The princely robe
So, Prince George wore this white robe for his audience with President Obama:
Cute kid, cute photo.
The robe—like almost everything else in Prince George’s much-photographed wardrobe (or that of his fashionable mother, for that matter)—sold out in minutes.
Talk about product placement! It’s a robe, folks, a white robe. In addition, it’s the sort of thing that most kids don’t wear anymore. When was the last time you saw a child in a robe?
I’ve noticed that most of Prince George’s clothes have a wonderful timeless quality. I’d call them “preppy” but that’s not quite right, either. They’re almost exactly sort of thing I remember from my long-ago childhood that were featured in the Best & Co. catalogue, conservative clothing that conveyed the possession of understated old money. The Queen has the same style-less (one might instead call it “timeless”) style that ignores style and says, “We stand for the old truths and the old ways.”
Of course, Prince George so far has little say in the matter. Come to think of it, though, he seems to tolerate his clothes quite nicely and wear them with a solemn dignity that’s also quite adorable. How many kids could pull it off as well?
[NOTE: Speaking of “pull it off,” I believe that, had I tried to put such a robe on my son when he was little, he would have pulled it off (literally). He didn’t like restraints or extra clothing, and one of the first phrases he ever used was “Too tight! Too tight!” He had particular difficulty with footed pajamas and turtlenecks, and after a short while I stopped buying either for him.]
It will be interesting to see how his life progresses. Certainly there is a love/hate relationship (perhaps too strong, but all I can think of) between the British, or at least the press, and the Royal family.
His Mother and Father perhaps seem more grounded in everyday life than those who preceded. Of course Elizabeth Regina never really had a chance to establish a semi-private life.
Although his Grandfather, Charles, is a bit of an environmental wacko, I have always admired the professional, and even humble, way that he approached flying.
I spent some time with his RAF crew–mentors–in Brazil many years ago. They were complimentary of his efforts. (Different story with Prince Phillip.) I also watched the press fawn over Diana, and snub Charles, on a daily basis.
Best & Company! That’s where my mother took us for clothes in Washington, D.C., and “timeless” is exactly what I remember. For instance, a fitted dark red plaid coat for winter with green corduroy collar and back belt. For my first Communion, a simple white dress with only a little lace on the bodice (not enough for the girly-girl taste I had at that age). A yellow dress with a back sash and a full, full skirt that twirled admirably and could be made to pouf on the floor if you dropped from your twirl just right.
Remember when Robin Givhan criticized the way Justice Roberts’ children were dressed at his swearing in, because their clothes were too timeless and classic? She compared the preschoolers to jelly beans, Necco wafers and jelly bellies and said that Justice Roberts should have dressed them in fashions from the current century. What do you want to bet she reserves such criticism for political conservatives and never even thought of directing comparable spite at Kate Middleton?
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/07/21/AR2005072102347.html
Mrs Whatsit,
What an obnoxious article. I think it’s good to teach kids that some things are timeless classics and that there are situations where these are required. Ultimately, you save a lot of money by not throwing away your whole wardrobe every 2 months.
neo,
My youngest child had a robe that was very like the Prince’s when he was about the same age. It was a white terry, hooded robe with pockets and a sash that I bought for him to wear at the beach. It was an excellent wrap for a wiggly toddler when it was time to get out and get dry. I have a photo of him in it that is as adorable as the little Prince (of course).
Well, you may not see many kids in robes, but that’s always something my 5 grandkids always ask for, and slippers, too. Santa has a head start each October. Maybe we keep our thermostats lower than others in winter. They also ask for fluffy blankets.
There simply seems to be no sense of style. Maybe old fashioned, but I do miss it.
I will always take note of a well groomed lady dressed in a tasteful and appropriate manner, rather than the alternative–regardless of physical attractiveness. When I say tasteful, I do not necessarily mean dressed expensively. Just evidence of care and grace will do nicely.
I do appreciate seeing men who take some care to dress appropriately as well.
Custom tayloring…
For that perfect fit.
blert,
If you are a woman, you can sew your own clothes. I did that from about the time I was 8 (at least with my Mom’s help). I quit when my cats started jumping between the pattern and the fabric.
My daughter had a robe just like that (though without the trim). Of course, being UMC WASPs, maybe we’re closer to the Windsors than to the neos. (I don’t mean that in a mean way, just a sociological observation.)
There actually was an article in the Daily Mail last week discussing this aspect of the children’s wardrobe. The people quoted all seemed to feel that the Duchess was doing this deliberately to tone down fashion discussion in the news.
See: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/femail/article-3552281/Why-Duchess-Cambridge-dresses-children-indentically.html
I think it was the Saturday Review that had the recurring feature, Fad, Fashion, Style. The point was that fads were fleeting, fashions would change, but style was timeless.
I saw the same article that RohanV did — and I couldn’t help thinking that the Duchess was picking such sensible, timeless, understated and practical clothing for her children. Very much the same kind of things that my mother dressed us in (she made most of our clothes, and my grandmothers knitted sweaters) and that I dressed my daughter in — although my daughter got a lot of Oshkosh denim, which was also absolutely timeless. (In that it takes about three kids to wear out an Oshkosh overall, or that it used to – and I usually sold her outgrown sets to other people with children for a nice price.) Indeed, faddish fashions are fleeting, but style is timeless.
When I was a child, were visit my grandparents in New York and my parents would buy me a dressy dress from Best & Co. I actually still have some of them. One is a beautiful black velvet jumper with flowers sticker around the neckline. It came with a white underdress with ruffles at the cuffs. Great for a tasteful five year old. They don’t dress then like that any more. Though I’m willing to be when Charlotte gets a little older, shell be wearing something like it. (I wrote a LOT of Polly Flinders as a little girl. Do they even make Polly Flinders anymore?)
Can’t imagine what it must be like for the purpose of your family’s existence to be “Serve as the fulcrum for what fashion trends people talk about.”
I miss Oshkosh adult clothes. They made the best dungarees in the world, lots of useful pockets!
I have never liked turtlenecks, myself.
Speaking of British children in classic clothing, you must check out this recent birthday picture of the Queen and her grandchildren, particularly Mia Tindall with handbag:
http://mashable.com/2016/04/21/mia-tindall-queen-birthday-photo/#72Tpg8pKFgqS
Lee: I don’t know about now, but 25 years ago little girls still wore Polly Flinders dresses. As a small girl, my daughter refused to wear jeans or pants for a couple of years, distinguishing herself from her brothers, maybe. Just before she started kindergarten, I found a whole wardrobe of size-five, barely worn Polly Flinders dresses in a church consignment shop in an affluent town (great places to shop!). They’d been outgrown by some little girl with a mother with old-fashioned taste, just in time to get my little girl through her first year in school. And since they came from a secondhand shop, fingerpaint on the fancy frills wasn’t a worry. What a find! I still have one of them, folded away with other fond memories.
I’ll stop talking about classic kids’ clothes in just a second, I promise. But here’s a blast from the past for Polly Flinders fans. (My little sister had the green dress with red and white trim in the second row, or one very like it. Over the weekend I scanned a bunch of ancient family photos, including a school pic of my sister in that dress.)
https://www.google.com/search?q=Polly+Flinders&tbm=isch&tbo=u&source=univ&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwjqj8m3zqzMAhWTPB4KHStsCjoQsAQIMQ&biw=1536&bih=706
Yes, Prince George’s clothes seem like they’re from another era. All of the Queen’s grandkids look that way (see recent portrait: http://preview.tinyurl.com/jj5su5j).
My son at that age had a hooded terry robe for the pool, too, since we lived in a high-rise with a pool we could visit every day during the summer.
Puts me in mind of a quote I heard years ago that supposedly came from one of the old Boston Brahmin matriarchs:
“Oh, we don’t buy clothes. We have them.”
Mrs. Whatsit —
I recognized several of the dresses I had as a little girl!
One was the Red Tartan Plaid Silk Taffeta — Best & Co. Christmas buy, I do recall. I also had the simpler red tartan one with the long sleeves in the same row (3). I had one like the blue and green plaid in the 4th row (next to the sideways school pic) And I had one very similar to the blue print number in the center of 5th road… And I had a lavender one and a pink one –they were for parties. I didn’t see any photos of anything like them. I know I had more — a solid maroon one, and a blue one, are two I recall.
My mom loved Polly Flinders. And my recollection is that they were comfortable dresses. The nonparty dresses were comfortable enough for tag on the playground… (The party dresses were ONLY for dress-up occasions.)
Loved looking back at them..