The Emperor’s New Suit

For those of you who seem to always wear the wrong thing, we are here to help you with the struggle.  We have provided you with the best fashion role model possible: The Emperor.  Always on the best dressed list, he has recently begun writing a news paper column about his love for the fashion world.  This is an excerpt taken from a recent publication of the Emperor’s fashion editorial My Pashion for Fashion.

Hello Loyal Readers.  It is me, the Emperor, here to tell you about my newest Pashion in Fashion.  For those of you who don’t know, I am a slave to fashion.  It is definitely the most important thing in my life.  In fact, it is my reason for living.

A short while ago, I was visited by two tailors of expert skill.  They were travelling through and saw my huge city and knew that I would be worthy of their product.  The told me they could make the finest and most precious cloth in the entire world.  They described it in detail.  It would be so light and airy that I would barely know I was wearing anything at all.  It would be made of the best colors and patterns and would be exceeding all other articles in beauty.  Most importantly, it would be invisible to all those not fit for their station.  It was a magic suit!  I had never owned anything magical before.  They told me that this suit would be so rare that no one else would have one.  I love being a trend setter, so I quickly asked them their price and paid it in advance.

They asked for the finest ingredients.  We gave them yards and yards of the finest silk and even more precious gold-cloth.  When I asked them why they needed so much, there answer was much to my satisfaction.  They said that in their special, top secret spinning process the fabric shrunk so that it was just 1/100th of its original space.  They said the loss was necessary to produce the magical fabric.  I was pleased with their answer and knew that my suit would be one of a kind.  So I waited, with excitement, to slip into my new suit.

I got bored of the waiting after a while.  It had never taken anyone so long to make me a high-fashion garment before.  It was so frustrating waiting, so I sent my minister to see the weavers.  He is not the hippest in his fashion sense, but he understands quality.  Therefore, he would know if their work was up to par.  He came back elated about the progress and convinced me to be patient.  I asked him to describe the suit in detail.  At least if I could not be wearing, I could imagine it.  But he would not!  He said that things this special were better left a surprise.  So I waited.

Finally, it was ready and they fitted me into the beautiful suit.  The tailors reminded me that anyone who was not worthy of their position would not be able to see my suit! They would think I was - can you believe it? - naked! Needless to say, I could see every detail of the suit.  They saw it as well and were pleased with the way it draped my body perfectly.  They did a few last-minute alterations and I was ready to show the world how fabulous I looked.  As I paraded down the royal walk, all of my subjects and my court could not take their eyes off me.  I knew it was the most fabulous outfit any of them had ever seen.  And, I was the best model as well.  I looked fierce!

The suit is definitely my favorite article of clothing and I wear it all the time.  It has become my big event stand by.  Any time another royal is coming to town, or if I am hosting an important party, I wear the suit.  Before the suit I had a one-time wear rule, but I get such a reaction in the suit that I could not stop wearing it after just one time.  I desperately wish to have another suit of this quality made, but I have not been able to.  I continually try to send messages to the fine designers of my suit, but they seem to have relocated.  It is such a shame that I am unable to get a hold of them.

Author’s Note: 

This story re-telling is from the story The Emperor’s New Suit written by Hans Christian Andersen.  This Danish writer published this work in his book: Fairy Tales, Told for Children.  This is one of his very famous pieces and has been made into an animated film and shown on channels like Nickelodeon.  This story of basic trickery also teaches the listener the importance of not being vain.

 I wrote this story from the Emperor’s perspective.  In my version, the Emperor writes an editorial fashion column in one of the well known newspapers in the area in which he lives.  The biggest change I made to the story was the adaptation to the ending.  In my version, the Emperor never finds out that his suit is invisible and that he has been tricked by the two swindlers.  In the original a little girl announces to all that he is not wearing anything and the Emperor hears her.  In this retelling he still believes that his is the finest suit ever created and he wears it to all his special events.  He is convinced that his suit is real and continues to ask the fine masters who made it for him to come back and make another.  In this story, as in the original, they are long gone and enjoying their money.

Source: Hans Christian Andersen, Fairy Tales and Stories. English Translation: H. P. Paull (1872). Weblink

The Emperor, by Erin O'Leary Brown: Weblink