SQUARE ROOT The Prince of Wales check, once reserved for the select monarchical few, now holds the power to be all things to all stylish men. the rake traces the history of this audacious tailoring pattern. by aleksandar cvetkovic
M
uch like the Dark Ages art of ‘pattern welding’ — an arcane process performed by the best Anglo-Saxon smiths to imbue fine sword blades with seemingly mystical acid-etched patterns of spirals believed to provide a sword with its own personality — every sartorial pattern or stripe within the world of fine tailoring possesses its own identity, rooted in its recondite origins and the personality of its creator. One might imagine that the identity of ‘Prince of Wales check’ is self-explanatory, but the reality is more complicated (yet no less rakish). Most believe that this rather peculiar pattern was originally made for and designed by His Royal Highness the Prince of Wales — better known in the annals of history as Edward VIII. Though a commonly accepted story, the creation of this most aristocratic of sartorial patterns is, in reality, more intriguing. The eponymous Prince Edward certainly popularised the pattern, with his penchant for clothes cut in checked cloth in the 1920s, but it was his grandfather, King Edward VII, who established the check in the form in which it exists today, using it as livery for hunts and country sports held during his uncharacteristically languid summer breaks at Abergeldie Castle in the Scottish Highlands. Quite some pedigree, then, but even so, Prince of Wales check is not an entirely original creation. To be precise, His Majesty plagiarised these designs from the subtly differing Scottish Glenurquhart check, or ‘Glen check’. A little confusingly, Glenurquhart check similarly takes its name from 164
an aristocratic Scottish estate, that on which the Countess of Seafield dressed her gamekeepers in boldly checked cloths throughout the 19th century. It is a fact much overlooked that whereas a Glen check will have either no over-check or a conventional windowpane over-check running through it, Prince of Wales check is defined by the use of guarded overchecks that border the edges of the cloth’s pattern, rather than dissecting them. With such aristocratic origins, these details smack of traditional British attention to correct dress. It is fitting, therefore, that these checks have retained a continued association with the British monarchy ever since their inception. Myriad photographs depict Edward VIII in particularly punchy variants, wearing heavy 18- or 20-ounce check hacking coats and sports jackets, often accented with an equally loud check cap. In more recent years, Prince Michael of Kent has done anything but shy away from these checks, sporting seriously bold worsted Glen checks with his characteristic aplomb — epitomising the stature with which these patterns are associated. Perhaps most appropriately, our cover subject, Prince Charles, has dressed in checks on countless occasions over the years, most notably sporting his trademark Anderson & Sheppard four-by-six doublebreasted suiting, cut in smooth, understated, fine-worsted Prince of Wales check. Tradition aside, these idiosyncratic cloths have an equally potent association with fashion royalty. No less regal than
Edward Windsor, Prince of Wales, circa 1925.
165
Gieves & Hawkes AW15.
Clockwise from top left: Prince Michael of Kent at the Royal Windsor horse show; Prince Charles in Belfast, Northern Ireland, this year; the Prince of Wales, later Edward VIII; Steve McQueen in The Thomas Crown Affair, 1968; King Edward VII wearing a kilt; and Ringo Starr’s famous three-piece in Prince of Wales check by Nutter’s.
166
Prince Charles’s understated suiting is the potent black and white double-breasted Glen check suit designed by Patrick Grant for E. Tautz AW15. Equally striking are E. Tautz’s two spring bomber jackets that use classic Prince of Wales checks to offset their sporty aesthetic and retain the brand’s quintessential sense of Britishness. Gieves & Hawkes has channelled this, too, for AW15, softening their checks into deep charcoal and burgundy shades, creating sophisticated, contemporary smoking jackets, seamlessly transitioning these patterns from day to eveningwear. There’s no doubt that Savile Row holds Prince of Wales check in high esteem, but the pattern’s contemporary association with the Row had a surprisingly anti-establishmentarian genesis in the works of master tailor Edward Sexton. During the decade in which Sexton made his name as head cutter and all-round inspiration at Nutter’s of Savile Row, exaggerated, flamboyant and perfectly pattern-matched checked tailoring was a house speciality, cementing the Row’s love for bold checked cloths. For much of the seventies Sexton spent his time playing with dramatic checked patterns, breaking them up with complementary houndstooth or gingham-checked cloths (as in Ringo Starr’s famous Nutter’s three-piece), repositioning Prince of Wales check as the pattern of choice for the fashionable glitterati of the decade.
E. Tautz AW15.
Not that Sexton’s big and bold approach is the only means to show off an intricate check. In 1968, Dougie Hayward insisted upon a soft, tonal grey Glen check to make up the iconic headline-suit for Steve McQueen in what is perhaps the most stylish film of the era, The Thomas Crown Affair, deciding instead to demonstrate the understated quality that such patterns can lend to sharply cut suiting. Legend has it that McQueen had his suits cut with time to spare before filming commenced, giving himself a few weeks to settle into his new tailored wardrobe, during which time the checked three-piece came out as a firm favourite. Crucially, the suit was cut for summer from a soft, lightweight worsted, challenging the notion that these patterns need only be synonymous with autumnal tailoring. From one McQueen to another, Alexander McQueen featured Prince of Wales check heavily in the SS15 collection, choosing to print the pattern onto lightweight cotton tailoring rather than weave it in a heavier fibre. It seems, then, that these checks, despite being originally reserved for the select monarchical few, have morphed over the previous century. In today’s world, they hold the power to be all things to all men — stylish men, to be clear. They may bear a regal, old-school and distinctly British quality, but nonetheless can stand at the forefront of cutting-edge sartorial fashion. Long may they reign. 167