Yearly Archives: 2015

British Royal Visit to New Zealand: Day 1

Posted on by

The Prince of Wales and Duchess of Cornwall arrived in Wellington today to begin a twelve day tour to New Zealand and Australia. Camilla appeared at Government House for an official welcome in one of her cream picture hats with wide, curving up-swept brim. This piece, in subtly sparkling straw that compliments the metallic sleeves of her coat, is trimmed with a large ruched band that circles around the perimeter of the hat.

Designer: Philip Treacy. Dress and coat by Bruce Oldfield.
Previously Worn: June 15, 2015; June 15, 2013; September 16, 2012; June 19, 2012; June 3, 2012
While we have seen this dramatic hat several times before, it’s outing today is not a surprise as it makes for a grand and elegant ensemble that is perfect to kick off a major tour. There will undoubtedly be several more hats worn during this visit- here’s keeping my fingers crossed that we’ll see a few new pieces in the mix. Stay tuned!
Photos from Getty as indicated

Catching Up With The Imperial Royals

Posted on by

Last week, Princess Hisako of Takamado was in Wakayama to take part in the closing ceremony of the 15th National Sports Festival for People with Disabilities. She showed off a new hat for the occasion, a brimless moulded piece in dark purple felt with a slightly pointed crown. It looks like the hat is trimmed in a small spray of feathers on the left side. I adore the rich colour on Hisako and like the shape of the hat on her. It’s certainly an improvement over the hat she last paired with this suit.

Princess Hisako, October 26, 2015 | Royal Hats   Princess Hisako, October 26, 2015 | Royal Hats

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

On Saturday, Emperor Akihito and Empress Michiko attended events celebrating 40 years since the founding of the United Nations University. For this anniversary, Empress Michiko repeated her slate blue saucer hat with blue and gold origami bow. This is the third time we have seen this hat so far this year and I suspect that many of you, like me, are liking more with each outing. The Empress looks lovely in blue and the gold trim on the hat ties so well with the gold lapel and cape lining on her jacket.

Empress Michiko, October 30, 2015 | Royal Hats

Empress Michiko, October 30, 2015 | Royal Hats

Designer: unknown. Likely a milliner at Akio Hirata
Previously Worn: May 17, 2015;  April 9, 2015

 

Photos from Sankei and Getty as indicated

Seen It Before: Recycling (or Inheriting?) Royal Millinery Style

Posted on by

A deja vu  It seems that contemporary times are not the only ones when cocktail hats trimmed in soaring feathers were at the height of fashion. I adore the similarities in millinery (across almost 7 decades) between this royal grandmother and granddaughter.

Designer of Queen Elizabeth’s hat: unknown
Designer of Zara Phillips Tindall’s hat: Rachel Trevor Morgan
Photos from Getty as indicated

This Week’s Extras

Posted on by

Royal Hats

Princess Astrid of Belgium in a white Stetson during her visit to Canada this week (Blog Real)

Infanta Elena enjoying a day of riding with her daughter Victoria (Svenskdam)

The largest exhibition of Queen Elizabeth’s outfits (150 in total) will go on display next year at Buckingham Palace as part of her 90th birthday celebrations (Telegraph)

Thanks to the help of some eagle eyed readers, we identified two more orange hats worn by Queen Elizabeth. Stay tuned first thing tomorrow when we look at the largest owner of orange royal hats (not surprisingly, a member of the House of Orange)

Royal Hats

The Duchess of Cambridge dazzled at two formal events this week. Kate wore some spectacular earrings originally belonging to her mother and to the late Queen Mother  (Royal Order of Sartorial Splendor and The Court Jeweller)

For any Halloween enthusiasts- take a peek back at King Carl Gustaf and Queen Silvia’s 25th anniversary back in 2001 with Elizabethan dress code. It’s one of the few times we’ve actually seen royals in costume. (Royal Order of Sartorial Splendor)

And finally- Princess Leonore of Sweden wishes everyone a Happy Halloween. I think her royal antennae are a first here at Royal Hats! (Princess Madeleine of Sweden Facebook)

Inventory: Queen Mathilde’s Orange Hats

Posted on by

 As promised, we’re going to continue our inventory of orange hued royal hats with a peek into Queen Mathilde’s closet:

1.   2.   3.
Designer: unknown; Fabienne Delvigne; Fabienne Delvigne
Last Appeared:July 21, 2004;  May 2, 2009; July 21, 2014

4.Embed from Getty Images    5.Embed from Getty Images
Designer: both are Fabienne Delvigne
First Appeared:  May 21, 2015; October 2, 2013

UPDATE: Since this post’s publication, Queen Mathilde has added several additional orange hats to her wardrobe:

6.      7.
Designer: both are Fabienne Delvigne
First Appeared: October 11, 2016– revamped and reintroduced March 13, 2018; March 15, 2018

8.
Designer: Fabienne Delvigne custom
First Appeared: October 16, 2019

Finally, there is one more hat that deserves inclusion here- a natural straw picture hat with wide orange stripe around the brim. Queen Mathilde first wore this piece for National Day in July 2010 (below left) and repeated it most recently while on a July 2012 visit to Burundi (below right).

   

A hand full of orange hats in a royal millinery closet might not sound like much but in relation to the size of Mathilde’s overall wardrobe, I think it is significant. I’m also struck by the bold shapes and brave shades she has chosen- this is not orange for the faint of heart! Queen Mathilde wears orange well and my guess is that we will see more hats in this colour appear in coming years. For now, what do you think of this collection?

Photos from Newscom; The Belgian Monarchy; Benoit Doppange, Photonews and Christophe Licoppe © Photo Newsvia Getty; Benoit Doppange via Belga; Julien Warnand/epa/Corbis; Philip Reynaers/Photo News S.A./Corbis;  Albert van der Werf/dpa/Corbis;