Monthly Archives: May 2015

This Week’s Extras

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Royal Hats

Queen Margrethe repeated her lovely pale blue hat to open a Clay Ceramic Museum in Middelfart (Danish Monarchy)

Emperor Akihito carried on the tradition of planting rice at the Imperial Palace. (Imperial Family of Japan blog)

Princess Kiko wore a demure navy pillbox hat for the 1200th anniversary of the Koyasan Shingon branch of Japanese Buddhism (Imperial Family Of Japan)

Prince Michael of Kent, Honorary Admiral of Association of Dunkirk Little Ships, viewed the Dunkirk 75 flotilla from HMS Trumpeter on Thursday (Ministry of Defence)

The Chelsea Royal Hospital Grounds is home to both the Chelsea Flower show and the Chelsea Pensioners- learn more about this group (and their wonderful tricorne hats) in this great article  (Royal Central)

Royal Hats

Prince Harry’s Sentebale garden at the Chelsea Flower show brought rave reviews from critics, family members and his proud granny (The Daily Mail). Watch his interview with the BBC here.

Queen Mathilde Opens Edegem Hospital

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Queen Mathilde officially opened the new maternity and children’s wing at the ‘Universitair Ziekenhuis Antwerpen’ (UZA) hospital in Edegem yesterday. She carried on her penchant for vibrant hats and frocks with a new headpiece in pale coral pink straw

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In past, I have been rather vocal about my dislike of open-crowned hats. This piece, however, has me eating those words because I think it is beautiful. The colour is lovely on Mathilde and combination of ruched straw and curving lines of the piece lend it the most graceful sense of movement. The fluted edge at the back (faintly reminiscent of this previous hat) is subtle but crucially saves the headpiece from looking like a doughnut.

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Designer: Fabienne Delvigne
Previously Worn: This headpiece is new

I thought the combination of this hat with Mathilde’s her interesting pink and coral printed dress created a very fresh and modern take on ‘feminine pink from head to toe’. I suspect, however, that not everyone will be as enamoured with this headpiece as I am – what do you think of it?

Photos from Getty as indicated

Princess Hanako Visits Hiroshima

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Earlier this week, Princess Hanako spent two days in Hiroshima Prefecture. For her visits on Tuesdayto the Atomic Bomb Memorial and Hiroshima Peace Memorial Park, she repeated her white brimless hat with straight sides, domed crown and wide band wrapped diagonally around the perimeter of the piece. We often see royals in black or grey ensembles for these kinds of memorial visits and I thought her all white ensemble was a respectfully nice change. The unusual shape of this hat makes it a continued favourite for me.

Princess Hanako, May 19, 2015 | Royal Hats

Designer: Unknown
Previously Worn: July 14, 2014

The following day, the Imperial Princess, who is Honorary President of Japan Ikebana Art Association, opened an exhibition on this form of traditional Japanese flower arrangement.  For this, she wore a new suit and matching hat in pale green silk. The hat featured a domed brown and mushroom brim which looked to be embellished with the same blue lace (or embroidery?) as the peplum on her tunic. Matching hats and suits can be a tricky thing to get right but the beautiful texture of this embellishment makes me think that this combination was a success. When it comes to royal hats, green is one of the least popular colours but for this event, I think it was a stroke of genius- this shade of green looks great on Princess Hanako and perfectly complimented the flowers at the exhibition.

Princess Hanako, May 19, 2015 | Royal HatsDesigner: Unknown
Previously Worn: I believe this hat is new

I am clearly a fan of these two hats worn by Princess Hanako this week in Hiroshima. What do you think?

Photos from Hiroshima Peace Media Center and Yomiuri

Dutch and Belgian Queens Open Sculpture Exhibition

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On Wednesday, an outdoor sculpture exhibition celebrating 20 years of Dutch-Belgian cultural cooperation was officially opened in The Hague by Queen Máxima and Queen Mathilde. It’s not often that we see two Queens at work together and it seems that these two decided to mark this special engagement with a pair of coordinating NATAN frocks and two new and very vibrant hats.

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Queen Máxima topped her coral coat dress with a large straw saucer hat in the same hue. The hat was cheekily trimmed with a mass of vertically placed rainbow feathers in the center and a wide band of tan straw edged around the brim.

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The shape of this saucer is a departure for Máxima and it balanced very well with her collarless coat and chic chignon. I suspect that most of us would go to great lengths to avoid wearing an orange saucer hat trimmed with feathers that look to be plucked straight from an Obsk but on Máxima, it just works. In fact, I think her coral coat dress works better with the hat than it would without it.

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Designer: Bettina Thomas
Previously Worn: This hat is new

Queen Mathilde topped her orange and royal blue printed dress with a ruched blue straw calot hat. The draping on this particular piece is beautifully done (amazing how the straw looks to have the same fluidity as fabric) and this shade of blue works well for Mathilde.. It is a shape we have seen on both queens numerous times and while I would love to see some more variety, this piece is so well done that it warrants a thumbs up.

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Designer: Fabienne Delvigne
Previously Worn: This hat is new
Earlier in the day, Queen Mathilde attended a reception for Belgian artists held at the the residence of the Belgian ambassador.

 

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For this meeting, she paired the same hat with a blue and white printed Dries van Noten dress. This quick change shows the versatility of this hat and makes me wonder, dear readers, which dress do you prefer with it?

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From all accounts, it seems that a wonderful day was had by Queen Máxima and Queen Mathilde in The Hague. What did you think of their vibrant hats?

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Photos from Getty as indicated  

Queen Hosts Palace Garden Party

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The second of this year’s summer garden parties was hosted by Queen Elizabeth and the Duke of Edinburgh in the grounds of Buckingham Palace yesterday. The Queen stepped out for this event in her silk embroidered wool hat with diagonal crown and wired sequin flower trim. As we have discussed during its previous outings, the intricate detail on this hat can only be appreciated from a close view, making this hat an unfortunate choice for this event. With a millinery closet that covers every colour of the rainbow, I wish the Queen would have chosen something a little more vibrant to stand out at this party in her back garden.

Designer: Angela Kelly
Previously Worn: December 30, 2014, April 30, 2013