Yearly Archives: 2014

Princess Benedikte Visits Hannover Messe

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On Monday, Princess Benedikte of Denmark attended Hannover Messe 2014, the world’s leading trade fair for industrial technology. For this visit, she repeated a hat that was much loved here on the blog the last time we saw it – a navy textured straw hat with wide, upturned brim embellished with a large grey silk poppy on the side. I love the blue hat paired with Benedikte’s green suit as the contrast seems to bring out the best of both colours. Is this a hat you are still a fan of?

Princess Benedikte, April 7, 2010 | The Royal Hats BlogPrincess Benedikte, April 7, 2010 | The Royal Hats BlogPrincess Benedikte, April 7, 2010 | The Royal Hats BlogDesigner: unknown. My guess is Susanne Juul
Previously Worn: June 26, 2013; July 26, 2012; October 12, 2011

Photos from Hannover Messe

Lavender or Lilac?

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Royal HatsWhen Queen Elizabeth and the Duke of Edinburgh travelled to Italy last week, a number of you noticed that The Queen paired her lavender coat with a different hat than she has worn with it before. After some further research, I have come up with a trio of mix and matched light purple ensembles that involve two coats and two Rachel Trevor Morgan designed hats. I am curious, dear readers- which combination of hat and coat do you like best?

Look 1: Collarless lavender coat with pockets and slightly darker lilac straw hat with white flowers worn to the Vatican, April 4, 2014

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Look 2: Visiting Howe Barracks in Kent on June 29, 2013 in the same collarless lavender coat but a different, lighter lavender straw hat with pink flowers. The colour match between the hat and coat are spot on, leading many of us to suspect these two pieces were created as a pair.

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Look 3:  A darker lilac coat with Nehru collar with the first lilac straw hat with white flowers for a two day Diamond Jubilee tour of the East Midlands on June 14, 2012. As with Look #2 above, the colour match between these two pieces leads many of you suspect they were designed to coordinate together.

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UPDATE: A fourth combination of these four pieces was worn over four years later!
Look 4: The darker lilac collared coat with the lighter lavender straw hat with pink flowers, worn for Derby Day at the Epsom Races June 2, 2018. Here is where things get interesting- this coat and hat also look like a great colour match. Perhaps the particular straw used on this piece reads as slightly darker or lighter, depending on what garment it is paired with?
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Photos from Getty as indicated

 

Queen Máxima Opens Campus Hoogvliet

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Queen Máxima of the Netherlands opened Campus Hoogvliet, a new educational and cultural area located on the southern edge of Rotterdam, this morning. For this event, she repeated a hat we have not seen in six years – a hat with a tall, pointed diagonal shaped crown and diagonal brim edged in royal blue trim to match her coat. I am afraid I am not a fan of this hat- it is too matchy-matchy with her coat and the shape of the too-tall crown looks cartoonish to me. I think this is one of those times when simpler would have been much better. What do you think of this hat?

Apr 8, 2014 | Royal Hats Apr 8, 2014 | Royal Hats Apr 8, 2014 | Royal Hats Apr 8, 2014 | Royal Hats

Designer: Unknown.  
Previously Worn: March 2, 2007

Photos from Patrick van Katwijk via Semana and Corbis

British Royals Welcome Irish President

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Queen Elizabeth II added another significant moment in history to her reign this morning with the welcome of Irish President Michael Higgins to Windsor Castle. This is the first official visit by the head of state of the Irish Republic to the United Kingdom and signified another step towards peace in Northern Ireland. For this important occasion, The Queen repeated the blue cashmere picture hat she first wore for Prince George’s christening back in October.

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I must admit that I like this hat much more today than I did during its first outing; the colour is beautiful on Her Majesty and the flower embellishment (made of feathers!) is light and perfect for a spring day like today. I like the delicate slope on the top of the crown and while the wool felt looks a little too fuzzy (and there is still that awful seam in the back), I thought this hat looked great on Queen Elizabeth. 

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Designer: Angela Kelly, made by Stella McLaren.  
Previously Worn: October 23, 2013

The Duchess of Cornwall wore her navy blue picture hat, a hat that looks beautiful against her blonde hair. While I am still not a fan of the sausage-like rope wrapped around the crown, I must admit that Camilla looked great. Since Irish-born Philip Treacy is Camillia’s regular milliner, it’s not surprising to see her one of his hats today but great for Irish fashion nonetheless.

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Designer: Philip Treacy
Previously Worn: December 25, 2014; March 19, 2012

Irish First Lady Sabina Higgins was also in a Philip Treacy creation, a pale pink cocktail hat with dramatic pleated sculpture on the side. Say whatever you want about the washboard topping this hat – you cannot deny that Mrs. Higgins needed some steely confidence to pull of this hat and she did it! Paired with her impeccable Louise Kennedy dress and coat, Mrs. Higgins looked amazing and, most importantly, that she fit right in. I loved the guts it took for her to wear this hat and I am thrilled that she pulled it off so well.

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News reports are saying that Mrs. Higgins commissioned six Nessa Cronin hats for this visit so I think we are in store for some great British and Irish millinery over the next few days! What did you think of the hats we saw today?

Day 2 of Swedish Royal Visit to The Netherlands

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King Carl Gustaf and Queen Silvia completed the second day of their quick trip to the Netherlands with a visit to the Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam on Saturday. Queen Silvia repeated her white calot hat embellished with a large looped bow at the back. It is an elegant hat we have seen a few times on Silvia and I think she wears it well. Interesting note- last time Queen Silvia wore this hat, she rotated it so the bow was on the side, framing her face. I thought the way she wore it today, with the bow at the back, coordinated beautifully with her bouclé suit. Separating the ruffled lapels of her suit with the large, loopy bow was a good idea, don’t you think? I thought her whole ensemble was very elegant.

Queen Silvia, April 5, 2014 in Fabienne Delvigne | The Royal Hats Blog  Queen Silvia, April 5, 2014 in Fabienne Delvigne | The Royal Hats Blog

Queen Silvia, April 5, 2014 in Fabienne Delvigne | The Royal Hats Blog  Queen Silvia, April 5, 2014 in Fabienne Delvigne | The Royal Hats Blog

Designer: Fabienne Delvigne
Previously Worn: June 4, 2013; May 29, 2012; April 26, 2010; May 24, 2009; April 22, 2009; April 15, 2008

Queen Máxima repeated her charcoal grey wool hat with dramatic raised brim. This is the fourth time we have seen this hat and each time Máxima has paired it with a different dress (which speaks to the versatility of this hat). I thought the clean neckline of this dress was the perfect match for the lines of this hat and I loved how her large hoop earrings completed the look. We don’t often see hoop earrings worn with a picture hat but this worked so well.

Queen Máxima, April 5, 2014 in Fabienne Delvigne | The Royal Hats Blog

Queen Máxima, April 5, 2014 in Fabienne Delvigne | The Royal Hats Blog Queen Máxima, April 5, 2014 in Fabienne Delvigne | The Royal Hats Blog

Queen Máxima, April 5, 2014 in Fabienne Delvigne | The Royal Hats Blog

Designer: Fabienne Delvigne
Previously Worn: January 30, 2014; October 16, 2013; October 5, 2013

It looks like a lovely two days were had by these royal friends. Which hat worn during this visit was your favourite? (here are hats from the first day of this visit).

Queen Máxima and Queen Silvia, April 5, 2014 both in Fabienne Delvigne | The Royal Hats Blog Queen Máxima and Queen Silvia, April 5, 2014 both in Fabienne Delvigne | The Royal Hats Blog

Photos from Patrick van Katwijk via Dutch Photo Press and Patrick van Katwijk via Corbis