During our first two “This or That” posts (see here and here) we looked at the same clothing paired with different hats.To change things up, I thought we would look at the same hat paired with different outfits. Crown Princess Mary of Denmark has worn this Susanne Juul tan straw calot hat with side looped bow on five occasions, each time with a different ensemble. Which outfit do you like best with this hat?
Look 1: With a pale yellow pleated day dress worn on May 10, 2012 during visit to South Korea
Look 2: With a navy sheath dress and red coat for the Danish Opening of Parliament, October 4, 2011
Look 3: With a black and white floral Ralph Lauren day dress worn on the June 2010 visit the United States
UPDATE: Since this post was first published, Crown Princess Mary has repeated this hat with these additional ensembles:
Look 4: with a black peplum Hugo Boss top and H&M floral skirt for Flag Day commemoration on September 5, 2014.
Look 5: With a blue silk floral dress by Signe Bogelund-Jensen to open a hospital in Slagelse on August 24, 2015.
Look 6: A repeat of the floral dress in Look 3 with the addition of a streamlined black jacket, slim belt and statement brooch, worn for Flag Day on September 5, 2014
Embed from Getty Images
Embed from Getty Images
Photos from Getty as indicated: Corbis; Hanne Juul/All Over Press Denmark/Splash News via Corbis and EPP/News Pictures
Royal Hats 
The black and white floral dress. That look was perfect!
Black blouse with floral skirt–hands down!
Toss up for me between the black and white flowered dress (to DIE for!) and the outfit today with the flowered skirt. Mary does these formal rememberance-type events better than anyone else with just the right amount of black but not too much.
I couldn’t have said it any better. Mary real does know how to ring the changes and mix and match. Better still, no one item looks like a retread!
At first glance I thought the trim on the flag was a yellow feather–trying to give the look some cohesion.
The black and white dress looks best of these three, but I think that’s partly because the hair suits the hat in this one very well, not so much with the other hair styles. I’m not sure that I’ve have gone for any of these colour schemes with this hat, though!
I agree with you Bristol. The calot looks best with the hair not hanging down, but the color doesn’t really go all that well with any of the outfits. I think the pairing with the gorgeous black and white flowered dress is the best of the bunch.
The black and white/cream. I think this was in Washington, where she stepped out of her shoe. Always thought the hat on this occasion was a nod to Jackie Kennedy. (What we observers can read into royal dressing is amazing isn’t it?) I’m not a lover of long hair with hats, unless it is under control and really dislike the half up, half down look.
Black and White gets my vote. The retro dress and updo allow this hat to shine.
The dress and the hair are very restrained and elegant and as you said allowed this hat to shine. I like the yellow dress as well but the black and white one is very beautiful.
elgant and royal looking. others don’t match well.
The black and white dress is my favourite.
My favorite is with the black & white dress. The yellow is too washed out and the navy & red has nothing to tie it together with the hat.
My vote goes to the pale yellow dress. The hat is overwhelmed by both of the other outfits.
The yellow dress with this hat is washed out and boring. The flower dress is twee. The red coat would have been fine with something other than that horrid navy dress. I think all three are failures with this hat.
I like it with the black and white dress best.
I love the hat with the black and cream dress. I do think her hair and make up are lovely too. I think I would also love it with the yellow dress if her hair was up. While I love the navy dress and red coat I do not like it with this hat. Who knew Mary could put a foot wrong?!
The yellow dress has my vote for the best.
I love it with the yellow dress. It just works.
That yellow dress is so pretty, genteel and gorgeous with this hat. I wish more royal ladies wore primrose yellow dresses like this one.
I like the third picture best. Why is this not a pillbox hat? I thought a calot was much flatter.
Good question- I initially thought it was a beret because of the shape but berets are characteristically worn off the side of the forehead. Pillboxes are uniform shape all the way around (think about a wheel of cheese). This one is not uniform… I decided to call it a calot because of the nonuniform shape and the placement on her head. It’s probably a hybrid of all three.
black/white
I totally agree with Wendy. The hat looks best with the white and black dress. Also styled as it is in that picture.
This hat is a little boring on its own. The pattern of the black & white dress makes the hat seem like it’s a lot “more” than it really is. The updo with this hat also makes a big difference. The whole look is so elegant.
I love these posts because it is so interesting how a hat can totally change an oufit or in this case, how different outfits can make or break a hat. I agree that the pattern of the black and white dress and the chignon look best witht his hat.
Thought the same thing. Much prefer the black and white dress combination.
There’s a contest? 😉 Definitely the black and white! 🙂
I think that last dress / hat combination is the best — the black and white floral dress. It’s a beautiful hat and a flattering shape for Mary, but there’s just something about that red/black/cream hat combination that I don’t like.
I agree. Red white and blue outfits seldom look good. I like to be patriotic but leave that color combo for flags!
Much prefer the black and white dress combination, but then it might be because of her hair suits the hat much better.
I think the yellow dress with white gloves is very pretty, but that black & white dress from the US visit was utter perfection. The whole look, her hair, so glamorous .