Yearly Archives: 2015

Danish Royals Arrive in Indonesia

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Queen Margrethe and Prince Henrik of Denmark arrived at Jakarta airport this afternoon for the start of a four day Indonesian visit. For their arrival, followed by a reception with Danish expatraites living in the South Asian country, Queen Margrethe wore a silk linen covered hat with indented crown and brim that raised slightly on one side.

Queen Margrethe, October 21, 2015 | Royal Hats

The fedora-esque hat (the crown indent here shows this is not a true fedora) was trimmed in a band around the base of the crown in the same striped fabric as Margrethe’s blouse. While the shape of the hat is smart, I would much prefer it in straw to bring some much needed textural contrast to this outfit. Coordinating royal hats to ensembles is always a good idea but this one, where the exact fabrics of the Queen’s suit and blouse are repeated on her hat, is too much for me.

Queen Margrethe, October 21, 2015 | Royal Hats

Designer: unknown
Previously Worn: August 22, 2009

You can see the royal couple’s full programme here. With an official welcome, wreath laying and commemoration of Indonesia’s 70th annivesary of independence on the schedule, I think we’ll see a few more royal hats before this trip is over!

Photos from Achmad Ibrahim, POLFOTO via Kongehuset

British Royals Welcome Chinese State Visit

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This morning, a ceremonial welcome took place for Chinese President Xi Jinping and first lady Peng Liyuan, who have come to Great Britain this week on state visit. Greeted by their hosts Queen Elizabeth and the Duke of Edinburgh, the Chinese guests inspected a guard of honour at Horseguards Parade before travelling by carriage to Buckingham Palace. To my great surprise, Queen Elizabeth used this event to début a new hat. In heather hued straw, this hat features a slightly sloped crown and medium sized brim that gently folds upward on one side of the hat. The focal point is the trim, consisting of three beautiful straw roses and several bow loops, also in straw. It’s another well balanced hat of excellent proportion that suits Her Majesty so very well.

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Designer: Rachel Trevor Morgan. Coat by Stewart Parvin.
Previously Worn: This hat is new

The Duchess of Cornwall repeated her large upturned brim hat in snakeskin print straw trimmed with Lady Amherst pheasant feathers. The hat is such a great compliment to Camilla’s taupe coat- a coat that with the wrong hat could easily fall into ‘boring beige’ territory. We’ve talked much recently about neutral royal outfits and hats and I think Camilla’s ensemble today is a lesson in how to do it right.

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Designer: Philip Treacy. Coat by Bruce Oldfield.
Previously Worn: April 30, 2015; November 14, 2012
The two hats we saw today were not bold in colour but each managed to make a strong millinery style statement. Whatdo you think about this pair of royal hats?
Photos from Getty as indicated 

Swedish Royals in Peru

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Crown Princess Victoria and Prince Daniel of Sweden are in Peru and Colombia this week on an economic and cultural visit. They kicked things off today in Lima where Princess Victoria led a delegation at the University of Lima and the couple visited an H&M department store. For these events, Princess Victoria repeated the black and white layered butterfly fascinator she first wore last month for the opening of Swedish parliament. She paired it this time with a red twin of the smart purple dress she wore to Prince Nicolas’ christening last weekend. While the pairing of the black and white headpiece with a red dress is a little predictable for my taste, it makes for a polished daytime ensemble.

Designer: Malinda Damgaard. Dress by British label Seraphine
Previously Worn: September 15, 2015
Photos from Getty as indicated

Summer or Winter?

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Royal Hats while on state visit to Poland last week, Queen Mathilde repeated an Armani pleated dress and coat. We first saw her wear these two elegant grey pieces at Expo 2015 in Milan back in June, where she topped them with a straw calot hat. The brimmed felt hat Mathilde wore this week shows another instance of using a pair of straw and felt hats to extend the wear-ability of the outfit to several seasons. The two hats, while lovely in their own rights, lend different tones to the ensemble.

Dove grey straw calot hat with back knot detail worn June 12, 2015 in Italy

Grey felt hat with moulded high crown, short brim and folded ribbon trim worn October 14, 2015 in Poland

I’m curious, dear readers- which hat do you like best with this beautiful coat and dress?

Photo from Getty as indicated

Queen Elizabeth At The Races

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Queen Elizabeth was all smiles at Qipco Champions Day today at Ascot Racecourse, dressed head to toe in fuzzy peach bouclé. Her hat, with a slightly sloped crown and straw brim, is one we’ve seen multiple times on Her Majesty before.

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While the colour and fabric are not my favourites, I do like the trim on this piece-  four peach feathers anchored by two fabric disks and a slim knotted bow. With such a textured crown, it might seem that multiple hat trims would easily be overkill but on this particularly piece, it’s just right.

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Designer: Rachel Trevor Morgan. Coat by Stewart Parvin.
Previously Worn: March 10, 2015; July 18, 2012; March 14, 2011; November 23, 2010; September 14, 2010; November 19, 2009
Photos from Getty as indicated