Evening Star Newspaper, March 29, 1931, Page 80

g THE SUNDAY STAR, WASHINGTON, D. C, MARCH 29, 193L s YES, SIR—THE PRINCE OF WALES Has a Pet Superstition! T welve Trunks, Fifty Suits, Twenty Pairs of Shoes and Twenty Hats for His South Americanfaunt, and 1There Is a Reason for the Prince’s Fasiidious- ness in Dress. BY THOMAS G. MIDDLETON. HE Prince of Wales has a clothes “hoodoo.” This amazing side to the intimate, personal character of the British royal traveler, who has been enjoying the thrills of voyaging in romantic South America, is very little known. But it is very positive, as those who move nearest him know. It is not a matter of temperament or temper. It is not a whim or mere foolish fad. Rather it is a sort of superstition. It works in a very strange and interesting and curious way. Never before have I hit upon anything quite like it. For the prince believes that certain clothes bring bad influences to work upon him. Stated baldly like that, I know you will start with surprise. But let me tell you the whole story of how the clothes “hoodoo” affects His Royal Highness, the future King-Emperor of Britain. Every one knows of the strange superstition§ which are held to be imbedded in the fire of certain precious stones of history. Even the British royal family has acknowledged one in connection with the crown jewels. For the only reason why the beautiful Indian diamond, the Koh-i-noor, was set in the queen’s crown was because of a legend and “curse” upon the stone, that should it ever be worn by & con- queror of India that monarch would lose the conquered territory. The Prince of Wales, however, was never suspected of harboring a superstition or be- Heving in “curses,” and actually he does not in a general sense. But some years ago it was noticed that he would appear in a brand new and expensive suit one day and the next day throw it off and put it in among his cast-off clothes to be got rid of. At first friends considered this mere “fad- diness.” Then the real secret was disclosed. NEVER the prince has what he puts v down as a “bad day” he will never wear again the clothes he had on during that day. The idea behind this is that in some way the clothes had some bad influence and spoiled his effort for the day. ‘This clothes ban extends very specially to his golfing attire, The prince’s one great personal unofficial “passion” is his golf, which he takes most seriously. He goes to enormous lengths to keep his game good and progressing. There is not another person in BPBritain—and possibly only a few in the world—who indulge their golf clothes to the extent the Prince of Wales does. Many of his golfing outfits are startling to a degree. I will describe some of them Iater. And one and all are his pride and joy when he dons them in the morning to sally forth to the links. But should his game turn out badly that day the prince will not fly into a rage and “go off the deep end” in the proverbial golf manner and language. Instead, he will put the trouble all down to the clothes he was wearing and, metaphorically, “cast out the devil” by casting off the clothes. This superstition is not confined to his golfing clothes. It is just the same with his more formal attire. Should he make what he con- siders a bad speech at a public function, or should something go wrong with the pregram ef some ceremony, away again go the clothes worn during the fumction or ceremony. That the prince gets great relief from this practice is also known. But you will admit it is a peculiar “hoodoo.” Nor is this the only peculiarity of the Prince of Wales in the matter of his clothes. If I were to say he was the most-dressed man in the world I should be as near right as ever I am likely to be about anything. It might not be se easy to say he is the best-dressed man in civilization In the sense of strict sartorialness. Most certainly he is probably the smartest- dressed man you are ever likely to meet. So let me tell some of the secrets of those 12 large trunks of clothes that traveled with the Prince of Wales to South America. In them are some 50 suits and clothes outfits generally, outfits to suit any and every oeca- sion and be appropriate. Also suits he will wear specially to please himself, not caring for the opinion of any one else, And suits that may raise up that “clothes ghost” of his. JUS’I‘ before he left England for his latest South American trip, the prince had what his friends know as a “buying spasm.” He did a lot of intensive shopping, in other words, and it did not end in London either, for after he and his youngest brother, the Prince George, had flown to Paris on the first stage of their journey, they immediately hurried 'round a number of the leading shops for last-minute items—mostly small ones, by the way. Hidden, therefore, in the prince’s trunks are many suits which have not yet been worn. South Americans are the first people to see the prince in them. Some may not be worn at all. But on all occasions except these of golfing excursions you can take it that the prince is dressed in what is the very height of fashion in English society of both today and tomorrow. He will perhaps startle sticklers for what is generally believed to be evening dress etiquette by a new style which he himself created just before he left London. It is that of wearing a stiff, starched, white waistcoat to a dinner-jacket suit and a black tie. For long he fought for this, as did his grandfather, King Edward, before him, and only just now has the prince succeeded where his forefather failed. Iet me give you this style in detail, for I know you will want to know all about it. The white waistcoat can be of several differ- ent styles. The most extreme is one witn straight, very broad lapels, single-breasted and with three ornate buttons and the points very widely apart. The one the prince favors most is of the same type, but with narrow lapels and the points long and not so widely separated. With his dinner-jacket suits the prince will always wear soft white shirts, even though he wears the white stiff waistcoat. Included in this royal wardrobe are also those sternly formal British social suits which, I can reveal to you, the prince does not lke. He is not in any sense a “fop.” In his trunks are about 20 pairs of shoes and about the same number of hats. This is not a matter of snobbishness or mere show. The prince insists upon always suiting his clothes to the occasion, whatever it is. He is justly proud of his appearance for two very important rea- sons. The one is a personal pleasure and the other and more important is because he knows that wherever he goes and whatever the oc- casion he will be representing Britain, and, therefore, must be smart and well worth look- ing at. That is why his strict black morning “cut- away” tall coats and silk “topper” hats have Wide World Photo, Sir Henry Chilion, British Ambassador to Chile, and his family greeting the Prince of Wales and Prince George at Santiago, Chile. The Prince of Wales is superstitions about his clothes. If he has had a bad day in a certain suit of clothes, it goes into the dis- card. been included, and also some of his smartest uniforms. These will be worn on strictly fore mal occasions only. THE sartorial sensations which the prince provided during his trip ceme from his unofficial clothes. In this direction he is a distinct style revoe lutionary, but in none more so than his golfing suits. His favorite golfing suit of the moment is in one of the most vivid checks one could imagine-—inch-large diamond black and white squares—with which he wears an all-envelop- ing large cap and stockings to match. This is only one of many “thrilling” golf suits the prince is carrying. With the black and white one, as well as others, the royal player of the “royal and ancient” game has vivid pink shirts and collars and large and “loud” pattern ties. He also favors highly colored and patterned stockings for golf wear and almost equally bright socks for ordinary wear. Another revolutionary mode of the Prince of Wales, by the way, is that of wearing brogue shoes with his lounge suits. With his golfing wear and often in his off- duty hours when in lounge suits the prince wears pull-overs of rich wool in the brightest of colors and most startling bizarre patterns. His lounge suits, by the way, are very varied —grays, browns, blues and pin stripes all ap- pear among them. Mostly he adopts the double-breasted coat shaped to the waist. And always in lounge suits permanent turn-up hems to the trousers. But to his golfing clothes again, for they always arouse most interest wherever he goes. The Prince of Wales once declared, and with quite an amount of seriousness, that he first took to golf because it gave him the chance to enjoy the freedom of plus-fours, cap and soft collar. Not always, by any means, does he adopt the pink soft shirt and collar. He will ap- pear on occasions, especially on very bright sunny days, in a vivid blue shirt and collar with which he wears a salmon pink sleeve- less jumper in “futuristic” design and magpie shoes. And caps for golf are always large, both as to size and pattern. The prince’'s love of his play clothes is shown in another and very practical way also. Always he seems to be devising bright clothes notions. While they are undoubtedly gay, these royal golf suits are also extremely prac- tical and many of the ideas suggested by him have been copied widely. His great idea is for comfort and utility. So invariably he has the golf jacket cut with large expanding pleats in the back to allow the fullest freedom for his swing. RCHIE COMPSON, the famous golf pro who has often coached the prince, will tell you that this royal player has one big fault. It is that he will persist in trying to do the work of hitting the ball himself instead of leaving it to the club. To get good results from this style of play the prince must have plenty of room in his clothes. Also he demands capacious pockets in his golf clothes so that he can carry favorite briar pipes, plenty of tobacco, cigarecttes and other whatnots, without which his time on the links would not only be incomplete, but also cause him to lose 50 per cent of its enjoyment. There is one golfing suit which the prince made suddenly blossom out in which will out- rival all his others. It is a bright yellow canary-colored cloth and a many-colored knite ted jersey. One other Prince of Wales fashion note, to conclude. Never will you see him wearing jewelry except on ceremonial occasions when jeweled orders are compulsory. His cuff links are invariably mother-of-pearl and gold, and quite plain. And when he wears a wrist watch he uses a thick plain leather strap.