This Life Magazine photo of the Duke of Windsor holding asparagus, is a good example of a great looking and simple checked suit. The checks or pattern is so small that the suit would appear to be a solid color from a distance. In addition, the Duke is wearing a double breasted style that I do enjoy, the 4 and 1. Actually, the suit is cut to be a 4 and 2, but the top button hole has a roll that truly makes it meant for only the bottom button to be fastened. In addition, the Duke looks great with the flower on his lapel and pipe to truly display his style mastery. A classic photo indeed!
6 comments:
I love this photo.
From the Web:
"Of all the vegetables in the vegetable kingdom, asparagus definitely has the greatest snob appeal."
I guess it qualifies as WASP-food.
I'm going to make a point of smoking a pipe the next time I'm in the garden. Do you think a woman could pull this off? Okay, maybe not. ;)
Note that the cylindrical shaping of both the pipe and lapel flower reflects the similar shaping of asparagus. Coinicidence or artful planning? I love the bony knee !
G. Bruce Boyer's instructions aside, NO ONE CAN DO IT LIKE THE DUKE (OR THE DUCHESS FOR THAT MATTER).
His late Royal Highness's sartorial splendor simply cannot be reproduced on another individual living or dead with the same affect on the observer. Any attempt is little more than a feeble mimicry. Moreover, H. Harris of New York lives now only in glorious memory and F. Scholte is long dead himself.
The Duke of Windsor, sometime the Most High and Most Mighty, By the Grace of God, of Great Britian, Ireland and the British Dominions beyond the Seas, King Edward VIII, was a one off in every way. The special glamour and sartorial genius of he and his Duchess have been much celebrated and scrutinized for decades after their deaths. Still their blythe spirits remain elusive- only some of their carefully preserved clothes and many of her jaw-dropping jewels survive to remind us that once upon a time a King and the woman he loved glided through this world in sumptuous elegance.
Without their wearers the tiny clothes become curious, masterfully tailored, little shells and her jewels lose much of their firey luster.
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