@ask-charls / ask-charls.tumblr.com
not going to lie i have no clue what a 16th century french merchant would wear i just wanted to draw pantaloons and a huge hat on laurent
An excellent depiction of his majesty! Sounds like you need to come visit me - I am always happy to aid those seeking to be better dressed.
Your servant, Charls
Captive Prince + primary sources - The Blue Dress
“…blue and ornate, it spilled out over his hands. The dress was familiar. Damen had last seen it open and trailing laces, worn by a blonde; he’d felt that embroidered ornamentation under his hands; she’d been halfway in his lap…”
//Mod Mem here! These paintings are all from the middle of the 17th century. I’ve given y'all some options here - If I were to hazard a guess, I would say that the blue dress was in more of a wrapping gown style (the first two), since it had to pass as both a Veretian dress and an Akielon one. The third and the fifth have some classical styling so that would work too. The fourth is embroidered and the sixth has some embroidered details, like Damen mentions.
//Hi there! Mod Mem here. I wanted to give you guys some more historical context that might be helpful for your research, and try to answer a few questions that I’ve been pondering for a while that I would bet some of you are pondering as well. The first has to do with the setting of Captive Prince.
This is the map from the beginning of the CP books. It’s a fantasy world, but there are clear references to real places, time periods, and (if you squint hard enough) historical figures - some of which are clearer than others. It’s pretty clear that Vere’s culture is based on that of France (though there is some discrepancy on time period, which I will address in another post), and Akielos’ based on Ancient Greece. But beyond that it gets a bit fuzzy - for example, Patran culture seems to have elements of similarity with both Akielos and Vere. And what’s going on with Vask? And where is Kempt, where Queen Hennike is supposed to be from? I wanted to try to answer some of these questions by comparing the CP map to some real maps!
Charls, what fabric would be best for embroidering for Royal Wedding Garments?
Now that, of course, depends upon which garment! If your client is Veretian, there are certainly plenty of options from which to choose. One might begin with a shirt of fine linen embroidered with silk thread:
This popular style of embroidery is called blackwork, but it doesn’t have to be black; I happen to know His Majesty favors blue…
For outer garments, silk of different sorts is best, be it brocade or velvet or whatever pleases you, embroidered with silk or gilt thread. One must use their best judgement, for some fabrics are elegant enough unadorned that ornamenting them overmuch may bring them into the realm of the gaudy and vulgar; but when appropriate, embroidery can enhance the beauty of any garment.
And for the discerning Veretian customer who wants a little something extra, you can also embroider garters, and even stockings!
If your client is Akielon, there are not as many choices for placing embroidery, but despair not! While Akielons certainly do value simplicity and quality in their textiles, they do enjoy tasteful and harmonious decoration as well, particularly for a most formal occasion. A chiton of fair linen or the lightest wool would be greatly improved by a silk embroidered border - or several!
I hope this is helpful to you, and wish you the best in all of your embroidering endeavors!
Your servant,
Charls
//Mod Mem: You may have noticed this graphic on Charls’ intro post - it may look fairly straightforward but it’s actually really nerdy, and I’m going to unpack it a bit so you all can enjoy how nerdy it is too :)
This is an example of a TRADE CARD - basically a historical business card. They were used by tradespeople as advertising, and while they can vary widely in style they usually have a few consistent elements: the tradesperson’s name, their shop’s location, and often a list of the things they sell. I based Charls’ on these two historical examples (from the collections of the British Museum):
A Mercer is (you guessed it) a type of textile merchant, usually dealing in fancy stuff like silks. Other types include linen drapers, who deal in linen, and cloth merchants or clothiers, who sell wool (wool is so common in Europe historically that generic words like ‘cloth’ and 'stuff’ refer to wool). Most of the fabrics Charls talks about selling are silks, so I gave him the fancier title. I also decided that Laurent has given Charls an official commission, hence ‘By Royal Appointment’.
The shops’ locations are listed by sign and by street. I left street off of Charls’ since we don't know anything about the street layout of Marlas, though I did think it fitting for him to have his shop in the new central capital city. Trade signs are literal signs that hang outside shops, and they can be ANYTHING - from the Queen’s Head and Turk’s Head above to stuff like the Boot and Breeches or the Half Moon and Seven Stars, really anything you can think of. I picked the King’s Banner for Charls mostly because at this point he is basically Laurent’s #1 most loyal citizen. This is one of my favourite real trade signs that still exists:
For the list of goods, I went through TAOC and all of Charls’ scenes in Prince’s Gambit and Kings Rising and found all of the names of textiles Charls was selling, and substituted them into the lists on the real trade cards. What worked out well for me was that CS described a lot of the textiles by the places where they come from in Captive Prince world, which as you can see matches up pretty well with the real trade cards!
So there you have it, a little bit of unsolicited historical context for Charls’ world. I hope you’ve enjoyed it! Keep on sending me asks! Thanks!
Captive Prince + primary sources - Laurent’s coronation outfit
“King Laurent was dressed in gold, his head crowned in gold, his clothes of ivory silk and gold, a young king resplendent, so bright that the eyes overbrimmed just to look at him…”
So, did you ever figure out why Lamen was wearing the king's clothes? ;) If so, what was your reaction?
Would that I could tell you that I kept my composure. But when you realize that a man who has shifted bolts of cloth in your wagons, attended you at table, and to whom you offered a job as an ASSISTANT cloth merchant is, in truth, the KING OF AKIELOS! To say that my life flashed before my eyes is an understatement. As I stood agape, his majesty Laurent gently repeated himself to me - “Charls,” he said again, “This is Damianos of Akielos.” After a long moment, as the fullest gravity of the situation finally settled over me, I remembered what Damianos of Akielos in the guise of a common man said to me of my king - “I would work my whole life to be worthy of him”; and I recalled the strength and the love I had seen between the two of them; and I fell to my knees and openly wept.
And Damianos of Akielos, he raised me up again, and he laughed - not cruelly, but mirthful and merry, like a friend letting you in on a great jest - and clapped me on the back, and someone brought me a cup of Griva, and the festivities continued just as they had before. Damianos was just as warm and friendly as I remembered Lamen to be, and was kind enough to let my embarrassment go unremarked upon, though I could not help but run through every interaction between the two that I’d ever witnessed - the tavern at Nesson, the inn at Mellos - and wondered at what might have happened if anything had gone wrong.
It was not my finest hour! I do not think many have been brought so low before their sovereigns and their reputations have lived to tell the tale. But in their infinite kindness and wisdom, their Majesties have seen fit to forgive me my misunderstanding and keep this humble cloth merchant in their good graces after all.
Your servant,
Charls
// Mod Mem: This is Hades depicted on a 4th century krater - it’s about as close as I can find to how I picture Damianos all kinged up. The Ancient Greek pottery rabbit hole is really fun!
Alexon, son of Kyros Heiron
‘I have always thought that!” said Charls
THROWING SO MUCH SHADE AT NIKANDROS IM SO DONE
(via sarabelium)
Wool is very important!
Your friendly neighborhood fashion historian here! Some information for all you amazing fanartists out there: most adult clothing closes at the front or at the side. Historically, clothes that close down the back were almost always worn by children (so they couldn’t get them off by themselves). I can tell you from personal experience that dressing someone in a close-fitted garment that fastens up the front is much more intimate!
So instead of Damen lacing Laurent’s clothes closed up the back, may I humbly suggest:
// Mod Mem: Captive Prince fashion history from my main blog!
Hello Charls, can you perhaps provide some pictures of a wide brimmed hat as the one Laurent was wearing at the beginning of the TAOC?
Ah yes, of course! Who better to look to as the paragon of fashion than His Majesty? Here are diverse and sundry hats in a similar style:
// Mod Mem here ~ for research purposes, they’re called Cavalier hats!
Captive Prince + primary sources: Veretians
Descriptions of Vere invoke luxury and decadence, and one of the most luxurious and decadent periods in the real history of France was the reign of Louis XIV (1638-1715), known as the “Sun King”. Louis ascended the throne at the age of four upon the death of his father Louis XIII, who decreed that until his son was of age a regency council would rule on his behalf. His mother, Anne of Austria, annulled her husband’s will and made herself sole regent of France. In March 1661, at the age of 22, Louis took control of the government and shocked everyone by declaring he would rule on his own without a chief minister (Sound kind of familiar?). Art and culture flourished during Louis’ reign - he was a patron of the arts, and was notably a strong dancer who participated frequently in court ballets.
(I’ve been putting this together for a while but what better time to post it than Captive Prince Week? I am like 7000% that Laurent is supposed to be at least in part based on Louis XIV and I am a fashion historian so enjoy some real 17th century portraits for historical inspiration!)
// Mod Mem: Captive Prince fashion history from my main blog!
We just got so much Charls in the short story! What'd you think of the fabric/fashion mentioned? Anything stand out about Pacat's vision for Akelon-Veretian merging fashion?
You do me great honor, my friend - who am I, a humble cloth merchant, to speak on such lofty matters as the merging of kingdoms? Their Majesties Laurent of Vere and Damianos of Akielos, in their divine wisdom, have seen fit to forge a great alliance between their two great nations. And I, from the time they spent in my caravan, have seen with my own two eyes the stuff upon which this alliance is built: love and compassion, exposing corruption and ending suffering, and finding sympathy in our similarities and strength in our differences.
That is not to say, of course, that there is no place for fashion in this great shift; quite the opposite, in fact! Clothing is no trivial matter. Many people are resistant to change - if a man has strong feelings about changing the shape of his cuffs or the direction of his buttonholes, how must he feel about the great upheaval of nations? In these times of great change, humble cloth merchants like myself become something like diplomats - strengthening new trade routes, connecting the silk weavers of Varenne to the embroiderers of Isthima, the sheep farmers of Aegina to the tailors of Marlas. What better way to show support for the alliance than for an ordinary Akielon to buy Veretian cloth? Or a Veretian to pin a short cloak to his shoulder a la Achelos? The King of Vere has set the example, having already had his portrait made in the fashion of an Akielon warrior!
Clothing plays a large part in our everyday lives, both in its function of covering and protecting the body, but also in its form, as a manner of self-expression. The more we can integrate the fashions and textiles of our brother nation into our everyday lives, the more we can think of the people of our brother nation as our brothers. And if it happens to mean that Akielon-style short cloaks sell very well? Then all the better, for the likes of us humble cloth merchants.
Your servant,
Charls
// Mod Mem here! Charls sure is bombastic, isn’t he? He just has a lot of feelings about the alliance. Anyway, just a quick thing I wanted to add OOC: some of the fashions and textiles that are mentioned in TAOC and other parts of the series don’t exactly match up to the clothes of the regions and periods that the places in the series sort of correspond to; for example, most real Ancient Greek clothes were made of wool, but CS refers to chitons made from linen and cotton, textiles that were more common in other ancient civilizations but not Greece, or Charls wears buckled shoes, which aren’t really a thing until the 18th century, which I think is too late to work for Vere. That being said, Captive Prince is a fantasy series, not a historical one, and the settings aren’t meant to correspond exactly to real ones, so I’m going to try not to ‘correct’ stuff from the books, just provide my interpretations of them!
Portrait: Louis XIV as Jupiter Conquering the Fronde by Charles Pierson, c. 1647
My Lords, Ladies, and Gentlemen, Welcome! I am Charls, the renowned Veretian cloth merchant. You do me great honor by patronizing my humble establishment, be it due to my recent notoriety in my association with their Majesties, Laurent of Vere and Damianos of Akielos, or of course my long established good taste and extensive selection! Whether for the discerning eye in search of the perfect Varennes silk for an impeccably tailored Veretian suit or the bold tastemaker acquiring the crisp Isthima linen for a daring chiton in the Akielon style, I am pleased to offer my distinguished clientele a wide array of textiles of the finest quality (at the fairest prices, of course!). And for those who have yet to make up their minds, I humbly offer any advice and expertise my years and experience can provide. I am committed to bringing you, fair visitor, the most exclusive and up-to-date information on the latest fashions - guaranteed to turn heads from Arles to Ios. Your humble and obedient servant, Charls, the Renowned Veretian Cloth Merchant ********** // Hi there! Welcome to my Charls ask blog! I’m glad you’re here :) I’m Mem, your friendly neighborhood fashion historian. My intention is for this blog to be a blend of fun, in-character shenanigans and historical clothing reference for the Captive Prince fandom. Fashion history is a surprisingly small field and research isn’t always easy, and I want to be a resource to you all! Feel free to ask me for either (or both) - I am happy to RP, and I will always do my very best to cite my sources for historical information. So ask me anything!
