Yearly Archives: 2015

Day 6 of Belgian Royal Visit To China

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Queen Philippe and Queen Mathilde continued their marathon trip to China today in the city of Suzhou where the Queen spent time at a centre for children with disabilities. She looked a vision in her pale pink mottled dress topped with a new headpiece made to match.

Queen Mathilde, June 26, 2015 in Fabienne Delvigne | Royal Hats

Queen Mathilde, June 26, 2015 in Fabienne Delvigne | Royal Hats

The headpiece consists of pale pink straw petals rimmed finished with rims of brighter pink stitching- the petals are gathered together to create a large, stylised flower. Described by the designer as a “Hibiscus and Chinese rose coloured hat in banana fibres,” it is a modern and innovative headpiece that works beautifully with this particular dress.

Queen Mathilde, June 26, 2015 in Fabienne Delvigne | Royal Hats

Queen Mathilde, June 26, 2015 in Fabienne Delvigne | Royal Hats

My favourite images today involve a curious little girl who just could not resist reaching out to feel Mathilde’s hat. I’m sure many of us can relate!

Queen Mathilde, June 26, 2015 in Fabienne Delvigne | Royal Hats

Queen Mathilde, June 26, 2015 in Fabienne Delvigne | Royal Hats

Designer: Fabienne Delvigne. It is the ‘Aramana’ design
Previously Worn: This headpiece is new

What do you think of this new floral headpiece? Can you imagine it with something other than this dress?

Photos from Philip Reynaers/Photo News S.A., Philip Reynaers/Photo News S.A., Philip Reynaers/Photo News S.A., Philip Reynaers/Photo News S.A., Philip Reynaers/Photo News S.A., and Philip Reynaers/Photo News S.A. via Corbis

Third Day of British Royal Visit to Germany

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Queen Elizabeth and the Duke of Edinburgh travelled to Frankfurt for a number of events yesterday on Day Three of their German visit. The Queen’s parade of new hats continued with two more designs today, again in blue and white (the official millinery colours of this visit, I suppose?!) The first hat, in the same contrasting periwinkle blue and aqua green as is used on the Queen’s coat, features a silk covered crown and straw brim (blue on the underside and aqua on top. The upturned brim of the piece is trimmed with a stripe of aqua silk around the brim and a spray of peacock feathers on the side.

Embed from Getty Images
Embed from Getty Images Embed from Getty ImagesEmbed from Getty Images
Embed from Getty Images

While the base shape of this hat follows the same flat crown shape of several other Angela Kelly designs, it is completely transformed by a two-colour sash placed diagonally over the right side of the crown. This simple detail radically changes the shape of the hat, adding softness, dimension and height to a style which lacks these things. The end result is an interesting piece with wonderful contrast that looks marvellous on the Queen (even more marvellous without her coat)

Embed from Getty Images Embed from Getty Images

Embed from Getty Images
Embed from Getty Images
Designer: Angela Kelly
Previously Worn: This hat is new
The second hat followed the form of a cloche. The crown of the hat was made of a textured, woven straw while the brim was plain, making the crown appear as it it was covered in ruffles. A silk carnation adorned the side of the hat along with red-tipped feathers which coordinated with the red treads in Her Majesty’s coat. Worn for an outdoor reception, the white ensemble made Queen Elizabeth stand out in the garden. The unusual texture of this piece intrigues me and the wonderful red feathers tip me toward liking it. You can see a full length photo of the Queen here.
Queen Elizabeth, June 25, 2015 in Angela Kelly | Royal Hats

Designer: unconfirmed
Previously Worn: This hat is new
It is not often that we get two new hats from Queen Elizabeth in a single day. What do you think of this blue and white pair?
Photos from Jens Kalaene/dpa via Corbis; and Getty as indicated

Belgian Royal Visit to China

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On Tuesday, King Phillipe and Queen Mathilde were received by Chinese President Xi Jinping and his wife Peng Liyuan at a welcome ceremony outside the Great Hall of the People in Beijing. Queen Mathilde unveiled her second new grey hat on this tour, a round felt saucer percher style trimmed with two black feather quills. This is a new hat shape for Mathilde and the proportion was just right for her. The simplicity of the hat was  a perfect contrast to Mathilde’s printed dress and made for an ensemble which was stylishly modern but very pretty.

Queen Mathilde, June 23, 2015 in Fabienne Delvigne | Royal Hats

Queen Mathilde, June 23, 2015 in Fabienne Delvigne | Royal Hats

Designer: Fabienne Delvigne. It is the “Yù&me” design. Dress by NATAN
Previously Worn: This is a new hat

Yesterday, the fifth day of the royal tour, Queen Mathilde joined Peng Liyuan for visits to an academy of art and experimental school for deaf students followed by a dinner with leading Chinese women hosted by fellow countryman Juan Van Wassenhove, founder of the Temple Hotel Founder. For these events, Queen Mathilde repeated her pale grey silk covered calot hat trimmed with a wide grey straw twisted ribbon tail. The pairing of this printed hat with Mathilde’s silk suit made for a demure but very elegant outfit.

Queen Mathilde, June 24, 2015 in Philip Treacy | Royal Hats

Queen Mathilde, June 24, 2015 in Philip Treacy | Royal Hats

Queen Mathilde, June 24, 2015 in Philip Treacy | Royal Hats

Designer: Philip Treacy. Suit from Ann Demeulemeester
Previously Worn: February 19, 2014

After three grey hats in a row on this tour, Queen Mathilde surprised today with the most beautiful red ensemble.

 Queen Mathilde, June 25, 2015 in Fabienne Delvigne | Royal Hats   Queen Mathilde, June 25, 2015 in Fabienne Delvigne | Royal Hats

A nod to the host nation’s flag, this large red straw saucer hat is simply trimmed with large, stylised abacca leaf that curves around one side of the brim. While lovely on its own, its pairing with Mathilde’s red dress is exquisite.

Queen Mathilde, June 25, 2015 in Fabienne Delvigne | Royal Hats

Queen Mathilde, June 25, 2015 in Fabienne Delvigne | Royal Hats

Designer: Fabienne Delvigne. It is the “Chinatown” design. Dress by Bernard Depoorter.
Previously Worn: This is a new hat

With the exception of her first ensemble, I think Queen Mathilde has looked fabulous on this tour. What do you think of the three hats she has worn this week?

Day 2 of British State Visit to Germany

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Queen Elizabeth and the Duke of Edinburgh continued their state visit to Germany today with welcomes at Bellevue Palace and German Chancellery, a visit to the Technical University of Berlin and a jaunt down the Spree River. For these events, Queen Elizabeth repeated  the same white ruffled coat that she wore for her Diamond Jubilee River Pageant but paired it with a new white straw hat.

This multi-layered hat is based on a cloche-shaped crown around which is wrapped a secondary crown of doubled-over straw. The hat is completed by flat brim with a squarely upturned edge and a bow at the front center of the piece in the same fabric as the queen’s silver and gold dotted coat.

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

Queen Elizabeth has several other hats in a similar shape (see here, here and here) that I think work better than this one does. While I can overlook the bulbous crown and clunky brim on this design, I can’t get past the awkwardly twee bow. The all white ensemble does allow Her Majesty’s brooch to take centre stage but the hat, with its wide surfaces of plain white straw, falls completely flat for me. I think the ruched fabric hat she wore for the Diamond Jubilee was a better match for this coat.  What do you think of this new hat?

Designer: Angela Kelly
Previously Worn: This is a new hat

Photo from Getty as indicated and Reynaldo Paganelli/NurPhoto via Corbis

Luxembourg National Day

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The Luxembourg royal family celebrated their country’s national holiday yesterday with attendance at a civil ceremony, a military parade and an inter-religious Te Deum at the Luxembourg Cathedral. While hats did not appear at the first two events (except for uniform caps), a quintet of lovely pieces were donned for the Te Deum.

Grand Duchess Maria Teresa used the occasion to début a new ‘slice’ brim picture hat with upfolded brim raised high over one side of the hat’s crown. The dramatically shaped hat was trimmed in bold, wide curling straw ribbons (the same ones we saw adorn numerous hats at Ascot last week) which adorned the underside of the raised brim. Maria Teresa has worn this style of hat in the past- while some argue it gives her some height, I think the shape overwhelms. It’s a beautiful hat and it pairs well with her tan and black embroidered suit but I think a different shape would have been better suited the Grand Duchess.

Designer: Philip Treacy
Previously Worn: This is a new hat

The Hereditary Grand Duchess topped her beautiful yellow dress with a light picture hat. The hat, made of slim strips of crin sewn together to give a striped effect, featured a gently ruffled brim on one side into which a large yellow feather was tucked. I am firmly on the fence with this piece- the stripes give it a dime-store vibe that I just can not shake and the feather is simply awful. It does, however, have a lovely sense of light airiness that works well with Princess Stèphanie’s yellow dress and her beautiful hair and makeup provides the polish and elegance which the hat lacks. I adore that Princess Stèphanie is slowly starting to experiment with her hats and hope this trend continues.

Princess Stèphanie, June 23, 2015 | Royal Hats

Designer: unknown
Previously Worn: This is a new hat

Princess Claire wore a large white picture hat with rolling brim, trimmed simply with a black band around the base of the crown. The hat is a simple but very chic piece that worked very well with her dotted red dress and amazing earrings.

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

Princess Alexandra topped her pale green lace dress with a 1920s flapper-style headband. While I’m not sure the headband was a great match for her dress, there is something so lighthearted and unexpected about this piece that makes me smile.

Designer: Amelie D’Hooghvorst
Previously Worn: I believe this hat is new

Princess Tessy fast-forwarded two decades from her sister-in-law, bringing a 1940s fashion vibe into her look today. Her headpiece, a high curling base of gossamer grey straw trimmed with feathers, worked beautifully with her navy dress and waved hairstyle and perfect red lip (has ever a red lip set off a hat so well?). The modern headpiece is an unexpected choice to round out a vintage look but Tessy looked stunning in it.

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

It is always lovely to see the entire family together at this event- which one of these hats stood out most to you?

Photo from Getty as indicated and Jean-Claude Ernst via Tageblatt