Tailored clothing can sometimes feel so stiflingly serious. Online videos are overlaid with classical music; models never smile. Blogs are full of rules for how to wear a tie and everything is about how to be an #elegant #gentleman.
Which is why I love these photos of Prince Charles, who might be the most photogenic man in the world. His worst photos are somehow always his best photos. Taken out of their editorial context, you can’t help but wonder what’s happening. What’s up with that expression? Is he about to punch a poor woman in a wheelchair? Why is he about to shoot a basketball with one hand?
To be sure, Prince Charles is one of the best-dressed men in the world, and for those of us who aren’t handsome, dressing a little nicer is the best we can hope for. The Prince demonstrates the value of finding your own style and sticking to it. When he was young, he favored slimmer fitting jackets with narrow lapels and drainpipe trousers – creating an elongating silhouette that felt both modern and sharp.
Once he entered his 30s, however, he really hit his stride. He switched almost exclusively to double-breasted suits, having found that he looks better in them than single-breasted jackets. All of them are made in the same way too: soft across the shoulders, draped in the chest, with a 6x2 closure, jetted pockets, and peak lapels. Prince Charles has a reliable, unwavering style that combines conservative, level-headed taste with a bit of eccentricity here and there – a pale lavender shirt with a pinstriped suit and those itty bitty tie knots that nearly disappear between his collar.
Dressing well only takes you so far though. The Prince’s charm really comes his ability to not take himself too seriously, and those wonderful facial expressions. Back in 2012, Britain’s GQ voted him one of the best dressed men in the country. He penned the following for them in response:
“I must say, it was a complete surprise to learn recently that I had been voted one of GQ’s Best Dressed Men. 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…”
I’ve included some of my favorite photos of Prince Charles below. Some are amusing; some show off his style. For more images of him, check Cooper Frederickson and Voxsartoria’s blogs. They have the best collections.
