The royal developed his taste for tailoring over a lifetime in the public eye.

On a visit to France in the late ’60s, a fresh-faced Prince Charles showed some panache with a peacockish patterned tie.

The normally suit-stubborn royal deviated into casual pastures—T-shirts and riding trousers—when out on the polo grounds.

While easing at Balmoral Castle in Scotland, the prince wore a regionally appropriate tartan kilt.

A persistent wearer of plaids and checks, here the prince sports a coordinating hunting set in 1980.

For most of his very public life, a double-breasted jacket has been this royal’s sartorial signature.

Here, a V-neck-clad to-be-king strides out of his Aston Martin for a polo match in 1986.

Though ordinarily conservative in his tastes, here the prince dons a jaunty neckerchief during a Swiss ski holiday in 1989.

Who said the prince doesn't have a lighter side? Here, he plays a bit of cricket in one of his bespoke tan suits.

The prince wearing a weathered Barbour rain jacket in 1994. The outdoor apparel company is one of many clothing brands to have a Royal Warrant, making it an official outfitter of the royal family.

For a charity polo match in 1994, the royal once again goes in for a breezy, chest-bearing V-neck sweater.

By middle age, the prince was increasingly allegiant to double-breasted suits with an ever-so-slight plaid pattern.

In recent decades, the royal has rarely been seen without a tie strung around his neck, even while trudging through boggy fields.

"I’m one of those people who hate throwing anything away," Charles told British Vogue in 2020. Indeed, many of his custom suits and jackets have been in his closet for decades.

As a hardy cheerleader for British manufacturing, the king primarily purchases his clothes from English apparel institutions, like Turnbull & Asser dress shirts and suits from Savile Row stalwarts Anderson & Sheppard and Gieves & Hawkes.

Royals have a stringent dress code for official business. Here the prince attends the National Service of Thanksgiving at St. Paul’s Cathedral in 2022, wearing a traditional morning coat with his military medals pinned to this chest.

Produced by Leah Latella and Lily Kupets

Cover image by Anwar Hussein/WireImage