EntertainmentKing Charles's influence on fashion had already begun

King Charles’s influence on fashion had already begun

Prince Charles and his wife Camilla are greeted by members of the RCMP as they leave the provincial legislature in Regina on May 23, 2012.Paul Chiasson/The Canadian Press

When King Charles escorted Meghan Markle down the aisle of St George’s Chapel at Windsor Castle in 2018, all eyes were on the bride. But while the fashion world raved about her Givenchy gown, fussy royal supporters also took note of her future mother-in-law’s appearance. Next to a royal wedding dress with a five-meter-long embroidered silk train, the King’s gray three-piece suit may have looked nondescript, except for one detail. She was then 34 years old.

Prince Charles welcomes guests to the Queen’s Garden Party at Buckingham Palace on May 15, 2019.Victoria Jones/AFP/Getty Images

“I’m one of those people who hates throwing anything away,” the future king told British Vogue in 2020, adding, “I’ll be wearing that particular coat tomorrow until I put it on.” .”

It’s not often that a gray suit makes headlines, but the King’s haberdashery is more than a fashion statement. “For centuries, fashion has been at the heart of the monarchy’s image,” says British fashion historian and author Kate Straustin. Inside The Royal Wardrobe: A History of Queen Alexandra’s Clothing. “Many monarchs recognized the expressive power of clothing, especially for an undertaking that often required verbal communication.”

From Queen Victoria’s choice of a shamrock-embroidered gown to ease tensions with Ireland to Queen Alexandra’s careful selection of colors to boost her popularity, royal fashion has historically made headlines and influenced trends. Queen Elizabeth is known for her colour-coordinated ensembles, which allowed her followers to see her in public appearances. Catherine, Princess of Wales, is known for inspiring streetwear collections that sell out when she walks in. and the aesthetic influence of Diana, the “princess of fashion,” still looks fashionable today.

Queen Elizabeth II, Princess Anne, Prince Philip and Prince Charles, May 1959.Richard Cole/The Globe and the Mail

What King Charles wore and redressed indicates both continuity and change within the institution, offering a glimpse into the future of the monarchy and the origins of the late-style icon. “I think, in many ways, he’ll go his own way: he’s not as reckless as Edward VIII and he’ll avoid the label of that kind of extravagance,” says Straustin.

Left, Governor-General Ed Schreyer chats with Diana, Princess of Wales, while Prince Charles, Lily Schreyer and then-Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau look at the cameras as they wait for the receiving line to begin at a formal dinner hosted by the Schreyer. Ottawa, June 20, 1983.canadian press

As old photographs recall, Charles stood out in his early days as Prince of Wales. Whether in colorful sportswear on the polo ground, a safari suit and boots for the desert in Nairobi, a Stetson cap and polo shirt for Alberta, or in full military dress or black tie, she’s a sporty, dirty beauty. His love of traditional British culture, style and architecture made him a natural influencer of the Sloane Ranger style, a mix of preppy classics and country-inspired accessories that became a symbol of British high fashion and the style of life of wealthy Londoners in the 1980s.

“I have an image of what a British gentleman looks like, and that image finds its true expression in Prince Charles. He is beyond fashion, he is the epitome of style,” Donatella Versace told British GQ. In 2012, she appeared on the magazine’s annual best dressed list.

Following Prince Charles, William R. Bennett, then Prime Minister of British Columbia, and Diana, Princess of Wales stand on the observation deck of the MV Queen of the North as it approaches Vancouver from Nanaimo on May 1, 1986. . .Tibor Kolley/The Globe and the Mail

Over the decades, Charles has created a uniform for himself from a short list of traditional British brands: suits by Savile Row tailors Gieves and Hawkes and Anderson and Sheppard; Turnbull and Asser shirts; Shoes from the likes of John Loeb, Triggers and Crockett and Jones. While his favorite tailors declined to comment on the details of King’s file, he suggests that he chose a great deal from some of the line’s looser threads. Andersen and Sheppard are known as civilian tailors. Our style is in the soft tailoring industry, not military tailoring like some of our competitors. So instead of a very firm, rigid chest, there’s that fluid movement throughout the suit.” says the company’s managing director, Colin Heywood.

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King Charles is known to be almost obsessed with clothing and crafts, taking excursions to watch master cutters at work in Anderson and Shepherd’s workshop and jumping behind the sewing machine on a Turnbull and Asser factory tour. . He also cares what his clothes are made of and what impact it has on the environment. In 2010, he launched the Campaign for Wool to raise awareness of the unique, natural and sustainable benefits of the fiber in response to a global collapse in price and demand that affected entire industries of farmers and textile mills.

Prince Charles poses for a photo in front of a wedge-shaped eagle during a visit to Alice Springs Desert Park in Alice Springs, Australia, on March 2, 2005.Rick Rycroft/The Associated Press

“Everything is interconnected,” says Matthew Rowe, executive director of the Campaign for Wool in Canada, explaining how the monarch’s defense of wool intersects with his support for organic farming and the need for a circular economy. “It’s an appreciation of natural fiber for the role it plays in the environment, it’s connected to making quality clothing, it’s connected to traditional crafts and trade, artists and artisans. It’s connected to the way we manage the land, how we dispose of clothes. , how we use clothes and other materials.

Prince Charles then attended a reception to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the Prince’s Council for the Duchy of Cornwall on July 16, 2019.Ben Birchall/Getty Images

By his own admission, getting rid of clothes isn’t something King Charles does often. In fact, she was spotted wearing a decades-old morning coat from the Duke and Duchess of Sussex’s wedding at Royal Ascot in 2021. She’s known to wear the same two double-breasted coats, one camel-colored, the other tweed. Her gardening jacket was featured in a 2013 BBC special. It’s a mosaic piece, and it’s hard to say what it might have originally looked like.

Wearing something old is clearly nothing new for King Charles, although he does have something quietly modern. “There have been a lot of these changes in the last few decades in terms of clothing consumption, and I think King Charles will be careful about that,” says Strastin. His pragmatic approach to the monarchy and his plans to undermine it and To make it more effective In the 21st century, he adds, his wardrobe will follow suit. “Of course he would record the ceremonial conventions of coronation in their most formal parts, but beyond that any suggestion of conspicuous consumption would not be a welcome label.”

In an age of climate and economic uncertainty, perhaps King Charles’s subliminal clothing message is this: keep calm and wear what’s in your wardrobe.

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