Monthly Archives: June 2015

Belgian Royal Visit to China

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On Tuesday, King Phillipe and Queen Mathilde were received by Chinese President Xi Jinping and his wife Peng Liyuan at a welcome ceremony outside the Great Hall of the People in Beijing. Queen Mathilde unveiled her second new grey hat on this tour, a round felt saucer percher style trimmed with two black feather quills. This is a new hat shape for Mathilde and the proportion was just right for her. The simplicity of the hat was  a perfect contrast to Mathilde’s printed dress and made for an ensemble which was stylishly modern but very pretty.

Queen Mathilde, June 23, 2015 in Fabienne Delvigne | Royal Hats

Queen Mathilde, June 23, 2015 in Fabienne Delvigne | Royal Hats

Designer: Fabienne Delvigne. It is the “Yù&me” design. Dress by NATAN
Previously Worn: This is a new hat

Yesterday, the fifth day of the royal tour, Queen Mathilde joined Peng Liyuan for visits to an academy of art and experimental school for deaf students followed by a dinner with leading Chinese women hosted by fellow countryman Juan Van Wassenhove, founder of the Temple Hotel Founder. For these events, Queen Mathilde repeated her pale grey silk covered calot hat trimmed with a wide grey straw twisted ribbon tail. The pairing of this printed hat with Mathilde’s silk suit made for a demure but very elegant outfit.

Queen Mathilde, June 24, 2015 in Philip Treacy | Royal Hats

Queen Mathilde, June 24, 2015 in Philip Treacy | Royal Hats

Queen Mathilde, June 24, 2015 in Philip Treacy | Royal Hats

Designer: Philip Treacy. Suit from Ann Demeulemeester
Previously Worn: February 19, 2014

After three grey hats in a row on this tour, Queen Mathilde surprised today with the most beautiful red ensemble.

 Queen Mathilde, June 25, 2015 in Fabienne Delvigne | Royal Hats   Queen Mathilde, June 25, 2015 in Fabienne Delvigne | Royal Hats

A nod to the host nation’s flag, this large red straw saucer hat is simply trimmed with large, stylised abacca leaf that curves around one side of the brim. While lovely on its own, its pairing with Mathilde’s red dress is exquisite.

Queen Mathilde, June 25, 2015 in Fabienne Delvigne | Royal Hats

Queen Mathilde, June 25, 2015 in Fabienne Delvigne | Royal Hats

Designer: Fabienne Delvigne. It is the “Chinatown” design. Dress by Bernard Depoorter.
Previously Worn: This is a new hat

With the exception of her first ensemble, I think Queen Mathilde has looked fabulous on this tour. What do you think of the three hats she has worn this week?

Day 2 of British State Visit to Germany

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Queen Elizabeth and the Duke of Edinburgh continued their state visit to Germany today with welcomes at Bellevue Palace and German Chancellery, a visit to the Technical University of Berlin and a jaunt down the Spree River. For these events, Queen Elizabeth repeated  the same white ruffled coat that she wore for her Diamond Jubilee River Pageant but paired it with a new white straw hat.

This multi-layered hat is based on a cloche-shaped crown around which is wrapped a secondary crown of doubled-over straw. The hat is completed by flat brim with a squarely upturned edge and a bow at the front center of the piece in the same fabric as the queen’s silver and gold dotted coat.

Queen Elizabeth, June 24, 2015 in Angela Kelly | Royal Hats

Queen Elizabeth has several other hats in a similar shape (see here, here and here) that I think work better than this one does. While I can overlook the bulbous crown and clunky brim on this design, I can’t get past the awkwardly twee bow. The all white ensemble does allow Her Majesty’s brooch to take centre stage but the hat, with its wide surfaces of plain white straw, falls completely flat for me. I think the ruched fabric hat she wore for the Diamond Jubilee was a better match for this coat.  What do you think of this new hat?

Designer: Angela Kelly
Previously Worn: This is a new hat

Photo from Getty as indicated and Reynaldo Paganelli/NurPhoto via Corbis

Luxembourg National Day

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The Luxembourg royal family celebrated their country’s national holiday yesterday with attendance at a civil ceremony, a military parade and an inter-religious Te Deum at the Luxembourg Cathedral. While hats did not appear at the first two events (except for uniform caps), a quintet of lovely pieces were donned for the Te Deum.

Grand Duchess Maria Teresa used the occasion to début a new ‘slice’ brim picture hat with upfolded brim raised high over one side of the hat’s crown. The dramatically shaped hat was trimmed in bold, wide curling straw ribbons (the same ones we saw adorn numerous hats at Ascot last week) which adorned the underside of the raised brim. Maria Teresa has worn this style of hat in the past- while some argue it gives her some height, I think the shape overwhelms. It’s a beautiful hat and it pairs well with her tan and black embroidered suit but I think a different shape would have been better suited the Grand Duchess.

Designer: Philip Treacy
Previously Worn: This is a new hat

The Hereditary Grand Duchess topped her beautiful yellow dress with a light picture hat. The hat, made of slim strips of crin sewn together to give a striped effect, featured a gently ruffled brim on one side into which a large yellow feather was tucked. I am firmly on the fence with this piece- the stripes give it a dime-store vibe that I just can not shake and the feather is simply awful. It does, however, have a lovely sense of light airiness that works well with Princess Stèphanie’s yellow dress and her beautiful hair and makeup provides the polish and elegance which the hat lacks. I adore that Princess Stèphanie is slowly starting to experiment with her hats and hope this trend continues.

Princess Stèphanie, June 23, 2015 | Royal Hats

Designer: unknown
Previously Worn: This is a new hat

Princess Claire wore a large white picture hat with rolling brim, trimmed simply with a black band around the base of the crown. The hat is a simple but very chic piece that worked very well with her dotted red dress and amazing earrings.

Designer: unknown
Previously Worn: I believe this hat is new

Princess Alexandra topped her pale green lace dress with a 1920s flapper-style headband. While I’m not sure the headband was a great match for her dress, there is something so lighthearted and unexpected about this piece that makes me smile.

Designer: Amelie D’Hooghvorst
Previously Worn: I believe this hat is new

Princess Tessy fast-forwarded two decades from her sister-in-law, bringing a 1940s fashion vibe into her look today. Her headpiece, a high curling base of gossamer grey straw trimmed with feathers, worked beautifully with her navy dress and waved hairstyle and perfect red lip (has ever a red lip set off a hat so well?). The modern headpiece is an unexpected choice to round out a vintage look but Tessy looked stunning in it.

Designer: unknown
Previously Worn: I believe this hat is new

It is always lovely to see the entire family together at this event- which one of these hats stood out most to you?

Photo from Getty as indicated and Jean-Claude Ernst via Tageblatt

British Royals Kick Off Visit To Germany

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Queen Elizabeth and the Duke of Edinburgh arrived in Berlin today to begin a four-day state visit to Germany. As she usually does on foreign tours, the Queen kicked things off in a new hat. In turquoise straw, the simple shape of this hat followed the rough lines of a cloche with tall, rounded crown and short brim that curled up on one side. The trimming, however, was where simplicity ended. A wide, woven band of pleated sinamay wrapped around the crown, matched by a similar overlay in a finer pleat overlaid on the brim. A large straw loop at the side and a silk rose in the same shade of Brandeis blue as Her Majesty’s coat completed the hat.

Embed from Getty Images Embed from Getty Images

While I am not sure about the base shape (the crown is a twinge too high) and the silk rosette seems poorly done, the colour is lovely and the pleated sinamay overlays are a creative touch that add such softness and visual interest to the hat. This detailed piece is such a departure from the Queen’s other go-to millinery shapes and embellishments – a departure that leaves me inclined to like it. 

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

 I also adore the very straightforward luggage tags on Her Majesty’s hat boxes.

Embed from Getty Images
Designer: Angela Kelly. Coat and dress by Peter Enrione
Previously Worn: This hat is new
What are your thoughts on this new hat?
Photos from Getty as indicated

Belgian Monarchs Visit China

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King Philippe and Queen Mathilde of Belgium are in the midst of an eight-day visit to China. Yesterday, the second day of the tour, the royal couple were in Wuhan Hubei Province yesterday where Queen Mathilde visited a kindergarten and the Hubei Art Museum. She used these engagements to début a new headpiece made of pleated grey straw. The sculptural piece, made up of a base of layers of fluted straw, was trimmed with with a ruched straw ribbon that followed the free-flowing movement of the hat.

Queen Mathilde, June 22, 2015 in Fabienne Delvigne | Royal Hats Queen Mathilde, June 22, 2015 in Fabienne Delvigne | Royal Hats

From the front, the abstract piece frames Queen Mathilde’s face quite nicely;  from the side, looks haphazard and messy. I suspect the intent of this piece was “modern wearable sculpture” but I am afraid it ends up reading more “folded napkin”.

Queen Mathilde, June 22, 2015 in Fabienne Delvigne | Royal Hats Queen Mathilde, June 22, 2015 in Fabienne Delvigne | Royal Hats

Designer: Fabienne Delvigne
Previously Worn: This hat is new

The Belgian monarchs remain in China this week and I suspect we may see another hat or two before the tour concludes. What did you think of this new hat yesterday?

Photos from Sipa Asia/ZUMA Press, Sipa Asia/ZUMA Press, Sipa Asia/ZUMA Press, and Imaginechina/Splash News via Corbis