Princess Kako visited the royal mausoleums in Hachioji City yesterday. On this visit, she conducted a traditional royal rite of passage and reported her recent coming of age to the spirits of her ancestors Emperor Taisho, Empress Teimei, Emperor Showa, and Empress Kojun, all who were laid to rest at this place. For this somber event, Princess Kako wore a black bowler style hat with slightly upturned brim and a band around the crown.
Photos from Asahi
On January 14, members of the Imperial Royal Family attended the annual New Years Poetry reading held at the Imperial Palace. You can read English translations of some of the poetry at the Imperial Household Agency website.
The Imperial Princesses all attended this event in traditional court dress. Princess Kiko led in a bumper hat made of the same pale blue silk as her gown. Worn back on her head, almost like a calot, her hat was trimmed in a bow at the back. I’m afraid the effect, combined with her 1980s style of gown, was rather twee.
Designer: unknown
Previously Worn: I believe this hat is new
Princess Kako topped her buttercup yellow jacquard gown with a coordinating headpiece. The puffed Alice band, trimmed with silk blooms behind her ears, worked well on the young princess and contrasted nicely with her dark hair. Having just come out into her royal life, Princess Kako is new to the world of royal millinery and this embellished headband made for a good “starter piece”.
Designer: unknown
Previously Worn: This hat is new
Princess Hanako of Hitachi repeated her dark green velvet hat with clamshell-shaped bumper brim and ostrich feather trim. I adore this theatrical hat because it stands out amid the rather sedate millinery choices we usually see on Imperial royal heads. It is also a beautiful compliment to Hanako’s forest green velvet gown.
Designer: unknown
Previously Worn: January 10, 2014; Jan 4, 2011
Princess Nobuko looked elegant in a pale grey structured gown topped with a coordinating pillbox hat. The pleated sides of the pillbox provided great contrast to the sleek lines of her gown (a phrase I never thought I would write about a member of the Imperial family!). Her daughter, Princess Akiko, repeated her lime green rounded pillbox hat.
Princess Nobuko: Designer unknown. I believe this hat is new
Princess Akiko: Designer unknown. Previously Worn January 10, 2014
Princess Hisako of Takamado repeated her deep purple bumper hat with feather trim at the back while her daughter, Princess Tsuguko, looked to be wearing a stunning headpiece of overlapping leaves in various shades of purple, trimmed in gold.
Princess Hisako: Designer unknown.
Princess Tsuguko: Designer unknown.
Did any of these Imperial royal hats stand out to you?
Princess Michael of Kent is celebrating her 70th birthday today. In honour of this milestone event, we are going to look back at her royal life through her hats.
When Baroness Marie Christine Anna Agnes Hedwig Ida von Reibnitz married Prince Michael of Kent on June 30, 1978 and became a member of the British Royal Family, her debut coincided with the start of 1980s fashion. While perhaps an unfortunate decade to start one’s royal life, Princess Michael’s first hats were somewhat sedate in comparison with the fashion of the times.
In her 40s, Princess Michael’s millinery confidence surged during the 1990s as the shapes and styles of her hats grew bolder, larger, and more dramatic. These hats show clear signs of the millinery panache we now associate with her.
The turn of the millenium marked a turning point in Princess Michael’s hats. She had established relationships with both John Boyd and Philip Treacy, two milliners known for pushing creative boundaries in their hat designs. Working with these designers, her hat style firmly established as one of strong shapes, large scale, and strong, dramatic embellishments. Paired with Princess Michael’s statuesque height and unfussy clothing, this dramatic millinery style shone.
We can’t look at Princess Michael’s hat style, however, without sharing her love for headscarf DIY turbans.
In recent years, the dramatic effect of Princess Michael’s hats has not decreased. While the colours are less vibrant, the shapes continue to be very strong, the scale (even on small hats) is large, and the trims are simple but bold. The hats are larger than life and I suspect that’s a big reason why Princess Michael is so popular among those of us who are fans of royal hats.
If there was one of Princess Michael’s hats I would love to see her bring back into circulation, it is the raspberry pink wool Philip Treacy design with flat brim, trimmed with two feathers and a knotted band around the crown (just above the turbans). What hat would you like to see repeated this year? And what are your thoughts on Princess Michael’s evolving personal hat style? Which hats would you like to steal from her millinery closet for your own?!
1980s Photos from Tim Graham, Tim Graham, Bob Thomas/Popperfoto, and Tim Graham
1990s Photos from Tim Graham, Tim Graham, Tim Graham, Tim Graham, Mark Cuthbert, Tim Graham
2000s Photos from Tim Graham, Tim Graham, James Whatling/Mark Cuthbert, Mark Cuthbert,Tim Graham, Max Mumby/Indigo, Eamon McCormack, Dave M. Benett, AFP, Photoshot, Carl de Souza, Antony Jones, Tim Graham
Turban Photos from Terry O’Neill, Carlos Alvarez/Stringer, Antony Jones, Wire Image
Recent Photos from Pascal Le Segretain, AFP, Dave M. Bennett, WireImage, Mark Cuthbert, Max Mumby/Indigo, Max Mumby/Indigo, Max Mumby/Indigo, Max Mumby/Indigo and Kirstin Sinclair. All photos are from Getty
While 2013 was the year of the toque hat, 2014 was most certainly the year of the… 
Here are some of the many pillbox hats we saw adorning royal heads last year:
Do you have any predictions about what trends we will see this year in royal hats?
Don’t forget to cast your vote in the races for Favourite Royal Hat of 2014, Least Favourite Royal Hat of 2014, and Best Overall Royal Hat Style in 2014. You have three more days to vote!
We tend to think of cocktail hats as a relatively new invention but this photo of Crown Prince Olaf and Princess Märtha of Norway, taken 74 years ago today while on a brief trip to Canada, shows otherwise. The details might be different but there are certainly threads of continuity between royal hat style in 1941 and royal hat style today!
Photo from Getty as indicated
Royal Hats 