Crawford avalanche., 1895-07-11

The WendsvsuI OUTFIT es the Prince
81 Wales Described.
In chatty article on the Prince
Of Wales and his clothes, writer In
CasselPs Saturday Journal says: As
: matter OF fact. the First Gentle-
man In Europe" does spend great
deal OF money with his tailors. 1t
should be remembered. nevertheless,
that much of this Is for uniforms.
The Prince 10 popularly supposed to
possess seventy military uniforms
and this total is about accurate.
When we remember that a cavalry
outfit may cost f150, as q low esti-
mate, and that subalterns entering
a line regiment rarely begin with
lower disbursement than ESQ or EGO,
the amount that the Princes uni
forms have cost him is easilyto be
gauged.
The Prince, OF course, possesses,
for the most part, coloneps uni
forms, but as O field marshal he is
compelled often to renew the terribly
expensive outfit suited to that rank
and it Is in this fine tunic that he
appears at most military ceremonials,
and at royal weddings, or other great
occasions OF state. In addition he
possesses many naval uniforms and
dress OF large number OF German,
Russian and Austrian regiments.
Putting aside the question Of uni
forms. upon which his Royal High
ness cannot spend less than three or
four hundred pounds year, we come
to his ordinary dress. 1t Is admitted
universally that very few men in
town manage things with more taste,
or have a quicker eye for good
cloth. There are youths, no doubt,
whose tailors' bills are far larger
than the Princes, for he is by no
means extravagant, although exceed
ingly particular about his clothes.
Nor does he, says the writer, pay
absurdly fancy prices, as many peo-
pie suppose, being charged at the
usual rate OF West End house.
This means that frock coat may
cost him twelve guineas, which most
people would regard as very fancy"
indeed; dress suit somewhere
about fifteen, trousers four guineas,
and an ordinary ditto suit from
eight to ten guineas.
When in town the frock coat is in
variably worn by the Prince. No
doubt. during the London season. he
consumes" a large number Of these
articles-perhaps two month, Of
which one will be light gray one
|. And it is q. habit OF his never to
wear coat two seasons running,
even II it has only been used two or
three times by him. AS he is in
town perhaps six months in the year,
his total of "frocks" may be set down
roughly at twelve.
In dress suits he is supposed to be
particularly extravagant; but this is
not really the case. Any man about
town has five or six dress suits
year. The Prince may have dozen,
but the story told in contemporary
recently that he had one a week is
pure nonsense.
When the Prince is going to New
market he often wears ditto" suit
with light covert coat over il. In
ditto" suits, perhaps, his total
would astonish the humble man who
pays his tailor thirty pounds year
and considers that heavy.
1t Is certain that he never wears
one OF these suits more than two or
three times, and his stock OF them is
tremendous. or shooting suits for
the autumn he has an immense va
riety, using a different style of dress
for battue work to that adopted for
ordinary work with the dogs. Here
alone for country dress he can scarce
ly spend less than hundred pounds
q year.
In the matter Of hats it is well
known fact that the Prince has three
fortnight, also buying large num-
ber Of bowler and square black hats
for country use.
At Sandringham there is hat room
with man whose chief duty it is to
keep the Princes tiles i'm a high
condition Of polish. In the same pal
ace number of vast wardrobes con-
tain the bulk of the uniforms and
clothes which are not in regular use.
Those large scarfs which are now
worn with frock coat often cost half
q guinea. There are scores Of up-to-
date youths who have fifty pairs OF
gloves per autumn three dozen shirts
would be regarded as an absolute
minimum. So far as the Prince is
concerned he never wears pair of
gloves twice. and in this, and in the
matter OF boots, he is, unquestiona-
bly,, the best dressed man in the
kingdom.