Yearly Archives: 2015

Queen and Duke of Edinburgh Visit East London

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Queen Elizabeth and the Duke of Edinburgh visited Barking and Dagenham today to mark the 50th anniversary of the local council. For this visit, which included stops  at a health community centre, leisure centre, and a community theatre, the Queen repeated one of the hats she first wore at Ascot in 2014. Another design by Rachel Trevor Morgan trimmed with handmade feather flowers, this piece in sky blue straw features a stepped crown and upturned, asymmetrical brim. For me, the highlight is the trim – the dark shading on the flowers and navy edging on the straw side bow gives such dimension and depth to the piece.  I have been long hoping to see this hat again and its outing today did not disappoint.

Queen Elizabeth, July 16, 2015 in Rachel Trevor Morgan | Royal Hats

The Queen also did something she rarely does and removed her coat during today’s engagements, providing us a look at the hat with her dress.

Designer: Rachel Trevor Morgan
Previously Worn: June 19, 2014
What do you think of this blue hat on Her Majesty today?
Photos from Getty as indicated and James Whatling/Splash News via Corbis

Birthday of Crown Princess Victoria

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Royal HatsCrown Princess Victoria of Sweden celebrates her 38th birthday today.  I want to send our best wishes for her health and happiness along with suggestions of hats we would most like to see her repeat in the coming year. My pick is a simple black straw picture hat we she wore last June for the ordination of Archbishop Antje Jackeléns, the fist female archbishop in Sweden. It is a simple hat but the scale is lovely on Victoria and she wears it very well. What hat would you like to see her repeat this year?

 Crown Princess Victoria, June 15, 2014 | Royal Hats

Designer: unknown
Previously Worn: June 17, 2014; December 10, 2013

Photo from AOP

Design Review: Queen Elizabeth’s New Hats

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Royal HatsIt took six and a half long months before Queen Elizabeth showed us a new hat in 2015. This new hat was soon followed by ten other new pieces, giving us a sensory overload of new hats. A number of you have asked to take a more relaxed, comparative look at the eleven new hats Queen Elizabeth débuted over the past month and here it is. While the fourth (yellow hat with silk flowers) is a Rachel Trevor Morgan design, all the others are the work of Angela Kelly.

Click on each photo to jump over to the original post in which it was featured. 

Queen Elizabeth, June 13, 2015 in Angela Kelly | Royal Hats Queen Elizabeth, June 16, 2015 in Angela Kelly | Royal Hats

Trooping the Colour on June 13 and the first day of Royal Ascot, June 16

Queen Elizabeth, June 17, 2015 in Angela Kelly | Royal Hats Queen Elizabeth, June 19, 2015 in Rachel Trevor Morgan

Blue and yellow for Ascot on June 17 and June 19

 Queen Elizabeth, June 23, 2015 in Angela Kelly | Royal Hats

First day of the state visit to Germany, June 23

Queen Elizabeth, June 24, 2015 in Angela Kelly | Royal Hats Queen Elizabeth, June 25, 2015 in Angela Kelly | Royal Hats

In Germany, June 24 and 25

Queen Elizabeth, June 25, 2015 in Angela Kelly | Royal Hats Queen Elizabeth, June 26, 2015 in Angela Kelly

In Germany, June 25 and 26

Queen Elizabeth, June 26, 2015 in Angela Kelly 

Bidding farewell to Germany, June 26; reviewing the Yeoman Guards on July 9

Looking at this group of new hats all together, there are similarities in brim curves and scale but diversity in crown shapes. What stands out to me most, however, is the noticeable restraint in Angela Kelly’s use of trim.  The hats are still very interesting but much better balanced, more elegant, and so much more flattering to their wearer. It’s a very welcome change.

What do you notice in this group of new designs?

Photos from Samir Hussein, Mark Cuthbert, Alan Crowhurst via Getty; Mirrorpix/Splash News, Kay Nietfield/epa, Michael Kappeler/dpa, Michael Kappeler/dpa, Boris Roessler/dpa, Jens Kalaene/dpa via Corbis; Chris Jackson via Getty; Peter Steffen/dpa via Corbis, WPA Pool via Getty

June 2015 Poll: Favourite Royal Ascot Hat

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A WWI Best Ascot

As with the Triple Crown this year, our Ascot poll had a runaway winner. By a mile, the 2015 Readers’ Favourite Royal Ascot Hat is:

Countess of Wessex, June 18, 2015 in Jane Taylor | Royal Hats

The Countess of Wessex in a lattice picture hat by Jane Taylor on Ladies’ Day

Judging by your favourite hats from this year, last year, and the year before, large, diagonal picture hats are the Ascot hats to beat. It seems that for Ascot, bigger really is better!

Photos from James Whatling/Splash News via Corbis

Monaco Inauguration Mass, Ten Years On

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Ten years ago today, the first part of Prince Albert’s inauguration as reining monarch of Monaco took place. While the pomp and circumstance would happen several months later during Monaco’s national holiday, July 12, 2005 saw the Monaco royal family attend a morning dedication mass at Saint Nicholas Cathedral. This inauguration mass formally marked the beginning of Prince Albert’s reign.

For this event, Princess Caroline topped her Chanel tweed coat dress with a large black picture hat, also by the couture fashion house. The flat crowned hat with wide brim was memorably covered in black feathers, leaving a swirling vortex of spiky texture on the top of the hat. It is not an overtly attractive hat but, as is most haute couture, it is most interesting to behold.

To my knowledge, Caroline has not repeated this hat in the ten years since she first wore it at this event (it clearly can not be paired with just anything and I suspect it was custom made for this dress). What do you think of this unusual piece? Has a decade done anything to diminish its fashion relevance?
HRH Prince Albert II of Monaco - Official Coronation Picture
Photos from Getty as indicated and Stephane Cardinale/People Avenue/Corbis