Making your life more royal (part four of a series) - Dressing the part

Part of the reason I set up this blog is to help people "put a little royalty into their life". To that end, I've kicked off this semi-regular series of postings about bringing the castles of Europe to you, sort of. Similar to the "Gothic Homemaking" series of videos that were put out by Aurelio Voltaire (over on YouTube), this will be a recurring series on how to make your own life, well, a bit more royal.

Part one of this series can be found here. Part two of this series can be found here. Part three is here.

If "the clothes make the man" (or woman), that's doubly true when it comes to the nobility. Since a first impression is a powerful influence, it's important to ensure that strangers recognize your regnal authority at first glance.

However, it's important to recognize that there are different levels of dress. Much like members of the military might have "ceremonial" (formal parade) uniforms, "mess dress", "Class A" (dress) uniforms, and "duty dress", you will want to invest in several different outfits.

First is the coronation attire. It will be worn rarely, possibly only once, but it is the ultimate statement of "dress to impress". Think ermine robes, full crown, orb and scepter, etc.

Next is the formal wear: white tie or black tie, for state dinners and other formal functions. Ladies, this is typically the only time you'll wear a tiara.

At about the same level we have ceremonial parade uniforms, for those nobles who are also service members or honorary unit commanders. Wearing these is largely context-dependent - if you're acting in the military capacity in any way, then this would be appropriate. (However, beware of "stolen valour" accusations - do not use modern military insignia or medals that you haven't earned yourself, not even replicas!)

Business attire (blazer or sport coat with collared shirt and dressy pants such as chinos for men, either a nice dress or trousers and jacket for women) would be worn for official but less-formal occasions. In cooler weather, I prefer Harris tweed sport coats, ideally with a vest underneath (with a pocket watch on a fob chain), and either a club tie or a regimental tie (or an ascot if I'm feeling playful), with a London Fog trench coat if the weather requires it. 

Finally, casual attire is day-to-day wear - jeans and polo shirts or t-shirts, for example. Clothing and footgear should be in good repair. I like to wear a t-shirt that I picked up at Universal Studios several years ago that says "King" - just to make it clear.

What the well-dressed king wears in his off-hours?

Finally, a word about hats: understand the rules about wearing them! For gentlemen, hats should be worn outdoors, and in outdoors-equivalent areas such as the lobby of a building or an elevator, but should be removed immediately on entering the indoors. In particular, a hat must not be worn when eating! For women, if they are wearing a "fascinator" style of hat then it should stay on the head at all times in public, but otherwise (if, for example, she is wearing a baseball hat) the same rules that men follow would apply.