Prince Charles lives up to his reputation as the Royal clothes horse with a lengthy article in the July issue of British GQ, the magazine which recently voted him one of the best dressed British men, and with which he is hosting a reception before the July men's collections in London.
Charles writes:
“I must say, it was a complete surprise to learn recently that I had been voted one of GQ’s Best Dressed Men [in March 2012]. It wasn’t so long ago I was voted by another panel of judges the Worst Dressed. In the past I have been named both in successive years. In fact, in the early Seventies, I swung from one extreme to another so often that when I turned up for a dinner at the Master Tailors’ Benevolent Association in London’s Grosvenor Square in 1971 I was confronted by my poor tailor, whose despair was only too evident when he responded to press questions about my being chosen as the worst-dressed man for that year. In an anguished voice, he said,'But you don’t know his measurements!'
“It was probably this experience that made me decide I simply had to go my own way and stick to what I felt suited me. As that happens to involve what many once considered to be old-fashioned double-breasted suits, I can only expect to be considered unfashionable; although one commentator recently called me “beyond fashion”, which added a whole new dimension to my confusion. I am still not sure if she meant it as a compliment...
The recognition of GQ was, therefore, encouraging to say the least. I took it very much as a vote for what can perhaps best be described as the classic and timeless look of British style. If what I am told by the tailors and shirt- and shoe-makers I come into contact with is true, then this look is very much the envy of the world.”
“I have long been an admirer of British tailoring and the associated trades...Given the demands of my life, it is a great help if a suit looks as good at the end of a day as it did at the start; and it also has to withstand the heavy battering it can sometimes receive. So the challenge to tailors, shirt- and shoe-makers is a tough one. Clothes have to combine style with sustainability and I find British-made tailoring more than meets that challenge.”
