Monthly Archives: March 2015

Hats From The Past

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Royal Hats Twenty years ago today, two European queens were on foreign tours. The hats they wore on March 27, 1995 give a window into royal millinery fashion two decades ago.

Queen Beatrix of the Netherlands greeting well wishers in Jerusalem during her tour of Israel. Her blue felt hat featured a much larger brim and substantially flatter crown than we are used to seeing her wear these days. This was likely the work of her longtime hat designer Harry Scheltens.

Queen Elizabeth in Prague, Czech Republic, in a royal blue hat with tall crown and upturned brim with stitching detail. Most of the hats we see the Queen wear have embellishment (feathers, flowers, bows, etc.) of some type and I adore the strong, clean lines of this unembellished piece. I suspect this was a Frederick Fox design.

Photos from Getty as indicated

One Suit, Three Hats

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Royal HatsOne of my favourite outfits worn by the Countess of Wessex in recent years is a palest blush pink beaded dress and jacket designed by Bruce Oldfield. Sophie has stepped out in this outfit three times, each time pairing it with a different Jane Taylor hat:

Look #1: Large waved percher hat in blush straw worn at Zara Phillips’ wedding, July 30, 2011

Embed from Getty Images Embed from Getty Images

Look #2: Rosy brown straw saucer hat with silk rose at the Order of the Garter service in June 2012

Embed from Getty Images Embed from Getty Images

Look #3: Ivory lace covered beret percher with blush silk rose and feathers worn at the Church of Scotland Assembly, May 2014

 

These three different hat styles lend a very different feel to this dress and jacket. Which pairing do you like best?

Photos from Getty as indicated and The Church of Scotland

Queen and Duke of Edinburgh in Kent

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Queen Elizabeth and the Duke of Edinburgh were in Kent this morning to open a new wing at the National Memorial to the Few and unveil their Diamond Jubilee statues at Canterbury Cathedral. For these events, Her Majesty stood out in her bright blue and turquoise hat. We have seen this hat numerous times in the past year and I must admit, I like it more with each outing. I particularly appreciate the balance of colour between the hat and matching coat – not an easy thing to do with colours as vibrant as these. I’m not so fond of are the buttons on the coat (something I noticed for the first time today) or the rough yarn trim on the hat but this outfit, overall, is a good one for the Queen.

Embed from Getty Images Embed from Getty Images
Embed from Getty Images Embed from Getty Images

Designer: Angela Kelly. Coat by Karl Ludwig
Previously Worn: January 11, 2015; October 18, 2014; April 29, 2014; November 14, 2013

Queen Elizabeth has seen so much over the course of her reign but I wonder if it isn’t just a little odd to see herself cast in lifeless stone?  This aside, I think stone mason Nina Bilbey, who carved these statues, did a lovely job of making the Garter robes look like flowing fabric.

Embed from Getty Images

Photos from Getty as indicated

Countess of Wessex Attends Royal Reinterment

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When the remains of King Richard III were discovered 3 years ago in Leicester beneath a car park in the foundations of Greyfriars Church, one of the most interesting royal stories in recent memory began to unfold.  Today, 530 years after he was killed in the Battle of Bosworth Field, King Richard was finally laid to rest in Leicester Cathedral. The Countess of Wessex attended today’s reinterment service in a simple black velour cocktail hat with draped silk twisted bow.

Countess of Wessex, March 26, 2015 in Jane Taylor | Royal Hats

Countess of Wessex, March 26, 2015 in Jane Taylor | Royal Hats

Designer: Jane Taylor
Previously Worn: This hat is new

Photos from Splash News and Splash News via Corbis

Mapping A Hat Trend

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Royal Hats In doing some hat research last week, I noticed a subtle but interesting design trend in some hats Rachel Trevor Morgan has recently created for Queen Elizabeth.

Hats with upfolded brims made by Rachel Trevor Morgan between 2007 and 2012:

Queen Elizabeth, June 28, 2014 in Rachel Trevor Morgan | Royal Hats Queen Elizabeth, October 26, 2011 in Rachel Trevor Morgan | Royal Hats Queen Elizabeth, June 26, 2014 in Rachel Trevor Morgan | Royal Hats

Hats with upfolded brims made by Rachel Trevor Morgan in 2014:

Queen Elizabeth, June 19, 2014 in Rachel Trevor Morgan | Royal Hats Queen Elizabeth, June 6, 2014 in Rachel Trevor Morgan | Royal Hats Queen Elizabeth, June 17, 2014 in Rachel Trevor Morgan | Royal Hats

The brims on the more recent designs have decreased in size and created a more compact ‘upfold’ on the brim, closer to the hat’s crown. This change makes the raised side of the brim appear to sit at higher, more dramatic angles than the brims of the earlier designed hats. The wonderful floral trims are used in very similar ways but the change to the brim gives a different overall feel to the hat. I suppose this is a very natural design evolution and we’ll have to keep our eyes open to see if it continues with new designs worn by the Queen this summer.

Has anyone else noticed this slight change in Rachel Trevor Morgan’s designs?

Photos by Stuart C. Wilson/Stringer, Scott Barbour/Stringer and WPA Pool via Getty; Press Association via The Daily Mail; Chris Jackson via Getty and Press Association via The Express