Visiting the Royal Armoury Museum Stockholm, Shocking Historical Costume!

[@dorkflassbury1164]

Just seeing all these clothes and realizing they were all done by hand. No machines just pure craftmanship. It's just mind boggling and fills you with awe.

[@blueladycouture]

Mind blowing!

[@sharonkaczorowski8690]

The hundreds of thousands, if not millions, of hours of hand work in this museum is just astonishing.

[@blueladycouture]

Mind blowing isn't it when you think every single stitch was done by hand, every inch of woven fabric...

[@erikr968]

A fascinating and makabre part of the Royal Armoury collection is the outfits of no less than three Swedish kings who met violent deaths, complete with holes and bloodstains from various wounds. For Gustavus Adolphus, they even have the horse he was riding when he fell in fierce close combat at the battle of Lützen.

[@blueladycouture]

Yes, it really was quite something!

[@Lasanga95]

The name of the horse is streiff

[@Hadvtngj]

We joke that’s it’s a choice to remind ourselves and the royalty that they bleed red.😂 But I imagine they told the washers to wash them and theme asking “do you want to wear it?”. And when told no they just hanged them in a closet in one of the hundreds of rooms in the castle going “No one’s going to miss it before I age out anyway, and I’m not working out bloodstains for nothing.” 😂

[@kopia77]

Also a museum that gets a lots of praise for their social media. Very funny, very informative!

[@freakyalien5449]

Yes! Their social media crew are the best! 👏😄

[@blueladycouture]

It alaways helps to have a good social media team these days.

[@Hattagospel]

I am Swedish and EVERY time I go to Stockholm, this museum is a must for me. I just love it.

[@blueladycouture]

It's just stunning!

[@PamelaTurnbull-s2k]

As a former costume student, had to keep pausing video; I was having palpitations!!! Thank you so much. Have subscribed.

[@blueladycouture]

Thank you!

[@donquixote1502]

It's a fantastic museum and it gets thousands times better when you know a little about our Kings, Queens and their children.

[@blueladycouture]

Yes, I'm sure it does. From the little I read it seems they had some fascinating lives.

[@jakobekdahl3093]

Jupp. Som till exempel att teaterkungen tog makten genom en statskupp. Fun times.

[@elf5012]

This was fascinating, I cannot wrap my mind around the spectacular workmanship (workwomanship) involved. The fabrics, the threads, the embellishments are all stunning. Thanks for taking us along.

[@blueladycouture]

Glad you enjoyed it!

[@YvonneOldfield]

Oh for goodness sake (workwomanship) so very 'woke' 😅😅

[@glue_harbour_hobby]

@YvonneOldfield it's just ignorance or lack of education basically, they don't know where the word 'man' historically comes from and that it doesn't necessarily mean 'male' all the time.

[@danvernier198]

As a footnote Kristina wasn't his wife, she was a ruling queen who never married and pre dates him by more than a century.

[@blueladycouture]

Thanks! It was hard for me to follow exactly who was who and the costumes were so distracting!

[@donquixote1502]

@@blueladycouture Of course, it's not easy but your genuine interest was nice to see.

[@blueladycouture]

Thank you for your understanding.

[@bengtliljeros4352]

As a fun fact she was also crowned as KING not queen so no person marrying her could outrank her.

[@gabriellerichardson4477]

What civilised interactions between you guys 🎉 refreshing change from many comment sections 🇬🇧🥳🌸

[@Anna-Gunilla1792]

I live in Stockholm and this is one of my top favourite museums that I keep revisiting!

[@blueladycouture]

My friend who's from Sweden said the same. Incredible collection, beautifully displayed.

[@Benderswe1]

@@blueladycouture Maybe the Vasa museum next? 8-)

[@blueladycouture]

​@Benderswe1 I am putting together a Vasa mini vlog- we filmed a little bit, but didnt intend to put it on the channel as it wasn't a costume focused museum.

[@Benderswe1]

@@blueladycouture ah kk yea iknow but i think they have some clothes found on the ship (not mutch i know) but it could be interesting 8-)

[@silviavianna2323]

One of the most instructive videos, with visual quality and careful selection of impressive details ever watched on this platform. After months of intense research on 17th and 18th century customs... Wow! I can only be very grateful to you!! Now, I need to go to Stockholm to intensify my studies. CONGRATS A MILLION! Could you please refer museums you maybe know with such incredible collection? 😊Thanks a lot!!!!

[@blueladycouture]

Thank you for such a lovely comment! I'm so glad my video was of use to you. I'll be honest: 17th and 18th centuries are not my forte. I do know that museums like the Victoria and Albert in London have a vast collection, but they are very limited in what they can display publically. It's worth checking out their online archive, along with places like the Met in New York. Historic Royal Palaces in London I'm sure must have a very good collection too, but I don't know what they have on display or available for the public to view. I can also recommend the books published by the Kyoto Costume Institute. I hope that helps?

[@dennistofvesson6351]

In Sweden we have n old theater from the 17th century. It was built by Lovisa Ulrika snx had it's glory period during the regn of her son Gustav III. When he was murdered the interest for the rheater declined and it was sort of forgotten. In 1921 was rediscovered and restored to it to its former glory. They still have opera and theater performaces regularly using the original equipment since they have kept it as close at it was back then as they could. To my knowledge the only "modern" things are those required for fire hasards and saftey. It's situated on the iland Drottningholm just outside Stockholm near the former summer castle, curently the living castle for the royal family. It's easy to got to by buss or boat from central Stockholm.

[@professorrhyyt3689]

@14:00 The "simple" tennis outfit is from Gustaf V (the fifth), who enjoyed playing competetive tennis under the alias mr G.

[@blueladycouture]

How interesting!

[@ankra12]

The fabrics are divine, not to mention the sewing.

[@blueladycouture]

Just mind boggling!

[@susankellam8844]

Incredible costumes!

[@blueladycouture]

Amazing aren't they!?

[@mariagotherstrom9533]

I'm glad you enjoyed it. I haven't been there in a very long time. But was very inspired by your video. Thank you so much.

[@blueladycouture]

Glad you enjoyed it!

[@lelleeriks8241]

Charles X funeral armour. The whole funeral thing took 9 months to plan and cost 1/6 of Sweden's total budget that year. Very humble

[@blueladycouture]

Not unlike most royal courts throughout history.

[@ing-mariekoppel1637]

1/6 av budgeten. Inte klokt.

[@glenglen6386]

The state budget in those days did not have infrastructure or salaries for the post office included. Road maintenance was placed upon the rural peasantry to maintain. If you lived next to a road it was yours to maintain or a fogde (the king's tax collector) would remind you, usually in the company of soldiers taking your cow. Likewise in larger projects the peasantry was organized to provide labor for ditch building. This kind of unpaid work was a form of labor tax and happened everywhere every year. The one benefit is that you probably yourself as a peasant would use that road, so to say it was purely exploitative is maybe not true. The state or rather the crown's budget was for the maintenance of the king's court, the army and navy which had fluctuating costs depending if new ships were constructed or a war was ongoing. The spending varied extremely ruler to ruler. Kristina held a most active court for which balls and dinners was a great cost. Very generous in her gifts which she gave out left and right. Donating away huge sums of the crown's money to cultural works, philosophers and artists that she took under her as their benefactor. Gustav II Adolf was known to have stripped the court of every bit of prestige and glamour. Most of the budget was spent instead on the army and the massive administrative reforms his chancellor was pushing through. As well as clever money exchanging. A great sum of the crown's budget came from exchanging money around Europe. Buying silver thalers in Germany and then selling it in Spain for reals and reals exchanged in italy for sequins etc.. Gustav III before he died meant to indebt the realm for the next 10 years by building the most extravagant royal palace, the Haga palace. His death saved Sweden from a project 10 times that of the state's budget.

[@jacquiredden4263]

Amazing - what a fabulous place to visit. Thank you so much for sharing.

[@blueladycouture]

Thanks for watching!

[@JustSaralius]

Absolutely stunning! I wish I could go! 😊 I believe the masquerade outfit was the one Gustav III was killed in. He was assassinated at a masquerade. He was shot, but died 2 weeks later from septicaemia and pneumonia. Really rather horrible! I'm surprised the costume survived and looks to be in such a pristine condition!

[@blueladycouture]

Yes, that's correct. From my understanding the clothing of all three assassinations survive because they were kept for the inquests at the time.

[@user-bj1dq7zh4o]

Added to the previous comments I have to say that conservation work is on a very high level in Sweden.

[@danvernier198]

@@blueladycouture Only Gustav III was for certain assassinated, Gustav II Adolf was defintely killed in battle. Karl XII was probably killed in battle, there are some conspiracies of not so friendly, freindly fire but within all likelyhood it was the button from a Norwegian uniform that ended up in his head. I guess an advantage of a musket is that you can stuff whatever into it if you run out of ammunition.

[@tressinar]

Thank you so very much. It was so stunning.❤❤❤❤

[@blueladycouture]

Glad you enjoyed it

[@madhatter1746]

The kings grooms outfit is amazing, but dont give up! lol

[@blueladycouture]

It's just so beautiful it's insane!

[@JH-lo9ut]

It is my favorite piece in this museum.

[@meeeka]

My favorites were the skirts with panniers; sometimes I dream of such a contraption when I have to fight crowds!

[@blueladycouture]

Definitely great for personal space!

[@Serbokrat]

As a carpenter I helped to make some of the stage stuff there, not much but a few stands and stuff. That's cool!

[@alexandravladmets]

You did a good job!

[@blueladycouture]

That's awesome!

[@cynic7049]

Since you liked it so much it may be worth noticing that they do not claim to be unique, but says that in Europe only Rosenborg Castle in Denmark and Dresden Armory, Germany have something similar in way of costume collections. Worth knowing if you ever visits Copenhagen or Dresden.

[@blueladycouture]

Thanks, I'm always interested to hear about other good costume collections.

[@PernillaArtistic]

Glad you liked it, I love that place too!! I’m Swedish ❤ I think you might have missed my favorite part which are the horses and the different carriages on display. Maybe next time…

[@blueladycouture]

The carriage display is at the end of the video.

[@Shantari]

Just want to point out that the Kristina on the measuing stick refers not to his wife but a much earlier regent. Gustav II Adolf was her father, and both of them lived over a century before Gustav III. Between Gustav II and Gustav III we had three kings named Karl/Charles (Karl X, Karl XI and Karl XII) amongst other regents.

[@blueladycouture]

Thank you. I'm aware of the error now. I blame being slightly overwhelmed by the items on display so didn't fully appreciate who Queen Kristina was at the time.

[@gnostic268]

The music you chose (Brandenburg Concerto) is so perfect for this.

[@blueladycouture]

Thank you 😊

[@stiglarsson8405]

Thanks a lot for reveling one of the hiden gems of Stokholm castel! I say to foreginers that it take tree days to visit Stockholm castel.. if one like to se it all or rather moste of it! Come in summer and take a fika at the royal courtyard after!

[@blueladycouture]

It really is a hidden gem!

[@lovisalindstrom7920]

Yes its lovely museum and i love the venues. Underground and dark. Which it probably was everywhere in those days without electricity. Your fantasy run wild.

[@blueladycouture]

Yes, I loved the dark setting. It really made the displays pop.

[@franward6851]

Amazing museum ❤❤😮😮😮. The gowns and men clothing was absolutely gorgeous.

[@blueladycouture]

Yes it was!

[@cherylwood5202]

Stunning! Thanks for sharing this video.

[@blueladycouture]

Glad you enjoyed it!

[@jimbombadill]

i hope you went to the nordic museum when you where in stockholm, their nordic people exibition is amazing

[@blueladycouture]

Only briefly and had lunch in the cafe there. Only so much we could squeeze in to two days in the city.

[@ravenhill4331]

Lovely video! Fun fact: The reason Sweden has such a great historical clothing collection it's because Sweden hasn't been invaded for many hundreds of years, nor hasn't the royal family been overturned, so the castles haven't been looted or burned. Therefore the clothes survived. Sweden was also poor, so every piece of clothing was preserved, even in the royal family. 😊

[@blueladycouture]

Absolutely. Gustav III (if I have my Gustavs right?!) and his love of opera and theatrics reminded me very much of the French court in the 18th century which is why I found the Royal Armoury Museum so fascinating because of what survives. I know France was on a whole other level (I visited Versailles last year and the opulence is almost beyond overwhelming), but it is so incredible to see those snap shots of similar time periods.

[@PohjanKarhu]

Hasn't been invaded since 1809. Russia invaded and burned all along Sweden's coast 1719-21. And they tried to take and burn Stockholm too, but were unsucessful. If they had succeeded things could've looked much different. And fires were common in the past. There was a fire in 1697 in the royal castle Tre Kronor, which housed the royal library. It resulted in the loss of the majority of books and documents. Of 24500 books and 1400 documents, only 6000 books and 300 documents survived. It means we lost a lot of history in that fire. A lot. Same thing could've easily happened to all these historical clothes at any time.

[@Crucial_End]

I love this museum, I have not been there in a while though. I might visist it again next week😁

[@blueladycouture]

Have fun!

[@KerstinIceCool]

A matter of fact; Gustav the III's wife was named Sofia Magdalena and was a Danish princess before she became Queen of Sweden. Kristina was our queen like your Elizabeth I, Victoria and Elizabeth II..Not his wife ;)

[@blueladycouture]

Thank you, the height chart was in one of the first rooms before you see the amazing wedding costumes and learn more about who married who! I shall also blame being rather over awed by the costumes!

[@helenanilsson5666]

@@blueladycouture Lol, understandable mistake to make. If there's no context provided most people would probably assume that a feminine name near the king's name would be his wife. Especially since Kristina, unlike the Elizabeths and Victoria, is more famous for her abdication than for her rule. Girlie went Catholic and left Sweden to live in warmer lands XD She's well known in Sweden because, well, she's unique among our royals as a ruling queen. But compared to other ruling queens in the world, the one that quit and left the job to her male cousin isn't going to be very memorable internationally.

[@lornaperryman3989]

Thank you for adding that interest bit of information. My ancestry is Scandinavian but I know little of the history beyond the farmhouse my greatx2 grand parents came from.

[@rursus8354]

Perfect dress for a cup of coffee with your friends - no table needed.

[@blueladycouture]

Lol, not sure I'd want coffee anywhere near me while wearing that dress though!

[@sandfly60]

@@blueladycoutureyes, the mere thought of coffee, or any other spillable item near that dress gives me the horrors.

[@109Eken]

This might be nit picking but Charles XII was most likely not assassinated but shot during a siege in Norway. Most likely by Norwegian artillery.

[@blueladycouture]

That's ok! I was just in awe of the costumes and the fact the mud is still on the hem of his cloak (if I haven't muddled the Swedish kings up again!).

[@plunderhell]

A fantastic video👍 New subscriber😊🇸🇪

[@blueladycouture]

Thank you and welcome!

[@jimmiekarlsson4458]

I gotta visit this place, i live just an hour outside of Stockholm. Beutiful pieces all over that place!"

[@blueladycouture]

You should!

[@markmarko-n1u]

Hey I am from Stockholm And I will just say its a wonderful museum , And very happy you like it its we have so many wonderful museums , as well many other country have there own " direction.. Sweden have so much history like. Europe , our kings is a fascinating subject indeed glad you had a wonderful trip there . any tops on more museums just rechristen out ! All the best Bluelady Lovly section of music classic ;) thanks ! / S

[@blueladycouture]

Thank you, I really loved visiting Sweden and Stockholm.

[@markmarko-n1u]

@@blueladycouture great to hear yeah Stockholm has some very cosy stuff. its not many but . when u find them its really good.. The history museum is very good as well. if you just look to the cloth and so on. but ofc u find more ditaled , cloth costumes on the royal. :)

[@MaskinJunior]

It also tells a qute a lot of the interesting stories about the people wering those clothes. Among them it is three kings who has been shot, and one who was deposed.

[@SonsOfLorgar]

Did you visit the treasury museum next door too? /A swede who did two Stockholm palace guard tours as a conscript

[@blueladycouture]

We didn't as we only had a couple of days in the city, but as you saw from the video, we did enjoy watching the changing of the guard.

[@Denzao-D]

In this museum I think. I am related way back to Gabriel Gyllengham. He got dubbed by the king Charles 12 before the poltava War in ukraine against russia. He was in the military. He has his family coat of arms in there. I think it is in this museum.

[@blueladycouture]

How fantastic to have that tangible family connection to history! I love family history research.

[@MariaTorres-hc5uq]

In Spain they call that a GUARDA INFANTES that is "children's keepers", but that size I would call it a wall...🤣 Life was difficult...and doors were wide...

[@helenanilsson5666]

The idea of sewing and embroidering (dear God the amount of embroidery...) all those pieces *by hand* is just staggering. I can't even imagine how many hours of work went into these clothes.

[@blueladycouture]

Sobering isn't it? But much like state occasions today, the robes are worked on by teams, not just a single person.

[@informitas0117]

If it had been done by one person, they would still be here, making embroideries.

[@feffe4036]

Didnt you go in further and see the crown jewels? :)

[@blueladycouture]

I don't think the crown jewels are on display in the Royal Armoury Museum, I think they are part of the displays in the main Royal Palace which is a seperate museum.

[@feffe4036]

@@blueladycouturereally? Can ofc be mistaken but when i was there they were in some armoured room further in but it might have been a different stairway. :)

[@katherineraessyoung]

Over 20 yeears ago, I visited to this museum. It's an amazing place. Are you going to go to the dance museum? It's also worth the visit.

[@blueladycouture]

We didn't have time as we were only in Stockholm for a couple of days.

[@katherineraessyoung]

@@blueladycouture The ballet costumes! Anna Pavlova's Dying Swan!

[@blueladycouture]

wow!!!! so many hidden gems in these little museums! Not enough hours in the day!

[@maxlinder5262]

Those panniers are extremely wide ..How could you get thru a Door Way ..❓❓

[@blueladycouture]

Royal palaces and stately homes have very wide doorways!

[@Anna-Gunilla1792]

You go sideways in

[@annalundquist7247]

These were not everyday clothes, most of them are wedding and coronation dresses, made to take up space and be spectacular. Worn once, then put away - probably how they are so well preserved. I think some of the capes were reused for other coronations, maybe with a few alterations. But yes, double doors and going sideways.

[@SonsOfLorgar]

​​@@Anna-Gunilla1792 in a few places, yes, but most rooms where this dress would have been worn has state room double doors wide enough to march through three or four men abreast.

[@professorrhyyt3689]

A lot of them are collapsible, like fans, to help get you through really narrow places.

[@anderssoderlind6183]

Why so loud music, as swede I'm proud of the collection of old stuff we can see at our museums it shows how our country evolve over the centuries.

[@blueladycouture]

I have to put music over the general background noise of other visitors to the museum - there were children screaming and a very loud tour party. I try and get the balance of volume right.

[@TracinyaLachance]

6:46 Karl XII was not assassinated. He died in battle, during a siege to be precise.

[@matsv201]

8:00 when you steal a 70" TV from wallmart

[@dennislindqvist1265]

The royals really seemed to like the flamboyant style. The clothes don't look particularly comfortable, but that probably wasn't the intention either.

[@blueladycouture]

Most of these are one-off, spectacular, pageantry pieces for significant state occasions. Their day to day clothes would have been more comfortable, but they likely haven't survived.

[@Maax1200]

Its not correct caption regarding Karl XII, its a myth that he was assasinated. He was fatally shot while climbing a trench (reconisance) infront of the city of Fredrikshald and the fortres Fredriksten in Norway during a siege. The speculation that it was a swedish soldier or officer responsible because they wanted to end the war is just a myth. It was however a rumour that started the same night he was killed so its not a modern construct. The reason for all the confusion is because all this time everyone misstook the entry wound for the exit wound and wise versa making it impossible (in theire mind) for the king to have been shot from the direction of the fort, but after lots tests and exuming Karl XII in 1917 it has been concluded that he indeed was shot with a musket ball from either a cannon or a musket from the the direction of the fortress, There are actuall photos from the examination of the king in 1917, a very wierd feeling seeing a king who has been dead for hundreds of years.

[@blueladycouture]

Thank you for such a thorough comment- such a fascinating history.

[@jennieforsberg4415]

Kristina was formally queen from 1644-1650, when she was formally crowned a king. She was never married. Her gender changed when she was crowned king. There was no leagal possibility for a woman to rule the country in the same order as a male. To have the highest powers and ruling over men she had to be male and crowned king. She was already raised as male - Gustav II Adolf decided for her to have access to a male education including all subjects that a male heir to the throne would receive including subjects like languages, historia, war and defense of the country, geography, fencing, riding etc. At this time the King was King of Gods grace, making her second to God in divine power on earth. In the same manner as the french kings during this time. An important note is that she actually managed to get Descartes, the famous and very influencial french philosopher, to come to Sweden. He was helping Kristina to set up an accademy but unfortunately he died from pneumonia on the 11th of february in 1650.

[@blueladycouture]

So fascinating!

[@alexandralindgren6438]

My dream is to open a museum with beautiful gowns, halloween costumes and props but my father says that Sweden is too small for that kind of project.

[@blueladycouture]

Don't give up on your dream, if it's meant to happen the universe will find a way.

[@olavwilhelm6843]

you brushed a little bit to quickly over the first Bernadotte clothing around 1800 ( after all its the present royal family and the Wasa are long gone)

[@deniselarsen6119]

Fint filmat

[@blueladycouture]

Thank you 😊

[@Neruomir]

Gustaf the third was assassinated, Charles the twelfth was not he was hit by a lucky/unlucky grapeshot pellet fired from a fort in Norway whilst by the front trenches during the siege thinking he was outside of effective range. The assassination story is just an old myth same as the one that he was shot with a pistol loaded with one of his own jacket buttons as he could only be killed by something from himself.

[@theresenydahl9531]

❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤

[@blueladycouture]

Thank you 😊

[@pagedown4195]

3:30 I wonder how much weight that poor horse had to carry 🙄

[@blueladycouture]

Not an expert, but I think horses can manage quite a considerable amount of weight and being the pampered horse of the king it probably had a better life than most.

[@MsAnpassad]

His wife Kristina? Queen Kristina were regent of Sweden from 1632 to 1654 by her own right as the daughter and only heir of Gustav II Adolf. She never married.

[@blueladycouture]

Thank you, others have also pointed out this error. The height chart was early on in the museum before we fully realised who was who, and I blame being so over-awed by the quality of the costumes!

[@c-row66]

Ah, yes, the treasury of rare festive anime character skins.

[@gustavnovak]

Fantastic museum! I've been there,GO VISIT if you can!😊👍☮❤

[@blueladycouture]

I concur!

[@PonyusTheWolfdude]

It's very interesting to see this collection from someone elses interest. I'm more of an arms and armor kind of person, but I see the fascination from what you filmed. Only piece of clothing of note that I don't think you filmed was the still bloody buff coat of one of the warmonger kings (probably gustavus adolphus, but not sure). Not a beautiful thing, but a very functional piece.

[@blueladycouture]

I was surprised how much clothing they had considering it is the 'armoury' museum, but it was great. Mr BLC loves all the arms and armour and I love the fashion history!

[@starvictory7079]

Karl XII.

[@krooks6367]

There is nothing chocking in this museum!

[@blueladycouture]

Sorry you didn't think so, but thanks for watching and commenting.

[@revmiguel2000]

Why do these shows always have annoying music, loudly played?

[@blueladycouture]

Because otherwise it's the sound of noisy children running round in the background of the museum. Thanks for watching though.

[@BorderGuardJaegerFinlandia]

OK, happen to drop into this video, even if Im not interested in clothing. But wow, this was really cool. I thought that i would only want to check out museums where they have guns all kinds of different military items. Visited the Towern of London a couple of years ago, and tahto was very interesting, but must admit that this kind of Museums would also be cool to visit. Me, caring about clothing and different fabrics and materials 🤨🤒🤒🤕🤕🤢🤮🤧🥴.... 🤗

[@BorderGuardJaegerFinlandia]

OK, happen to drop into this video, even if Im not interested in clothing. But wow, this was really cool. I thought that i would only want to check out museums where they have guns all kinds of different military items. Visited the Towern of London a couple of years ago, and tahto was very interesting, but must admit that this kind of Museums would also be cool to visit. Me, caring about clothing and different fabrics and materials 🤨🤒🤒🤕🤕🤢🤮🤧🥴.... 🤗

[@blueladycouture]

Thank you for your comment and glad you found my video interesting.