Long before he ascended to the throne, King Charles III was topping best-dressed lists. An unwitting style icon, he achieved this status not through fashion-forward silhouettes or trends but by following tradition. When most men switched to single-breasted suits, Charles famously stuck to double-breasted, a brave move that at times had people making fun of his supposed fustiness. But what it really demonstrated, as we all learned, was Charles’ keen eye for craftsmanship and concern for sustainability.

His is the opposite of fast fashion, with his shirts sewn from 33 pieces of cloth by Jermyn Street’s Turnbull & Asser and bespoke suits created by Savile Row tailors Gieves & Hawkes and Anderson & Sheppard. Charles embraces these traditionalists not because they epitomize luxury, but because their expertise is, in his view, important to preserve.

His clothes are a direct reflection of his almost prophetic concern about the environment, something he has been championing for over 50 years in both fashion and food, long before most of us became aware of the importance of “local.” By doing so he has created a wardrobe that is evergreen: He’s famously worn one of his favourite coats, a russet-toned herringbone tweed, since 1986, gently mending and updating it over time. Another well-worn classic is his grey morning coat, which he dons “a few times a summer.” Originally purchased in 1984 from Anderson & Sheppard, Charles wore it in 2018 to walk Meghan Markle down the aisle to marry Prince Harry, and trotted it out again at Royal Ascot this summer. His “make-do-and-mend” approach – where socks are darned, Barbours rewaxed, tweeds patched and shoes resoled – comes with a wonderful perk, an excuse to buy quality.

King Charles has an obsessive eye for detail, something I witnessed firsthand when I was 10 years old and lucky enough to explore the stables and tack room at Highgrove, where even the lowly saddle blankets were embroidered in his gold insignia. “I mind about details and colour combinations,” he revealed to British Vogue’s editor-in-chief, Edward Enninful, during an interview republished in a recent issue.

Indeed, his sense of colour and pattern is superb, and expresses his artistic side: The King is a keen watercolourist and paints whenever he can. He often chooses pastel shades of lilac, pinks, blues and lavenders for his ties, in whimsical designs that are often animal themed, a nod to his conservationism, from the finest of luxury brand, Hermès, adding a complementary (never matching), handkerchief to his top pocket. This is an area where he indulges in subtle risk-taking — and with a few hard and fast rules — it’s a place to learn from the King’s superb eye. He never does garish, “fun” or even striped ties, unless there’s an affiliation with a regiment or college. His ties are slim, with a light silk backing, so that he can have a very tight, elegant, four-in-hand knot, with the tie just grazing the top of his trousers. The opposite of Donald Trump’s wide, comically long, Windsor-knotted ties named after King Charles’ great-uncle, the Duke of Windsor. The duke loved to wear a thicker necktie, resulting in a wider knot (apparently it’s slimming for round faces).

It helps that His Majesty is a natural clothes horse; he has an ease of bearing, so that no matter how formal his attire he appears to be at home in it. As the Telegraph’s men’s style editor Stephen Doig notes, “What stands out for me is that he actually enjoys clothes and takes a great deal of pleasure in them. It’s not purely functional, nor a chore with King Charles – note the detailed cufflinks, the perfectly corresponding pocket square and ties and the support of what he believes in, which is British-made.  He’s particular and considered in his approach and educated in style a great deal more than most men.”

— Antonia Wyatt