HOW STATESMEN DRESS

Evening Post, Volume CXII, Issue 152, 24 December 1926, Page 16

HOW STATESMEN DRESS

MR. BALDWIN ACCUSED OF

TACTLESSNESS,

Why sUould not statesmen dress Imperially? asks the "Tailor and Cutter," after looking with pain on soina of the Premiers «t tko Imperial Conference. It is noted- that Mr. Baldwin dresses tactlessly. Mr. Bruce (Australia) is criticised for wearing spats, General Hertzog (South Africa) wean his buttons parochially instead of Imperially, Mr. Churchill's collar and tie are Victorian, Lord Balfour's are antiquated, and Lord Birkenhead dresses epigrammatically. These views appear in an article in which it is remarked—with a shudder that almost "pies" the type in which it is set—that:—

"It must have come as something of a shock to our cousins from overseas to find that His Majesty's Prime Minister of State—the Right Hon. Stanley, Baldwin—was presiding over the opening of the Imperial Conference in a lounge suit. There is, to our way of thinking, a thoughtlessness and tactlessness in such a wanton disregard for the proprieties. Mr. Baldwin would put on formal morning dress if he went to Ascot or down to Harrow for Speech Day. The compliment he is prepared to pay society or his own school should also be paid to this wonderful gathering.

"It is extraordinary and not a little humiliating to think that some of these colonial statesmen gave Mr. Baldwin and his colleagues a lesson in sartorial deportment. "We must single out the Canadian representatives for special praise. Mr. Mackenzie King, the Prime Minister, and Mr. Ernest Lapoint, Minister of Justice, were both correctly; attired for such an event. They wore black morning coats and waistcoats and neat trousers. Among others who deserve approbation is Mr. Cosgrave, of the Irish Free State.' Mr. Bruce, the Australian Premier, was well, although informally, dressed, but there was on« sartorial note which requires comment,. In his kit was a pair of spats. "Why did Mr. Bruce wear spats? We are assured that, this is not an Australian fashion. The 'diggers' do not thus protect and embellish their ankles. Areither are- they worn by smartly-drese-ed men in London. Spats are essentially a dandy article of attire, but thejr belong to the vogue of yesteryear.'*