King Carl Gustaf and Queen Silvia of Sweden arrived in Helsinki yesterday for the start of a three day state visit to Finland. For this arrival, Queen Silvia wore a new calot hat made of the same dark teal wool as her suit, trimmed with a feather and tulle spray on the side.The colour looks like a great shade on her but I thought the style was slightly lost in her hairstyle. I suppose there are times when a royal must wear a hat and opts to meet this requirement with a hat that stays in the background – a calot hat is a great option for this kind of ‘low key’ royal working hat. For an occasion the likes of a state visit, however, I’m always going to hope for something a little more. What do you think of this new hat?
Designer: Kerstin Carlefalk
Previously Worn: This is a new hat
Photos from Getty as indicated, Antti Aimo Koivisto / Stringer via Getty and MTV Finland
Royal Hats 
The close-ups make the calot look good. Queen Sylvia’s hair is so thick and dark, however, that smaller, darker hats often don’t stand out from a distance. Perhaps this is her intent, but I would prefer to be wowed from a distance by a noticeable hat rather than simply knowing that the Queen indeed was wearing a hat and that it was suitable for the rest of her outfit.
Queen Silvia’s new calot hat made of the same dark teal wool as her suit, was very elegant and subtle. I liked the simple trim with a feather and tulle spray on the side. The colour was indeed a great shade on her but I thought the style was slightly lost in her hairstyle, as HatQueen noted. Perhaps next time she wears this calot her hairdresser can slick her hair down, or pull it into a small chignon, maybe with the help of a wiglet if her hair isn’t long enough to make an attractive chignon. I think HatQueen was right when she claimed recently that this may be the year of the calot! I hope so!
The queen is such a lovely, elegant lady, with beautiful, dark hair. The outfit’s color is too boring, dark and drab for my taste.
PS Will Spring ever get here?
I have to agree, I would love to see her in something with more “life” in it. Perhaps her accessories could have given the ensemble a bit of a lift with a lighter coloured hat offset by her hair instead of fading into it.
ps: It’s officially autumn here and counting down to the dreary winter 😦
I like the teal color on the Queen. The hat is cute, but it does get lost in her bouffant hairdo. The design of the suit and accessories is very dated.
The color is nice, and I kind of like those little hats, but they do tend to get lost in her hair sometimes. A very ordinary working suit and hat, but I like HM, and to me she always looks appropriate. Sometimes it is business as usual, but business looks good on her. She wears her clothes well and it is always great to see her.
Is the Finnish First Lady wearing one? It doesn’t look to me like she is. I wonder if it doesn’t sometimes feel a little awkward to a royal woman when she knows that, while she must wear a certain piece of attire, she’s likely to be the only one. Especially in a situation like this, where she’s not supposed to be the primary focal point but rather one of several people sharing the focus. In those situations, perhaps it feels more diplomatic to wear a low-key, squint-or-you’ll miss-it sort of hat.
Yeah, the first lady wasn’t wearing a hat. A fun fact that I noticed watching the live stream: pretty much all the swedish ladies in the king’s entourage wore a hat and none of the finns did. 🙂 In Finland hats are not very typical.
It’s just going to get an OK pass from me – it does look like a ‘working gal’s’ hat and especially to me, harkens back to the 50s – and paired with the suit, borders a lot on an airline stewardess uniform look.
I had To look to see the hat. A bit too discreet however that might be the idea…to be discreet. I do wish she would not wear fur….her coat appears to be fur.