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Celebrity

06th Aug 2019

You can now take a college course on the style and fashion of the royal family

Olivia Hayes

Yes, really.

Is royal style your cup of tea?

While the clothing of the royals might not be to everyone’s taste, you have to admit that a lot of work is put into the way they look and how they are conveyed to the world.

Absolutely everything they put on their bodies are scrutinised – whether they wear a pair of tights, what nail polish colour they have on and even if an off-the-shoulder dress is too vulgar.

It’s insane – and now there’s an entire college course surrounding it.

The University of Glasgow has launched a five-week online course which will look into royal style throughout history. It will also focus on how it has changed across the five dynasties of the royal family, from the Tudors to the Stuarts and Georgians and the Windsors.

You will find out how what they wear conveys power, and look into the like of Princess Diana, Kate Middleton and Meghan Markle.

The course is free if you want to take it, and will be available online for seven weeks.

Dress and textile histories lecturer, Sally Tuckett, told the Daily Mail: “It can also be decorative, and frivolous, and anything in between. And by studying their clothes, we can learn a lot about the monarchs of the past and about their subjects.

“This free online course is going to take you behind the scenes of the royal wardrobes of the kings and queens of Britain. Historic royal fashion could be practical and functional.”

During the five week course, you will cover:

  • Week 1 – Step into the square shoes of the Tudors and see how their lavish clothes were designed to project power, wealth and control
  • Week 2 – The Stuarts are centre stage to showcase how they dressed for leisure and influenced new trends through performance in an increasing time of conflict
  • Week 3 – Explore the glamorous Georgians, their century of economic and social change, extreme fashions and an era marked by very public and very private monarchs
  • Week 4 – Move into the reign of Queen Victoria, her own changing wardrobe and how technological advancements took fashion forwards
  • Week 5 – Welcome to the 20th century where the Windsors balance royal fashion with diplomacy and expectations in an era of mass media and celebrity

For more information, check it out here.