Amber has researched and presented documentaries for BBC TV and radio. She is the history consultant and resident historian for BBC One's Great British Sewing Bee.
Her six-part series A Stitch in Time (BBC Four) fused biography, art and the history of fashion to explore the lives of historical figures through the clothes they wore, including the Black Prince, Dido Belle, Marie Antoinette, and the Arnolfini portrait. Alongside Amber, historical tailor Ninya Mikhaila and her team recreated key garments using original techniques. It was described as "snappy and engaging" by The Guardian, "hugely enjoyable" by The Telegraph and "mesmerising" by the Radio Times. Following the success of the series, all six recreated costumes were put on display in an exhibition at Ham House in Richmond.
A Stitch in Time was selected numerous times as Pick of the Day in The Guardian, in the Critics’ Choice section of the Sunday Times and The Telegraph, and in the Highlights of the TV Times. It featured in the Radio Times’ Choices every week that it aired. View clips from the series here, and it's available to watch globally on Amazon Prime.​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​
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Amber has presented across platforms from radio documentaries on the rise of vintage clothing, to award-winning historic make-up tutorials for English Heritage on YouTube. She has contributed to productions for all UK TV channels and radio stations, as well as PBS (USA), Slice (Canada) and NHK (Japan). She is a regular on Radio 4 flagship shows such as Woman’s Hour, Front Row and Today. She has discussed slogan T-shirts for Radio 4's Word of Mouth, added the colour mauve to the Museum of Curiosity, and won Celebrity Mastermind with her specialist subject: the history of the seaside. Click through below for more.
"A Stitch in Time... offered the radical spectacle of groups of women standing around sharing their deep knowledge of history and treating fashion as a serious subject that could shed light on the past." - The i Paper
"a fashion show with a difference" - TV Times
"stylish journey through history" - The Guardian Guide
Part of the landmark Civilisations strand on the BBC, Amber presented The First Refugees about the journey and legacy of the Huguenot silk weavers of Spitalfields.
Amber is the history consultant and resident historian for Great British Sewing Bee, which she has contributed to since 2014.
Amber researched and presented this two-part documentary which tracked the rise of vintage clothing. It considered how our attitude to used clothing changed over a century and more, and tracked the global ramifications of our cast-off clothes, travelling from charity shops to sorting warehouses in Leeds and the markets and tailors of Dakar, Senegal.
Amber hosted a series of hugely popular historic makeup tutorials for English Heritage with makeup artist Rebecca Butterworth, from Roman Britons through to the Wrens of the Second World War.
This documentary looked at radical embroidery artists and the ability of stitch to explore hidden histories, political messages and untold stories.
Amber Butchart and Clara Amfo uncovered the history of fashion, from the Middle Ages to the 20th Century, told through literature and music. This series looked at the legacy fashion has left us, from rules that still regulate dress around gender and class, to its influence on feminism, civil rights, and the environment.