Princess Beatrix launched Dutch National Garden Week at St. Agatha’s Square in Delft yesterday. She repeated a black straw hat with peaked crown and flat, rolled brim. The crown was wrapped in a high straw band and a lower, patent leather band. It’s a hat I think I would prefer much more if the high straw band around the crown was removed- it somehow just looks off. What do you think?
Designer: unknown
Previously Worn: February 12, 2014; March 12, 2013; January 22, 2013; October 29, 2011; May 4, 2009
Photos from Hollandse Hoogte, Hollandse Hoogte, Hollandse Hoogte, Hollandse Hoogte, and Albert Philip van der Werf via Corbis
Royal Hats 
I agree: the hat would look better with the patent leather band removed. This dress would look better, I think, with a hat that picks up the turquoise and/or bright blue and the white. (In the first picture above it looks as though a sprig of flowers has been added to the band, but I guess that’s just a reflection.)
I don’t like this hat because it’s black for starters, at garden week, when you would be hoping for an explosion of color. The double band is ugly. To me it looks like a winter hat, not a summer hat, in its black color, shape and style. I like the dress. I have always been a fan of Beatrix’s hats, but lately she has disappointed me.
A word that starts with “U” comes to mind. . . . .
Unique? LOL