Monthly Archives: July 2015

Belgian National Day

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King Philippe and Queen Mathilde were joined in National Day celebrations today by the King’s siblings. Princess Astrid attended the military parade in uniform (I believe, in her rank as Colonel of the Belgian Medical Component).

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Princess Claire topped her bright spring green dress and jacket with an embellished beret-based percher hat in the same hue. The piece was described by the designer in a press release as a “punchy green hat made out of banana fibers.This young and bright bibi will perfectly express Her personality.” 

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Help me out, readers – what does a bright green hat say about one’s personality?!

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I like the colour of this hat but paired with a dress and jacket in the same hue, it’s too much. The banana fibre trim brings lovely texture to the piece but I’m not sure about the placement. While the shape looks attractive head-on, from the side, as shown below, it is reminiscent of an unfinished papier-mâché balloon. I think I might have preferred this dress and jacket with a large natural straw picture hat.

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Designer: Fabienne Delvigne
Previously Worn: This hat is new

I’m curious to hear what you think of this vibrant piece!

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Belgian National Day 2015

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The Belgian Royal Family began celebrations of their national holiday today by attending a Te Deum mass at the Cathedral of St. Michael and St. Gudula in Brussels. Queen Mathilde wore a classic straw picture hat for the occasion.

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Described by the designer as “a big hat made out of refined pale green parasisal straw… the size and style of the hat highlight the natural grace and glamour of our young Queen.”  While the shape of this piece is simple, the subtle ruffle on the brim, balanced by a soaring upward curve on the other side, gives such beautiful movement to the piece (see it from the back here). The scale is wonderful on Mathilde and the colour, which looks blue instead of green, is so pretty. I particularly adore the way the ruffle on the side of the brim echoes the flowing cape sleeves on her dress. This monochrome dress and hat perfectly compliment the other.

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Designer: Fabienne Delvigne. Banana fibre clutch also by Fabienne Delvigne
Previously Worn: This hat is new

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This is a more classically styled hat than queen Mathilde has traditionally worn for National Day but I adore it on her. What do you think of this piece?

See the hats worn by Princess Claire and Princess Astrid over at this post.

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Queen Mathilde’s National Day Hats

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The Belgium royal family celebrates their nation’s holiday annually with attendance at a Te Deum mass and an outdoor military parade. It’s a day we royal hat watchers look forward to each year; over the past decade and a half, Queen Mathilde has entertained us with some wonderful (and wonderfully unexpected) designs:

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Brown straw picture hat in 2000; tall pale pink straw stovepipe with quills in 2002;
pink edged brown Christophe Coppens picture hat 2003

 

  July 21, 2004 | Royal Hats July 21, 2005 | Royal Hats July 21, 2006 in FD | Royal Hats
Burnt orange straw curl headpiece in 2004; Pink silk organza headpiece in 2005; Dramatic pink pleated straw flying turban by Fabienne Delvgine in 2006  

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Different crystal and feathered headpieces for the 2007 Te Deum and parade, both by Fabienne Delvigne

July 21, 2008 in Christophe Coppens | Royal Hats July 21, 2008 in FD | Royal Hats
Green swirled percher by Christophe Coppens and red and orange pleated headpiece by Fabienne Delvigne in 2008

July 21, 2009 in FD | Royal Hats July 21, 2009 in FD | Royal Hats
Two more Delvigne designs in 2009- a lace headband with large black bow and memorable pink ringed headpiece

July 21, 2010 | Royal Hats   July 21, 2010 in FD | Royal Hats
A small black rosette headpiece and large, orange rimmed natural straw picture hat by Fabienne Delvigne in 2010

July 21, 2011 in FD | Royal Hats July 21, 2011 in PT | Royal Hats
A pale pink Fabienne Delvigne ruched toque hat and a black embellished beret percher by Philip Treacy in 2011

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Return to a single hat for 2012’s festivities- a black trimmed headpiece in white abaca by Fabienne Delvigne

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Pale pink stylised toque hat by Fabienne Delvigne for the inauguration in 2013

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A Fabienne Delvigne designed orange picture hat with unfinished edges in 2014 

UPDATE: Since this post was published, Queen Mathilde has worn the following hats on National Day:

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Pale blue sideswept picture hat by Fabienne Delvigne in 2015

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Blush pink layered Fabienne Delvigne calot in 2016

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Folded headpiece in lavender straw in 2017;  a red straw saucer with abaca trim in 2018, a coral straw layered leaf motif hat in 2019, all by Fabienne Delvigne

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 Almond parasisal straw picture hat and magenta abacca headpiece with pleated ruffle in 2020, both by Fabienne Delvigne

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Beige textured bandeau in 2021; Natural woven straw hat in 2022; Red brimmed hat in 2023, all by Fabienne Delvigne

What are your predictions for this year? And what hats here stand out to you most?

Photos from Corbis;  Lieven Van Assche/epa/Corbis; Olivier Polet/Corbis; Corbis; John Thys via Getty; Corbis; Reuters/Yves Herman; Corbis; Albert van der Werf/dpa/Corbis; Patrick van Katwijk/dpa/Corbis;  Albert Nieboer/dpa/Corbis; Philip Reynaers / Photonews via Getty and Getty as indicated

This Week’s Extras

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Queen Noor and Princess Anne attended ceremonies commemorating the 20th anniversary of the horrific Srbrenica massacre (The Guardian)

Queen Margrethe in a red knit cap in Greenland this week (Svenskdam)

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This year’s annual summer photos of the Belgian royal family show the King, Queen and their four children on a trip to the zoo. There are multiple shots of lemurs on royal heads… something I hope the Queen’s milliner won’t be inspired to recreate (7Sur7)

The Akishino family were also shown on vacation. Prince Hisahito, who showed promising skills on the drum, has certainly grown! (FNN News)

All eyes were on adorable Princess Estelle during her mum’s birthday celebration this week (Expressen TV)

Birthday of The Duchess of Cornwall

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Royal Hats The Duchess of Cornwall is celebrating her 68th birthday today. As we send her our congratulations and best wishes, it’s also an opportunity to think about which one of her hats we would love to see her wear again in the coming year. My pick is this stunning teal blue Philip Treacy design. In the winter, Camilla often defaults to a certain slouchy fur-trimmed design and I would love to see her bring out her jewel-toned pieces with more structure. We see her often in pastels but it’s these deeper colours that I think, really make her shine. What hat would you like to see her repeat this year?

Photo from Getty as indicated