Prince Philip Style Tips

Buy British, Wear Timeless

We featured Prince Philip's elegantly grumpy style back in 2011 — and he's in the Roll Call of The Elegant Male, of course — so it was nice to see that years later he is getting his due in the mainstream fashion press. GQ has named the 94-year-old prince the twelfth best-dressed man in Britain. I'm not sure how they rank these things, but I'll wager those higher up the list use stylists and have clothes given to them for promotion by fashion houses, which is frankly cheating. I'm also surprised that Prince Charles is not on the list. He might have the wardrobe classic dressers most admire, and he wears his clothes so well — a very strange decision. Perhaps even stranger is that 'casually-inclined' Prince Harry is on the list. Even Harry might be surprised at his inclusion.

So what do we learn from Prince Philip's recognition? First of all, he is completely supportive of British firms: underwear from Lyle & Scott, shoes from John Lobb limited, hats by Lock and Co., coats from DAKS and Barbour and kilts from Kinloch Anderson.

In a related newspaper article, John Kent, his long-serving tailor at Kent Haste and Lachter, says that Prince Philip is particular about his cut of suit, favouring two-button high roll jackets and classic cloths and linings. He appreciates that his suits are made to last and will happily use them for years. He has built up a sizeable collection, as he would after nine decades, which includes five morning suits.

John says that the blazer (below) has buttons that belong to different branches of the Royal Navy, which was Prince Philip's idea, and an excellent one at that. (I can almost hear Ralph Lauren scribbling notes to replicate that flourish.)




Do you know? Now I'm looking at these photos, maybe he has something to teach his eldest son.