Great Photos: Duke of Windsor

[Oviatt]

Gentlemen

two photographs not of the good Duke himself but his wardrobe were posted today on the, generally rather entertaining, weblog "The Trad":
http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_wwgXxAjQedA/S ... loset1.jpg
http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_wwgXxAjQedA/S ... loset2.jpg

I am not completely convinced about everything I see in the second photograph, but the impressive number of rather extraordinary sartorial details on display serves to explain the reverence the sartorially interested continue to pay to this man - just to list a few immediately obvious ones:

• an arguably rather loud tartan jacket with cuffed sleeve and cloth-covered buttons - for evening wear, perhaps?

• a corduroy jacket, again with cuffed sleeves

• a pale tweed (?) blazer, or rather, a pale tweed jacket with brass, or gold, buttons

• a light coloured corduroy jacket, again with brass, or gold, buttons

• an Alpine-styled mottled grey loden jacket with a rather intricately ornamented green sleeve cuff

On the other hand, the photograph also hints at an aspect of the Duke's personality that, in lesser human beings, may well be considered attention-seeking to the extent of verging into tackiness - note the in your face placement of contrast colour shirt monograms. Clearly, the Duke would not really have needed to present his initial and, of course, the ducal coronet, to those he met with, or would he?

dE

The Duke's monogram or cypher is especially interesting as the Duchess used the same shape, turned on its side for a W with the coronet above it. Given the complete integration of their style, this is a neat device. I once saw an exhibition on tartan in Edinburgh that had some of his tartan suits on display and they were amazing--all the more so because of how small he was, and yet wore such large patterns so easily.

[Bishop of Briggs]

[couch]

The Duke's expression above is uncannily like that captured in "Impossible Interview: Clark Gable vs.Edward, Prince of Wales" published in Vanity Fair, November 1932, by the great Mexican artist Miguel Covarrubias:

Covarrubias.jpg

[Gruto]

[YoungLawyer]

What the picture of the DoW in white tie really shows is the height of the waist; on both, it seems that the tails are cut with very short fronts to end at the natural waist, which means that the waistcoat buttons fasten above it. Look at the waistcoat on the left! The difference is only an inch or so, but it really changes the style dramatically. We've just become so used to seeing that very high-waisted style on film, that anything more neutral, such as those shown on Edwardian or 1920s fashion plates, seems very long-waisted.

[Daedalus]

[Daedalus]

[Daedalus]

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.


A midnight blue worsted formal evening dress suit, 1937. Jacket by Scholte of London, trousers by Forster & Son. The Duke preferred his evening suits cut from midnight navy wool instead of black. The details in a navy suit, he reasoned, registered more crisply in strobe-light photographs.


A dark grey worsted 3-piece morning suit. Jacket and DB waistcoat by Scholte of London, marked 9.6.31 Trousers by Forster & Son marked 10.6.31


A dark green double-breasted corduroy shawl-collared dinner jacket with Beaufort Hunt buttons. by Scholte, dated 12.10.59 and a pair of H. Harris, New York, trousers in navy herringbone wool and cashmere marked 1.2.56 purchased at Sotheby’s auction by Brioni.


Hunting Lord of the Isles tartan evening suit. Jacket by Scholte dated 8.6.51, Trousers by Harris, New York. Jacket has side vents.

Via.

[Daedalus]

Via.

[Daedalus]

[Daedalus]

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[Daedalus]

[Daedalus]

[Daedalus]

[Daedalus]

We can see where Mr Alden got his inspiration for his salute at the end of every DWS video. Sadly no recent updates of the blog.