Waterbury evening Democrat., 1904-11-10
KING EDWARDS WARDROBE.

KING EDWARDS WARDROBE.
 More Varied Than That of Any 9th CT Monarch.
 "Of all the absurd stories respect ing the British royal family which from time to time gain currency on k the continent that emanating from
 Germany which attributed to King
 Edward the idiosyncrasy of never
 wearing the same suit twice is per.
 haps the most foolish.
 So declared gentleman the other
 evening, who is in a position to speak
 authoritatively on the subject.
 T know exactly how this report
 which have frequently heard on tho
 continent, originated,'@. he added.
 When his majesty is aproad, taking
 the waters or paying an informal vis-
 it to relatives, he does, as a matter of
 fact seldom wear the same garments
 two days in succession. The reason is
 that more latitude is permissible in
 this respect on the continent than in
 England. No gentleman, for example, would walk in Hyde Park clothed in a Norfolk sack back and Tyrolean hat with feather complete. But at the German cures visited by the king such costume is regarded as cor
 rect and conventional. No less so, up to the dinner hour, is a rrock coat, On an ordinary light tweed suit, or even fiannels, the latter prererably of a quiet gray color.
 ''The king has an immense wardrobe including all these varieties of style and material, and as he seldom, per-
 haps never, wears these particular cloths in England, he naturally takes advantage of the opportunities af- forded him by the less stringent SO cial customs abroad.
 That is why the king is rarely seen by continental public wearing the same suit twice. But the clothes are
 not discarded. That would imply ex-
 travagance, which is not one of his
 majesty's traits. In fact, during the
 present week he has worn while shoot ing at Windsor, sac back suit ana feathered hat, in which he was first seen at 8 German bad I believe the
 king would more frequently adopt this comfortable style of garment if cir. cumStanceS permitted.
 ''The suits the king wears only
 once are those he does not like. These are transferred to gentlemen
 whose position appeals to the kings kindly nature. The other clothes for which his majesty has no longer
 any use are the perquisites of the 1 assistant valets, of whom there are two, an Englishman and an Austrian, who are under the supervision of the superintendent of the wardrobe. s'The king never assumes less than
 three different suits in the course O. the day. When he rises he puts on
 an easy fitting lounge suit of black,
 navy blue or dark mixture. In this attire he goes through his private correspondence.
 ."Then about ten or half past, if he | is going to shoot he dons brown
 tweed sporting costume, with the fa-
 vorite and picturesque Tyrolean hat. When the king is in his residence at Buckingham palace and goes to Wind- sor for a few hours among the pheas- ants, he leaves London in a frock suit, but in the royal rooms at the | Windsor railway station - one of which is fitted up as dressing room there are awaiting his arrival one or two shooting costumes, from which the king selects the one most suitable to the weather. If he is bent on, golf clothes befitting that pastime take the place of the shooting outfit ''If his majesty has been subjected to any great exertiOn during the out ing he. on his return to the castle, un- l dergoes a system of massage and | then dresses for dinner. Thus on an or dinary day three suits are worn. If his majesty made it rule never l to wear the same suit twice, simple calculation shows that he would re- quire no fewer than 1905 suits in the course of a year. Taking 10 guineas as the average price per suit, that would bring his tailors bill to over 6 1O95O a year, which, of course, IS absurd e
 .As a matter of fact, the king still
 wears once or twice a week frock
 coat which he had made at the time of the coronation. Only the other day his majesty might have been seen
 within the precincts of Windsor castle
 wearing lounge suit of distinctly un- common purple color. He was con versing with some workmen in a
 manner as unaffected as his appear
 ance was unassuming That purple
 suit was a revelation.
 The king has undoubtedly the lar gest wardrobe of any monarch 1n the ! world. and no one would dare reduce it without his permission; for he has remarkable memory in the case or
 small things as in large, and he might
 ask for the very garments which had been removed.
 At Windsor castle, Buckingham
 palace and Sandringham his majesty
 has a total of about two hundred
 suits of all kinds, besides nearly
 hundred hats and caps. He has, more
 over, a splendid collection of fur-lined es overcoats.
 q may point out that for morning wear with frock coat the king at pres
 ent favors a trousers pattern with thin vertical stripe. The white vest slip which he made fashionable has been lately discarded by his majesty, who also likes velvet collars on his overcoats.
 "To sum up, the king orders about
 thirty suits of various kinds in the
 course of twelve months.
 Quite distinct branch of his ma-
 jesty's wardrobe is that devoted to his
 military and naval uniforms. The