Pittsburg dispatch. [volume] (Pittsburg [Pa.]) 1880-1923, 1892-06-05
HAS OVER 1000 SUITS.
Emperor William Is the Worlds Most
Elaborately Dressed Nan.
EVERYTHING MUST BE SKIN-TIGHT.
Tailors and Shoemakers Fear the Eccentric
Nonarchs Temper.
RYTHING MUST BE SKIN-TIGHT.
CAN MAKE HIS TOILET In EIGHTMINUTES


rcoRREsPoyDENcE OF THE DIsPAroB.I
BERLIN, May 23.-The wardrobe Of no
modern sovereign has attracted more arten-
tion than that Of the German Emperor. On
all bis recent travels, wherever he went, he
became conspicuous by his continual change
of dress Of course, the Emperor has oftener
the occasion to change his costume than an
ordinary mortal He might arrive, for
instance, in Kiel, the chief German port Of
war, in travelling costume, review the
marine in the uniform of German admiral,
then visit the various schools in civilian
dress, dine on foreign man-of-war in the
uniform of an admiral of its nationality and
in the evening give reception in some gala
dress. The Emperor is known to have made
as many as 10 or IL changes in IS hours
Those who have become acquainted with the
fact do not know whether to excuse it az Q
whim or attribute it to extreme nervous
ness That his wardrobe under these cir
cumstances has reached gigantic dimensions
is easy enough to understand. 1t contains
at present over 1000 dresses They are
divided into six classes:
Tbs Empsror's Different Costumes
l. Military costumes. including all the DIFF
ferent uniforms of the highest ranks of the
| German army, with a collection Of modern
swords which has hardly its equal in
| Germany.
Q. Court dresses, under which category al
| the dresses for great ceremonies are classi.
| fed excepting the coronation robes with
| scepter and crown, which are taken care OF
| specially. 1t includes also the uniforms OF
| all the different orders, like the order of
the Black Eagle. of the Garter. ETC., as also
| the costume for the Torchlight PoIonaise at
great festivals, which is entirely of silk with
kneepants and 2artered hose.
8. Civilian dresses, among which the dress
| suits and high colored walking costumes OF
English cut play a leading part: it contains,
besides every piece of dress that is worn by
| fashionable men at present, with the excep-
| tion of dressing grown which the Emperor
never wears He He rarely uses ,f fine sD smoking ing
/ incognito dresses and the Free Mason's
| costume.
1 Sport dresses, which include bathing,
| riding, driving, sleighing and skating cos
| TUNES and then the large number OF hunt
/ ing costumes from the Tyrolese to the Rus
sian fur gear for bear hunting:
| 8. Dresses of courtesy contain all the uni.
forms OF foreign regiments whose honorary
| chief he Is, besides all the costumes he is
| obliged to don in visiting foreign courts, t5
| being a custom on such occasions for the
| visitor to appear in the hosts favorite cos
| tune and vice versa at the first meeting.
| Even Chinese and Japanese court dresses
| costume he has not worn is the French. or
all these costumes duplicate exists in case
of an accident.
Q. Underwear and minor articles.
Minor Essentials OF Ills Toilet.
There are IL dozen of every piece Of
| underwear. and of socks and handkerchief
| no less than 80 dozen. As he does not care
for silk, his underwear is of merino, with
| the exception OF the socks, which are Of
| silk. His handkerchiefs are of batiste, and
as rule he uses them but once. A number
OF embroiderers are employed all the year
round to make the initials, etc.
As he is not fond of jewelry his wardrobe
| only contains a limited selection of cuff
buttons and studs, all in gold and diamonds.
| The number of gloves, on the contrary, Is
very large; there are chamois gloves for
driving, beaver for riding, dogskin, white
lambskin and the innumerable white kid
gloves for uniforms that are worn but onca.
In civilian dress he uses gloves of a dis
! tinctly different color to the suit.
He has number of canes that are but
seldom used, and, strange to say, the um-
brellas are but three in number, which
have been kept closed so long that they
would surely appear streaked if opened
accidentally. The Emperor never uses one
as he has really no opportunity, either
riding or driving out, and then generally in
uniform.
And who has the care of this gigantic
wardrobe? A special system of manage
ment has been introduced, which has been
so well regulated to Its smallest details that
it works like a clock. The marshal of his
domestic affairs superintends the wardrobe,
1t is his duty to make himself acquainted
with the latest fashions and suggest them to
the Emperor, who is in no way an inventive
mind in fashions, and rather follows other
authorities, choosing what he deems best
Likes Tiehf-FIttin= Clothes.
The Emperor, however, has decided likes
and dislikes. Everything must be tightly
fitting; the trousers scarcely touch the
boots; he has also great aversion for the
short overcoats and narrow, pointed shoes.
When he was invited by the Emperor Of
Austria to hunt in the Tyrolese mountains,
he gave the order for several suits worn by
the Tyrolese mountaineera The marshal
remarked to the Emperor that, although
His Majesty could boast of well-built
figure, he would not look to advantage in
the tight-ftting knee-breeches, mountain
shoes and CATERS leaving the knee bare, of
the Tyrolese. To which the Emperor
brusquely replied: Don't trouble yourself
about my taste. If L order thing, il
means that it has to be done"
All the leading tailors of the larger cities
offer their services with the greatest induce
ments, and are triumphant if they get at
least one order, as it entities them, after
filling it satisfactorily, to the right OF ad-
vertising themselves: Tailor to His Maj
esty," etc. Four times year the Marshal
himself takes the Emperor's measure, not
only for costumes but also for shoes, gloves
and hats, providing for any changes that
might have taken place in his majesty's
figure. For boots and shoes Slippers he
never Years) the annual expenses amount
to 10000 marks. They are made by the
best shoemakers and bear on the soles, like
every other piece of his dress, except the
incognito costumes; the Hohenzollern coat
of arms.
Thev Fear wilhelm's Temper,
As the Emperor very easily loses his
temner in matters concerning his toilet, the
shoemakers are in continual fear that one or
the other might not Mt PERFECTLY we'll the
first time, which would undoubtedly result
in their losing their high customer.
He never stays more than a week in o
place. so his costumes are slowed away In
rosewood and ebony chests, in the care of
two Wallets, the body servants OF the En-
peror, one of whom is an old man and has
been in the service of the Emperor since
the latter was little bcy, so is perfectly
acquainted with his idiosyncrasies.
The Wallets have a number of servants
under them, who dust the clothes, clean tho
shoes and polish the swords and buttons,
which in the uniforms are all pure gold
Special care is devoted to the galoous and
epaulettes, which are always covered with
tissue paper
Excepting hair dressing and shaving, the
Emperor has no immediate use of assist