After our recent looks at the brimless turban and pillbox hats, today we look at the calot.
History: The calot (which means ‘cap’ in French) design harks back to a popular hat in the 16th century known as the ‘Juliet cap’. 500 years ago, Juliet caps were usually an open-work woven cap, often decorated with pearls, beads or jewels. The calot style came back into fashion in the 1920s and again in the 1970s, when it then became de rigueur with bohemian brides. While calots have mostly been worn with evening gowns or wedding dresses, they are also occasionally worn by royals as a daytime hat.
Characteristics: A close-fitting cap that sits off the face with no visor or brim. A calot is distinguished by its rounded crown that follows the contour of the wearer’s head.
Royals Associated with this Hat Style: The iconic Princess Grace of Monaco on her wedding day. It is a go-to shape or Queen Silvia and Queen Máxima has embraced the shape in recent years as well.
Royal Calots:
Viscountess Linley, June 22, 1995; Princess Máxima in Fabienne Delvigne, Nov, 2, 2011;
Crown Princess Victoria, July 2, 2011; Duchess of Cambridge in Jane Taylor, Sept, 16, 2012
Queen Máxima in Fabienne Delvigne, Feb 9, 2017; Crown Princess Mary in Susanne Juul, Oct 6, 2015
Queen Máxima on Sep 16, 2014
Lady Diana Spencer in John Boyd, June 13, 1981; Crown Princess Mary, Sept. 13, 2014
Queen Silvia, October 31, 2016; Crown Princess Mette-Marit, Dec. 10, 2012
While the calots are great for royal walkabouts or events when a royal face needs to be clearly visible, I sometimes find this style of hat falls a little flat. Like the pillbox, I think placement is key- it works when it is not too far back (from the hats above, I think Máxima and Mary got it just right). What do you think of the calot hat?
Photos from Tim Graham via Getty; Dutch Photo Press; Andreas Rentz via Zimbio; Samir Hussein via Getty; Marco Prosch via Getty; Splash News/Splash News/Corbis; Mark Cuthbert via Getty; Rex Features; Bauer Griffin; Jonathan Nikstrand via Getty; Scanpix
Princess Tessy of Luxembourg (née Tessy Antony) celebrates her 28th birthday today. We don’t see much of her (she, her husband Prince Louis and their two young sons live in London where Tessy and Louis are students) except for the most major Luxembourg royal events. Despite her limited time in the spotlight, Tessy is memorable to us millinery fans for her fantastic hats. For National Day in 2011, she wore this turquoise party on her head. To celebrate her birthday, I couldn’t resist taking another peek.
Royal Hats 
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