George Washington and Elegance: 

     "...(Washington)received or entertained local dignitaries and politicians and their wives, always in elegant fashion, as was both his pleasure and part of the role he felt he must play.  And as with everything connected with that role  --  his uniform, the house, his horses and equipage, the military dress and bearing of his staff  --  appearances were of great importance:a leader must look and act the part."

                                                                 ...

     "...Washington embraced a life very like that of the English gentry.  English by ancestry, he was, in dress, manner and his favorite pastimes, as close to being an English country gentleman as was possible for an American of the day, and intentionally.  ...  He ordered his clothes from England, and only the finest English wools and linens and latest fashions would do.  He wore English boots, English shoes, and Morocco leather slippers, all made to order for him in London...."

1776; David McCullough

This makes me feel better about being overly interested in clothes than does any reference to the abdicating Duke.