Places- Castles

Growing up, history was my favorite subject.  I loved how it was all one big true story full of heroes and villains who had once lived in the same world we do now. This is why every time I am in Europe or even the East Coast, I am amazed by all the history that exists everywhere. It’s in the buildings, the narrow roads and in a way ingrained in the people. Living in California, we don’t have as much history. Our buildings are pretty modern, our roads are wide and everything is pretty young in comparison.

   

The other day I was reminded of one of my favorite things about history, Castles! Now what do castles have to do with fashion?  Well on the surface one would think nothing ,but on a certain level can they be connected?

After all, in these castles lived real life Kings and Queens, the people of the Royal Court, Knights, the Queen’s ladies, oh and of course the King’s mistresses'.....

It was also these Kings and Queens who threw the biggest parties, grand balls and soirees.  It was usually the main event and THE biggest reason to dress up in elegant clothes. Depending on the era, there were big ball gowns and corsets, brocade fabrics and crazy wigs.  Fashion definitely existed and back then it was the people of the court, who set the tone for the trend of the time.

Interesting fact:  Both women and MEN wore corsets. According to Wikipedia “there was a period from around 1820 to 1835 when a wasp-waisted figure (a small, nipped-in look to the waist) was also desirable for men; this was sometimes achieved by wearing a corset.”

Note: As fun as it is to think about I personally don’t really think my love of history and fashion are related, but fashion certainly does make history a lot more fun!

Schloss Neuschwanstein (Bavaria) may look familiar because it is the inspiration for Walt Disney's Magical Kingdom. (Read more about the castle and find image here.)