Reader Trish recently asked, “Great royal hats are easy to spot. They just stand out as great! I can’t figure out exactly what the formula is that makes a hat great. What do you think it is?”
It’s a difficult question, Trish. I think there are a seven factors that make a great royal hat- here are the first three:
Click on any of the photos to jump over to original feature posts or photo sources for additional information.
1. Is the hat attractive on its own? If not, it’s not likely to look better on a royal head.
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2. Does it flatter the person wearing it? No matter the design, a royal hat must look great on the person wearing it. If only more royals thought about what millinery styles work best for their face shape or hairstyle and what colours go best with their hair and skin tone! Look at the four queens below – the difference a flattering hat (right side of each pair) makes is staggering!
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The most beautiful hat is nothing if it’s too small or too large (as are the four hats above) for the person wearing it. Look at the two hats worn by the late Princess Margaret below- both are dramatic pieces in fuchsia feathers. The first one is a better size for her face and height; together with Margaret’s coat, the ensemble is balanced. The second overwhelms the princess and looks as if it is about to swallow her for lunch.
A hat also has to have balanced proportions within itself. Princess Alexandra of Kent’s two grey picture hats, worn here just two days apart, couldn’t be more different, thanks to the too-high proportion of the first hat’s crown.
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Picture hats, by their very nature, can be a proportion challenge. When done right, however, they can be stunning.
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Jump over to this post for the remaining four factors that make a royal hat great. Thanks for your question, Trish!
Thanks for this great educational information about what makes hats work, and all the photographs HatQueen. There are some splendid hats, but boy are there some stinkers! Thanks also to poster sandra, for providing those links. I had never before seen a photograph of Queen Elizabeth in that yellow spaghetti hat she wore during a visit to Schoeneberg, West Berlin in May 1965. This has to be her worst hat of all time!
I agree with what Splendid Jewels says: July 12, 2015 at 4:08 am, and what sandra says: July 9, 2015 at 9:31 pm and July 9, 2015 at 9:26 pm, and thanks to Hatqueen and Sandra for the galleries of photos.
Oh and some more here – if you flick through the slide show at the end, there’s a poufy beret thing covered in tassels … and what a resemblance to her daughter in the photo! I wonder what happened to all the wacky 1960s and 70s hats?
http://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/2012/02/06/the-queens-head-diamond-jubilee-hats_n_1256908.html
Tremendous gallery of photos. QE2 has been guilty of perching plenty of awful hats on her lovely head over her very long reign, but we’ve all been guilty of wearing terrible clothes at one time or another … and, by golly, they were memorable!
There’s a gallery of the weird and wonderful here:
https://www.yahoo.com/style/hats-off-happy-birthday-to-c1429639217286/photo-queen-elizabeth-ii-at-her-coronation-in-1953-photo-1429634474865.html
Thank you Sandra, I really enjoyed looking at that.
And again Sandra, thank you. The montage on the first slide is just a riot of beautiful colour, all so vibrant with every primary colour covered. Wow. HM can wear, and has worn, every shade imaginable it would appear. The yellow spaghetti bonnet is just so brilliantly weird, I love it. What chutzpah to wear that! As the comment said, even Lady Gaga would covet it. Wonderful pictures, thanks again.
Oops, meant this to be a reply to Sandra’s 9.31 Huffington Post link. Do yourselves a favour and have a look. It’s great!
From a design point of view, I find it fascinating that you are putting a finger on the elusive workings of aesthetics.
this is shaping up to be one of my favorite blog posts EVER!
Great question and spot on response. Thanks!
Lady Gabriella Windsor looks sensational, the best of the above collection.
Brilliant piece! That hat on Laurentien is a corker – could you imagine anyone saying ‘that’s just what I’ve been after!’ !? And Serena Linley too, that’s a character from Fraggle Rock!
I’d argue that the four left hand pics of the Queen’s wouldn’t even have looked attractive off the head, but your point about flattering their shape is a good one. Some hilarious pics here – can’t wait for the next four points!!