Monthly Archives: March 2015

Seeing Triple: The Duchess of Cambridge

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Royal HatsFor last week’s Commonwealth Observance Service, The Duchess of Cambridge wore a new tear drop shaped percher hat designed by Jane Taylor. Several readers noticed that while the shape is distinctive and unique, Kate has two other hats that follow the very same form:

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Pink straw and silk version worn for Commonwealth Oberservance on March 9, 2015; Ice blue straw and lace version
worn for Trooping the Colour on June 14, 2014; Grey felt and organdie version worn for Easter 2014 in Australia

The creative tear drop shape of this percher cocktail hat is an unusual shape for a royal hat. Despite the stand-out nature of this shape, Jane Taylor has done a magnificent job of giving each hat its own personality through the use of very different trimmings. The pleated silk, lace cut outs and organdie ribbon that adorn each hat are fairly simple embellishments but Taylor’s use of one type of trim on each hat makes each one shine. Out of all the hat twins we have seen so far, these hats have the most unusual shape yet each have the greatest amount of individual character. This is undoubtedly due to Taylor’s adept eye and hand for embellishment.

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The Duchess of Cambridge does an excellent job of styling her hair to highlight this hat to its greatest effect. Often, small percher hats don’t show well from the back but this style, with its raised top, looks great from all angles. Which of these three versions of this style do you like best?

Photos from Getty as indicated

Imperial Couple Visit Miyagi Prefecture

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The Japanese Imperial travelled to Miyagi Prefecture last Friday, beginning their three day visit to the area with a stop in Iwanuma, a city seriously impacted by the 2011 Tōhoku earthquake. On this day, which included stops at several memorial sites, Empress Michiko wore a black saucer hat topped with folded bows in black silk and black and white hound’s tooth check.

Empress Michiko, March 13, 2015 | Royal Hats

 

Empress Michiko, March 13, 2015 | Royal Hats

Designer: unknown. Likely Akio Hirata
Previously Worn: I believe this hat is new

The following day, Emperor Akihito and Empress Michiko took part in The 3rd UN World Conference on Disaster Risk Reduction in Sendai. For this event, the Empress wore a cream saucer hat with coordinating fan bow sweeping across the front of the hat.

Empress Michiko, March 13, 2015 | Royal HatsDesigner: unknown. Likely Akio Hirata
Previously Worn: I believe this hat is new

Photos from Sankei and Biglobe

This Week’s Extras

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Royal Hats

Princess Kiko in a demure black pillbox hat on Tuesday for a memorial for victims of the Great Tokyo Air Raid, 70 years ago (Imperial Family of Japan)

Autumn Phillips at the final day of the Cheltenham Festival (The Daily Mail)

Princess Sirivannavari of Thailand in a pearl headpiece for the Chanel show in Paris  (Royalista)

Princess Beatrice of York in a pair of jewelled hair clips for the opening of the Alexander McQueen exhibit at the Victoria and Albert Museum (Getty)

Ever wonder what the inside of a royal hat looks like? An inside view of the hat Kerstin Carlefalk made for Queen Silvia’s state visit to Finland (Hatteljen Facebook Page)

Royal Hats

April will be a busy month of horse related events for the Tindalls- Mike Tindall’s horse is a contender for the Grand National and Zara Phillips is set to compete in Kentucky (Royal Central)

Day 4 of Cheltenham Festival

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The fourth day of the Cheltenham Festival yesterday was attended by Zara Phillips Tindall and her mother, Princess Anne, who presented the coveted Gold Cup. For this final day of racing, Zara chose her fourth new hat. Another cocktail percher hat with a tan beret style base, this piece is described by the designer as a “velour fur felt flat percher trimmed with flower of natural lady amherst and pheasant feathers and single swarovski bead in centre”. Brown hats, as we all know, can easily be bland and boring but the feather trim on this hat gives great dimension and movement. I think it is the perfect topper for her tweed coat.

Zara Phillips, March 13, 2015 in Rosie Olivia | Royal Hats Zara Phillips, March 13, 2015 in Rosie Olivia | Royal Hats

Zara Phillips, March 13, 2015 in Rosie Olivia | Royal Hats

Zara Phillips, March 13, 2015 in Rosie Olivia | Royal Hats Zara Phillips, March 13, 2015 in Rosie Olivia | Royal Hats

Designer: Rosie Olivia. This is the Pandan design
Previously Worn: This is a new hat

Princess Anne topped her orange wool coat with a new faux fur hat and matching scarf. The ruched hat has a small rolled brim that from the front, looks like the first in a stack of fur bubbles. Bubbles aside, I like the duet of hat and scarf and thought they worked well with Anne’s bright coat.

Designer: unknown
Previously Worn: March 24, 2008

Photos from Getty as indicated and Pete Goddard, Pete Goddard, Ramsey Cardy, Pete Goddard and Pete Goddard via Corbis

British Royals Attend Service of Commemoration

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Members of the British Royal Family attended a Service of Commemoration at St. Paul’s Cathedral this morning, honouring the British military’s involvement in Afghanistan which has now come to an end. I suspect this service was made all the more personal for this family as Prince Harry, who was in attendance, served two terms of duty in this military operation.

Queen Elizabeth led her family at this event in a repeated her blue straw stovepipe hat, trimmed with a prim felt bow. This remains one of my favourite colours on the queen and I adore the pattern woven into the straw. With her bouquet of tulips and hyacinths, the Queen looked the picture of spring.

Designer: Angela Kelly
Previously Worn: March 5, 2014, October 11, 2011; May 11, 2010; March 8, 2010; November 28, 2008

The Duke of Edinburgh, who holds the rank of Lord High Admiral in the navy, wore his uniform and cap. He gallantly offered his hand to his wife as they descended the steps of St. Paul’s, a sweet gesture that was caught on camera below.

The Prince of Wales, who holds five star ranking in all three branches (Army, Navy and Air Force) of the British Armed Services, also attended this service in uniform.

The Duchess of Cornwall repeated her black winter hat with a ruched crown and faux-fur cuff, pinning  the cap badge of The Rifles to the crown of the hat. While I loved the addition of this military brooch to her hat, I am afraid it feels a little informal for an event with as high a profile as this one. We’re going to look at this hat (and its many clones) in greater depth next week.

Designer: Lock & Co.
Previously Worn: Decemeber 10, 2013; February 7, 2012;  February 6, 2012; January 27, 2012

Also in military uniform were Princess Anne, as Commodore-in-Chief of HMNB Portsmouth and her husband, Vice Admiral Sir Timothy Laurence.

The Duke of Cambridge wore his uniform and cap as Flight Lieutenant of the Royal Air Force. The Duchess topped her simple navy dress and coat with a navy felt saucer hat which was trimmed by a navy silk abstract bow. The outfit and hat are rather austere but very fitting for this event. We have not seen Kate in a saucer hat in a very long while and it was a nice change from her go-to embellished berets. I thought her low chignon showed this hat to great effect and that Kate looked very elegant.

Designer: Jane Taylor. UPDATE: This hat appeared months later in the AW 2015 collection.
Previously Worn: This hat is new

Prince Harry, who served two terms of duty in Afghanistan, was in attendance in his uniform as Captain of The Blues and Royals.

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The Earl of Wessex wore his uniform and cap as Royal Honorary Colonel of the London Regiment. The Countess wore a new embellished percher hat with black felt beret base, trimmed in PVC ribbon. My first impression of this made me question the use of the shiny ribbon, which looks like patent leather. At second, third and fourth glances, however, I have come to really appreciate this piece. The sense of movement in this hat is absolutely exquisite and the contrast of texture between the two materials gives such visual depth and interest. I think this new hat will serve Sophie very well.

Designer: Jane Taylor
Previously Worn: This is a new hat

The Duke of Kent, the Duke of Gloucester, and the Duke of York also attended the service, each in their respective military uniforms and caps.

While royal hats are the focus of this blog, the aim of today’s commemoration service was to pay tribute to the service personnel who did not return home. This article at the Daily Mail includes photos of all the British service men and women who lost their lives during the course of this military intervention.

Photos from Getty as indicated