NNow that England’s acute despair has metastasized into the more manageable state of chronic disappointment, we can hopefully all admit that Spain simply produced the better team.
It was that bold flash of red that caught the eye – the brilliant use of width too. But it was the overall shape of the ensemble that was most impressive, all measured with millimetre precision. Spain looked composed throughout, right up to the moment the trophy was finally seized. Yes, success is just the kind of thing we do, was the basic message. In a word? Royal.
Contrast with our own princes. A completely solid performance, boys – but safe, too safe, too narrow, too, no light and shadow, lacking the self-confidence of born winners. And so it appeared throughout the match. Our boys looked tense, nervous, sweaty under the collar, overshadowed by the occasion itself.
But let us not descend into recriminations. There is no shame in losing to such a clearly superior performer – and Princes William and George were clearly no match for King Felipe VI of Spain. Who knows, maybe our own royals will one day be good again?
But for now, the Spanish monarch is simply in a class of his own. In football, as in men’s clothing, Spain is the new Italy, the place to be looked at with envy for elegance and class.
It was American cult menswear commentator Derek Guy (who has over 1 million followers on his X account @dieworkwear) who first described King Felipe as the dominant force in the menswear world.
After the 2023 Wimbledon final, Guy subjected the king’s outfit to a forensic analysis that quickly went viral. “You rarely see this level of customization these days, even among the wealthy,” he noted.
The overall effect, he explained, is one of authority; Felipe always seems at ease with himself and the situation. But this line masks the almost mathematical precision of the cut of his suits: the lapels that end almost exactly halfway between the collar and the shoulder; the jackets that end halfway to the floor; the trousers, always in neat proportions that form a seamless whole (note: you earn extra sartorial points if you call it a “coat” and not a jacket).
The “roll” of Felipe’s lapel has been particularly praised (most men’s clothing is very flat these days). Also of note is the monarch’s excellent footwear – double monk shoes! – and also the impeccably stylish family. Queen Letizia is similarly admired in women’s clothing.
You could argue that that’s all fine and dandy for the King of Spain. We’re not all 6ft 5in heads of state from stylish Iberian tapas kingdoms who happen to be really good at football.
But Spain wasn’t always so stylish or successful at football. Many extremely wealthy men dress extremely badly – so it’s not just about money. Furthermore, many men of lesser means imitate these men, resulting in a general men’s clothing chaos. Among the modern vêtes noires: jackets that are too short, shirts that are too tight, sleeves that are too short, trousers that are too tight under boxy jackets, all of which contribute to a general look of excitement and male distress.
We could add a few quintessentially British mistakes to this litany. Skinny ties, for example, as worn most notably by our ex-Prime Minister Rishi Sunak. As is so often the case, this trend is an overcorrection of an earlier trend, the era of the “footballer-at-a-wedding” thick knot.
King Felipe? He goes for the four-in-hand method, classic, which results in a wide but not too wide tie that also hangs with a bit of asymmetry. Muy bien.
Yet a tie is considered quite eccentric these days. In recent years, Zuckerbergian hoodies and Bezosian vests have become normalized as workwear, to the point where most men only wear suits when forced to. Certainly not at football matches.
The shift to working from home in the pandemic era has only accelerated the shift away from formal attire. Gareth Southgate is the poster child for the movement towards what is apparently known as “soft power dressing”.
He has long since swapped the cardigan that became the unexpected sartorial hit of the 2018 World Cup for a £45 M&S x England white knitted zip-up polo shirt, apparently chosen to introduce a more “relaxed” atmosphere to the camp. “When you’re working with young lads, you don’t want to be too rigid in what you do or wear,” he has explained
That’s certainly true. But I can’t get around the fact that sports casual has its limits as a philosophy. It only gets you so far: two consecutive finals, maybe. The whole point of formal menswear, it seems to me, is not to be stuffy. And it’s certainly not about following trends – one season a huge flapper, the next a tiny drainpipe. It’s about acquiring wisdom and knowledge.
What kind of man am I? What kind of image do I want to project? Who should I trust? A well-tailored suit is comfortable, but it’s not just about being comfortable. It’s about being dominant.