- It's really nice. - It makes me feel very elegant.
0:27:10 > 0:27:13- Well, you look very elegant. - Very graceful.- Mm.- Mm.
0:27:21 > 0:27:24Seeing the outfit of Charles II made up
0:27:24 > 0:27:26kind of blew my mind.
0:27:26 > 0:27:30When we went to see the portrait, it's in a very dark room
0:27:30 > 0:27:34and it can't be lit too harshly because everything's very old.
0:27:34 > 0:27:37It's also been above a fireplace for a long time,
0:27:37 > 0:27:39so it looks very dark.
0:27:39 > 0:27:42And it's difficult to see the detail.
0:27:42 > 0:27:47So I was initially just bowled over by really how bright it is -
0:27:47 > 0:27:48it just looks exquisite.
0:27:48 > 0:27:52And also how you can really see the different details.
0:27:52 > 0:27:54You can really see the silk bows.
0:27:54 > 0:27:56You can really see the lining.
0:27:56 > 0:27:58It just looks incredibly elegant.
0:27:59 > 0:28:03We're moving towards the point today in men's fashion
0:28:03 > 0:28:06where gender binaries are really being broken down.
0:28:06 > 0:28:11So we actually see some contemporary designers designing outfits
0:28:11 > 0:28:13not a million miles away from this,
0:28:13 > 0:28:17or certainly taking on these ideas around decoration,
0:28:17 > 0:28:20around frippery, I guess.
0:28:20 > 0:28:22So it's almost like we've come full circle,
0:28:22 > 0:28:26right back to Charles II in Restoration England.