Monthly Archives: June 2015

Danish Royals Mark Constitution’s Centenary

Posted on by

The Danish Royal Family gathered at Parliament today to celebrate the 100th anniversary of the 1915 Danish Constitution which gave women the right to vote. Queen Margrethe, who delivered a speech marking this event, repeated her mint green bumper hat and coordinating suit. Today’s photos give us the best view we have seen so far of the left side of the hat where the bumper brim splits and swirls into a gentle curve on the hat’s crown. This interesting detail makes me like this hat even more.

Designer: unknown
Previously Worn: May 23, 2014; April 16, 2015
Crown Princess Mary repeated her pale grey fascinator made of silk flowers, multiple types of feathers and net veil. This delicate piece looks wonderful on Mary- it is such a beautiful contrast against her dark hair and her classic chignon shows it off to perfection. Where the ensemble falls short, in my humble opinion, is in this headpiece’s pairing with this dress. While contrast is a great thing in fashion, I think the very modern mustardy gold and silver print on the dress would be better balanced and complimented with a stronger, more substantial hat.

Designer: unknown. Dress by Ole Yde. 
Previously Worn: June 25, 2013; April 30, 2013
Princess Marie repeated the navy blue felt calot hat she first wore for Queen Margrethe’s birthday celebrations in April. For this outing, she changed the hat’s placement, wearing it firmly on the top of her head. While I prefer the off-the face placement we saw last time (where the flat bow trim on the side of the hat beautifully framed her face), I am so pleased to see Marie experimenting with different ways to wear this piece. It was beautifully paired today with her cream jacket, navy printed dress and bold brooch.

Designer: Whiteley
Previously Worn: April 8, 2015

Princess Benedikte was a vision in pink, repeating her raspberry straw wide-brimmed picture hat with a narrow band around the crown. Paired with her pale pink rolled collar coat, the ensemble was so summery and fresh.

Princess Benedikte, June 5, 2015 | Royal Hats

Princess Benedikte, June 5, 2015 | Royal Hats

Designer: I suspect Susanne Juul
Previously Worn: September 8, 2013; August 3, 2013; April 24, 2013
Princess Benedikte, June 5, 2015 | Royal Hats
It is always wonderful to see the Danish Royal Family together at such celebrations and the hats today did not disappoint. Was there a particular piece that stood out to you in this quartet of royal hats?
Photos from Getty as indicated; Ole Jensen/Demotix, Ole Jensen/Demotix and Ole Jensen/Demotix via Corbis

Countess of Wessex Hosts Garden Party Marking Charity’s Centenary

Posted on by

The Countess of Wessex hosted a garden party at Buckingham Palace yesterday in celebration of the 100th anniversary of Blind Veterans UK. For this afternoon event, Sophie repeated the elaborate pale blue hat she first wore for the first day of Ascot last year. Described by the designer as “handstitched blue pearl cocktail hat with silk twists”, this beret-based piece is all about textural contrast. While the colour is lovely on Sophie and the pearl encrusted beret base is memorable, the placement of the silk bow twists is too haphazard and awkward for me to completely get behind this hat. The good news, however, is that with the Epsom Derby this weekend and the Garter Service and Ascot soon after, we will undoubtedly see Sophie in a number of new hats.

Designer: Jane Taylor. It looks to be a bespoke version of the “Nida” design
Previously Worn: June 17, 2014
Photos from Getty as indicated

Queen Elizabeth Celebrates 100 Years of the Women’s Institute

Posted on by

Queen Elizabeth, the Princess Royal and the Countess of Wessex attended the Centenary Annual Meeting of The National Federation Of Women’s Institute at Royal Albert Hall this morning in London. To celebrate the 100th anniversary of this British Institution, Queen Elizabeth repeated her pale blue straw hat with domed crown, asymmetrical upturned brim, and silk flower and ribbon trim.

Today’s photos award us the best views of this hat and coordinating coat that we have seen to date- views that show incredible detail and coordination between the pieces. The straw of the hat is a perfect match to the crepe of the Queen’s coat, and the same silk has been used for the coat’s buttons and bow trim as well as the bows on the hat and band around the crown. I love the mix of curves in this piece (the domed crown, curved brim) and the placement of silk flowers and silver velvet leaves is masterfully done. This piece is simply exquisite.
Queen Elizabeth, June 4, 2015 in Rachel Trevor Morgan | Royal Hats

Designer: Rachel Trevor Morgan
Previously Worn: June 17, 2014; April 20, 2014
 Photos from Getty as indicated and James Whatling via Corbis

Dutch King and Queen Conclude American Visit

Posted on by

King Willem-Alexander and Queen Máxima wrapped up their visits to Canada and the United States with a final day of events in Chicago yesterday. For the fifth hat worn on this visit, Máxima chose to repeat her pale gold ruched toque. The brimless hat was a great compliment to her high-necked jacket and fit well with the retro-vibe of her ensemble. Her hairstyle and drop pearl earrings also set the hat off very well.

Queen Máxima, June 3, 2015 in Fabienne Delvigne | Royal Hats  Queen Máxima, June 3, 2015 in Fabienne Delvigne | Royal Hats

Queen Máxima, June 3, 2015 in Fabienne Delvigne | Royal Hats  Queen Máxima, June 3, 2015 in Fabienne Delvigne | Royal Hats

Queen Máxima, June 3, 2015 in Fabienne Delvigne | Royal Hats  Queen Máxima, June 3, 2015 in Fabienne Delvigne | Royal Hats

Designer: Fabienne Delvigne
Previously Worn: November 21, 2013; June 28, 2013; May 22, 2013

This North American visit has been an extremely successful one in terms of hats. Interestingly, Queen Máxima did not début any new pieces of millinery but instead, styled five of the six hatted appearances with different outfits than had been paired with the hats before. It’s a brilliant approach to royal hat wearing on such a high profile tour and further illustrates what a millinery maven the Dutch Queen is. What hat was your favourite on the North American visit?

Photos from Patrick van Katwijk, Patrick van Katwijk, Patrick van Katwijk, Patrick van Katwijk, Patrick van Katwijk and Albert Philip Van Der Werf via Corbis

Imperial Royals Host Philippine State Visit

Posted on by

The Japanese Imperial couple welcomed Philippine President Benigno S. Aquino on state visit to Japan today. For the official welcoming ceremony held at the Imperial Palace in Tokyo, Empress Michiko repeated the white and grey saucer hat she premièred just a week ago. In white silk to match the lapel as her suit, Michiko’s saucer hat was trimmed with silk flowers and a small grey under brim that peeked out beneath a flat bow around the front of the hat. Interestingly, when the Empress first wore her grey suit in mid-May, it was with a different piece of millinery (and she débuted this hat it was paired with a different suit!). With a wardrobe of numerous white and grey hats, it is no surprise to see a little mixing and matching from time to time.

Empress Michiko, June 3, 2015 | Royal HatsEmpress Michiko, June 3, 2015 | Royal HatsEmpress Michiko, June 3, 2015 | Royal HatsDesigner: unknown. Likely Akio Hirata
Previously Worn: May 26, 2015

Photos from Sankei and Asahi