Marc Chevalier
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A personal detail from the life of England's King George V was that his brown shoes seemed to shine more brightly than anyone else's. Curious members of the court eventually learned that the king's personal attendant had invented a special varnish for brown shoes but refused to reveal the secret of its composition. His Majesty also hated to have his pockets filled with keys. He never had more than one key with him at all times. This was the silver key to his box of personal papers which he kept attached to his watch chain. In addition, the king had exactly 24 suits and 36 pairs of shoes made for him per year, and he always had the upper buttonhole of his jacket embroidered with a large rose.
George V?¢‚Ǩ‚Ñ¢s son, Edward VIII (the Duke of Windsor), was an early convert to the cult of sportswear, but that's not to say a certain nutty intensity didn't inform his choices. The left hip pocket of his trousers had no fastening and was slightly wider than the right pocket to accommodate his cigarette case; since he didn't like wearing a belt or suspenders, his tailor devised a special little elastic girdle which fastened down the center front of his pants with a series of hooks.
Oddly enough, the Duke of Windsor did not have his suits?¢‚Ǩ‚Ñ¢ trousers made by the tailor of the same suits?¢‚Ǩ‚Ñ¢ jackets. Instead, the suit trousers were made by H. Harris, a New York-based tailor whose apprenticeship was served in London. The Duke began to have his trousers tailored by Harris while he was Governor of the Bahamas during the Second World War. As the Duke explained, "I gave him a pair of my old London trousers and he copied them admirably. Since then, I have had my trousers made in New York and my jackets in London, an international compromise which the Duchess aptly describes as 'pants across the sea.'"
George V?¢‚Ǩ‚Ñ¢s son, Edward VIII (the Duke of Windsor), was an early convert to the cult of sportswear, but that's not to say a certain nutty intensity didn't inform his choices. The left hip pocket of his trousers had no fastening and was slightly wider than the right pocket to accommodate his cigarette case; since he didn't like wearing a belt or suspenders, his tailor devised a special little elastic girdle which fastened down the center front of his pants with a series of hooks.
Oddly enough, the Duke of Windsor did not have his suits?¢‚Ǩ‚Ñ¢ trousers made by the tailor of the same suits?¢‚Ǩ‚Ñ¢ jackets. Instead, the suit trousers were made by H. Harris, a New York-based tailor whose apprenticeship was served in London. The Duke began to have his trousers tailored by Harris while he was Governor of the Bahamas during the Second World War. As the Duke explained, "I gave him a pair of my old London trousers and he copied them admirably. Since then, I have had my trousers made in New York and my jackets in London, an international compromise which the Duchess aptly describes as 'pants across the sea.'"
