The Duke of Windsor’s Sartorial Style | Country

 

His sporting clothes brought out the peacock in him. ”I believe in bright checks for sportsmen,” he once wrote. ”The louder they are, the better I like them.”

The Duke practically invented comfortable clothes.  As Kerry Taylor, the Sotheby’s specialist who has spent seven years preparing for this sale, explained, ”He was reacting to his buttoned-up and old-fashioned childhood.”

Ms. Taylor said the Duke so disliked suspenders that he invented pants with elastic in the waist.  He didn’t like buttons on pants, so insisted on zippers, which were large and primitive in the 1930’s.  He preferred buttons on the sleeves of his jackets — four, to be precise.  He always wore cuffs on his trousers, which infuriated his father.  After World War II broke out, he had his pants made in the United States because textiles were rationed in England and cuffs required extra fabric.

 

 Prince of Wales check sports suit.  Jacket by Scholte of London and stalking trousers (modified plus-fours) by Forster & Sons, 1923.  Altered in the mid 1930s when a zip was inserted.  Came with the removable blue cotton plus-four linings (more below).

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The Duke of Windsor’s Sartorial Style | Suitings

 

Crit Rawlings, president of Oxxford Clothes at the time, dropped $12,650 on a silk suit. In all, the Duke’s 25 suits, sport jackets and formal outfits took in $773,145.

 

A double breasted navy wool suit with Grenadier (front buttons) and Welsh Guards Officer (sleeve buttons) buttons, worn on the 1936 Nahlin cruise. Jacket by Scholte, London labelled H.R.H. The Prince of Wales 25.4.31 Made of lightweight navy worsted. The matching pair of trousers were made by Forster & Son, London.

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The Duke of Windsor’s Sartorial Style | Formalwear

Kenneth Jay Lane, the jewelry designer, and a friend, said he never paid too much attention to the Duke’s wardrobe when he saw him, which he considers a great compliment.  ”When you see a perfectly dressed man, you don’t think about it,” he said.  But he recalled that the Duke was very aware of fashion.

”Once when I went to dinner at their house,” Mr. Lane said, ”I was wearing one of the first black velvet tuxedos, and he commented on my ensemble right away.”

The morning coat and trousers worn to his wedding, with a different waistcoat. Jacket by Scholte is a herringbone cashmere weave and is marked H.M. The King, 25.1.36. Waistcoat matches the jacket and marked same. The morning trousers are by Forster & Son and marked 9.6.32

This was bought by the CEO of Kiton for $27,600.  Mr. Paone, who also purchased several other items from the Duke’s wardrobe, knew the Duke of Windsor and admired his style. He plans to exhibit the suit and other items in his Kiton stores and in other stores that carry his clothing around the world.

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The Duke of Windsor’s Sartorial Style

”I was in fact produced as a leader of fashion, with the clothiers as my showmen and the world as my audience,” the Duke once recalled.

The Duke of Windsor stood only 5′ 5″ and favored comfort in his clothes, free movement and a style that he referred to as ”Dress Soft.”  His jacket waists were uniformly set high to elongate his silhouette.  His pockets were cut wider on the left side of the trousers to accommodate his ever-present cigarette case.  He wore elasticized girdles inset beneath his waistbands to preserve the flat appearance of his stomach.  He tweaked the proportions of all his clothes, Mr. Bolton said, for effect.  ”Even when he wore a lot of patterns, which are a no-no for small people,” making them seem squat, the Duke gave the impression of being a taller man.

The Duke’s dressing room at the Paris residence with a suit (above) in medium-weight worsted with darker blue checking.  The jacket is dated 16/11/56 by Scholte, London and the trousers dated 3/4/57 by Harris, New York.  Jacket has side vents and substantially padded shoulders.  

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