When Churchill visited the White House in the winter of 1941-42, his sartorial choices were indeed the subject of commentary. Life Magazine published a brief feature on Churchill's siren suit, which attracted great interest when Churchill took a stroll in the White House Garden with Harry Hopkins and his daughter Diana, President Roosevelt's dog Fala, and his naval aide, Commander Charles Ralfe Thompson. Churchill boasted of the suit's practicality, remarking, "I can get into it in half a minute." In all, Churchill seems to have been pleased by the publicity.

Churchill's siren suits were of his own design: one was made by his Jermyn Street tailor, Turnbull & Asser, from bottle green velvet. Others were made in burgundy and Air Force blue. With breast and side pockets and generously cut, the siren suit (though the rest of Churchill's staff referred to them as his "rompers") was designed to be donned swiftly out of convenience should the wearer suddenly be forced out of bed by a German air raid.

As for the fate of Churchill's suits, his grey wool pinstriped siren suit was sold at auction in 2002 for the princely sum of £29,875. Another made out of velvet is on display at Churchill's home Chartwell, complete with a pair of his monogrammed slippers.

Sources:

Andrew Roberts, Churchill: Walking With Destiny