Yearly Archives: 2015

Battle of Waterloo Descendants Gather in Belgium

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Descendants of main leaders of the Waterloo Battle gathered at Laeken Castle in Brussels today for a reception hosted by King Philippe and Queen Mathilde.

200th Anniversary of Battle of Waterloo, June 17, 2015

The Hereditary Grand Duke and Duchess joined in this biennial celebration. Princess Stèphanie wore a new cocktail hat in lilac straw, trimmed with wide curls of straw ribbon. I have long hoped Stèphanie would experiment with this style of hat and while I would have preferred it worn further forward, on the side of her head as a percher, this is a good start. The shade of lilac is particularly lovely on her.

Princess Stèphanie, June 17, 2015 | Royal Hats  Princess Stèphanie, June 17, 2015 | Royal Hats

Princess Stèphanie, June 17, 2015 | Royal Hats

The Marchioness of Douro (née Jemma Kidd), who is daughter-in-law of the current Duke of Wellington, wore a black saucer hat trimmed multiple loops of straw ribbon.

Marchioness of Douro, June 17, 2015 | Royal Hats

The 200th anniversary of this turning point in history continues tomorrow with a grandiose reconstruction of the battle over the next two days. The Queen of the Belgians, King and Queen of the Netherlands, the Grand Duke and Grand Duchess of Luxembourg, the Duke of Kent, Prince Napoleon and other European heads of state are expected to attend. I will cover the ceremony here on Royal Hats on Friday.

Photos from Patrick van Katwijk, Patrick van Katwijk, Patrick van Katwijk, Patrick van Katwijk and Patrick van Katwijk via Corbis

Prince of Wales and Duchess of Cornwall in Belgium

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The Prince Of Wales and the Duchess of Cornwall were in Waterloo, Belgium, this morning, to attend the opening of a restored Hougoumont Farm and unveil a statue to honor the British and allied forces successfully held off Napoleon’s army at this site during the Battle of Waterloo in 1815. For this event, the Duchess of Cornwall repeated her an ivory straw picture hat with an off-centre peak atop the crown, balanced by a wide, asymmetrical brim. This hat is trimmed in lengths of sand coloured straw ribbon wrapped in multiple layers around the crown and looped into a side stylized bow.

Designer: Philip Treacy. It appears to be a bespoke version of OC 920
Previously Worn: June 6, 2014 

We recently saw Crown Princess Victoria wear a hat with the same, off-centre peak atop the crown. This new shape stood out much more on her hat than on Camilla’s today, where the distinct shape seems a little lost. At Camilla’s appearance at Ascot yesterday, several guest milliners commented on her penchant for pastels. While this is a lovely enough hat, I think it would be so much more alive and dynamic if it was in a vibrant hue (perhaps the violet shade, olive green or blue hue of these Treacy designs).

Princess Astrid of Belgium was also present, in a chic cream fedora hat with pleated blue band around the base of the crown.

Princess Astrid, June 17, 2015 Royal Hats Princess Astrid, June 17, 2015 Royal Hats

This ceremony was also attended by the Hereditary Grand Duke and Duchess of Luxembourg and kicks off three days of events (including a huge re-enactment) to mark the 200th anniversary of the Battle of Waterloo.

What do you think of the Duchess of Cornwall’s hat?

Photos from Pool / Frédéric Sierakovski/Photo News S.A. and Pool / Frédéric Sierakovski/Photo News S.A. via Corbis; and Getty as indicated

Ascot Day 1: British Royals Part 2

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Royal Hats Is there anything more fun than chatting about Royal Ascot hats? I am so honoured to be joined by milliners Christie Murray, Fiona Mangan and Jill Courtemanche, here to share their millinery expertise and thoughts on the final royal hats we saw today on the first day of the Ascot races.
Princess Anne in a new hat of unknown design

Jill: This is a hat seemingly more fit for a hunt than the races. I think the colors are lovely on her but the detailed, feathered up-brim feels too fallish and the billowy fabric around the crown is dated. It doesn’t convey the joy or freshness of the fashion that is more customary at Royal Ascot.

Royal Hats: Jill, it might not feel ‘fresh’ because the coat is from 1980!  2 words come to mind- feather overdose.

Christie: I think that the shape of the hat is very age-appropriate and I love the look of the feathers on the upturned brim.  I just can’t say that I’m a big fan of the trim.  The material is quite wide and heavy, and is draped quite loosely. I’m not 100% on the feather and brooch detailing either. I think, the shape and idea of this hat is there, but tend to think that less-is-more in this instance.  Princess Anne is so elegant and I’d love to see this hat paired back a bit, even with no trim, to let the feather work and shape speak for itself.

Fiona: Oh dear….I feel the hat is more suited to a winter race meeting with all those guinea fowl feathers (I suspect, they are some kind of guinea fowl) to the underside of the brim although it is a sinamay hat. Not particularly liking the loosely draped fabric around the crown either and it looks a little shoddy on the top edge, as though it was badly blocked or perhaps squished in a suitcase!!!! The outfit wouldn’t be my favourite, not a fan of that rich beige colour. On the plus side, this hat shape is nice on her and I love her skinny belt. So I think Anne on this occasion, in my opinion, has not got it right!

Zara Phillips Tindall in a new cocktail hat by Rosie Olivia. Dress by Paul Costelloe.

Fiona: Nice, simply detailed hat which suits Zara very well. I like the combination of nude sissal and primrose yellow flowers though there is nothing particularly stand-outish about this hat, she played quite safe today! The yellow colour she seems to like a lot and we see it on Zara quite a bit. That dress is beautiful – the cap sleeves and turtle-neck collar do wonders for her figure. Overall a nice look.

Jill: Lovely and those daffodil yellow flowers, made from goose feathers are gorgeous (if I was there I would have a hard time keeping from reaching out to touch them)! From all angles this hat is chic and suits her perfectly.

Royal Hats: I adore the fresh,unexpected colour scheme. At first glance, I missed that the flowers are constructed from feathers and agree that they are fantastic. It’s a very pretty hat with a sense of humour that I really appreciate.

Christie: How lovely is this colour on Zara Phillips! The feather flowers are very clever, they bring a floaty, lovely element to the piece. Again, I don’t think it’s actually on quite correctly, which does make it difficult to comment on balance. It’s looks as if it should be sitting slightly lower and more forwards on her face, which I think would then help the straw drape to work with the lines in her look.  I really love how she’s accessorised this outfit, it really nails the summer racing brief.

Autumn Phillips in a new saucer hat by Gina Foster. It is the “Anzio” design.

Christie: It looks like a beautifully constructed hat, again I just want to go and tilt it on her head so that it’s sitting beautifully! The curls in the half-burnt ostrich feathers work well the the lace detailing in her outfit. As a blonde, and with the hat in sinamay, she can get away with more black in her look, without it being too heavy.  Although, I’d still love to see it broken up a bit ~ I do love colour for Royal Ascot!

Jill: Very nice, I love the saucer shape and that the floral trim frames her face above and below the brim. The most important factor here is that she is wearing it correctly, so often these platters are sitting flat on the head and without the angle they can be too harsh to the profile. My only comment on this would be that it would have been nice to pull a little white into the trim to match her skirt and brighten the whole thing up a bit.

Fiona: Nothing spectacular about this whole outfit, looks very last minute and possibly a little cheap and nasty overall! That wrap-top does nothing for her and the hat might be improved if the placement was slanted more. The twisted spines needed to be better thought out and less crazy looking for such a safe outfit. Sorry Autumn, not a huge fan of the outfit today!

Royal Hats: Fiona, you have me rethinking my adoration for this hat! I still love it it but agree that the outfit isn’t Autumn’s best.

Lady Sarah Chatto in a repeated saucer hat by Stephen Jones

Christie: How lovely is this image! I think that Lady Chatto has stayed very true to her personal style with this headpiece, I can’t imagine her being comfortable in anything large and ostentatious.  I like how there’s a sneaky fur felt crown with a sinamay brim, it works well with the lines in her jacket. I would have loved to have seen her hat slightly more tilted, and her hair up with this look, but other-wise it’s very paired back elegance, and very her.

Royal Hats: The hat is lovely (although I would love to see a different shape on Sarah) but since the straw brim shows as grey, I really don’t like it paired with with this black and brown striped coat. Sarah has a cream hat in this style that I think would worked much better.

Fiona: I think this hat is a little small and would look better placed at a slant. I do however like the simplicity of it and the velvet juxtaposed with the sinamay, it is a good combination. Although I am not a mad fan of brown I think she can carry the horizontally striped coat well.

Jill: This is very safe, it’s a clean line and very classic. My only issue is that it is sitting too far back on her head, the brim line should be more in line with her eyebrows. I don’t even mind the velvet as it is paired with the open weave straw but it would have been more adventurous in brown or with a bit of trim to mark the liveliness of the occasion.

Immense thanks to Christie Murray, Fiona Mangan and Jill Courtemanche for your contributions today. We will all be back late tomorrow to chat about the hats from the second day of the races.  To sign off now, here is a peek at a few more royal hats spotted at the Ascot racecourse today:

Duke of York and Prince Harry, June 16, 2015 | Royal Hats
Prince Andrew, Duke of York and Prince Harry in silk top hats – one polished and one not. After our wonderful tutorial on buying a silk top hat last week, I find the look of an unpolished silk hat rather ragged in comparison!
Lady Grimthorpe, June 16, 2015 | Royal Hats  Duchess of Devonshire, June 16, 2015 | Royal Hats
Lady Grimthorpe and the Duchess of Devonshire

The Duchess of Gloucester in a repeated navy straw beret

And my pick for favourite non-royal hats today? A fantastical headpiece by master milliner John Boyd and an elaborately flowered saucer hat by Edwina Ibbotson. I think they both capture the spirit of Royal Ascot millinery!
Photos from IKM/Splash News,  Anthony Stanley/Retna Ltd. and Anthony Stanley/Retna Ltd. via Corbis; Getty as indicated

Ascot Day 1: British Royals Part 1

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Royal HatsJoined by Australian milliner Christie Murray, Irish milliner Fiona Mangan and American milliner Jill Courtemanche, let’s get right back to our next group of royal hats from the first day of Ascot races today.

Camilla, Duchess of Cornwall in a new hat by Philip Treacy

Jill: I admire the Duchess of Cornwall for taking chances and continuing to try new shapes and trends in millinery. I like the softness of the twists against the face but I want to push the whole hat deeper into her head so the crown is not sticking up so much, it looks a little too narrow and takes away from the clean architectural line of the detail work. I do love the color though and there is no doubt that the hat is the best part of this outfit…

Christie: Ah, Mr Treacy, the king of line and flow. I love what he’s done with this piece.  It wouldn’t have been easy to colour-match this sinamay, his colourists have done a great job. It’s an interesting place to put a jinsin trim, but I kind of get what he’s going for. By colour matching the trim to The Duchess of Cornwall’s hair, it nearly becomes part of her whole look. It’s as if the jinsin comes out from underneath her brim and flows away from her, creating an elegant and chic final look.

Royal Hats: It’s a new shape for Camilla, smaller than her usual picture hats. I adore the twisted trim but something about the proportion and washed out colour is a little off for me.

Fiona: She is the ‘Queen’ of pastel colours, sometimes I wish she would go for brighter hues. Again a classic hat with a wide brim. Its a style she returns to again and again, but it works for her. Always elegant is Camilla and she can afford to wear the wider brim to tame that appearingly flyaway, but perfectly styled hairdo. Not too mad on the lapel and cuff detailing of the coat, think it is a little old for her but more or less on the button here.

Princess Beatrice in a new disc hat by Nerida Fraiman. Skirt and blouse by Roksanda Ilincic.

Princess Beatrice in Nerida Fraiman, June 16, 2015 | Royal Hats

Christie:  Ok, so being a milliner on the younger side, can I firstly say that I love her outfit and shoes! I would totally wear this – love it. And I like the youthful playfulness of her hat. I absolutely see what they were trying to go for. It looks like a shot sinamay, with a bit of bling? How much fun!  I love the spot of bling in the centre of her trim too, I think it works well with the circle detailing in her skirt. The only thing that I think is letting this hat down is the crinoline trim.  I feel like it needed a deeper black trim, to play off the black in the skirt and her shoes. The sparkle in the hat base does dampen it’s colour, and paired with the crinoline trim, tends to wash it out somewhat. With more of a punchy, black trim, it would pick up the bold and modern look of the outfit, and be more balanced.

Royal Hats: I really like this hat but wish it was worn at further forward and with a different outfit. The dramatic black circle on the skirt needs an equally bold hat to balance the ensemble- something similar to the Countess of Wessex’s hat yesterday. Alternately, I think this hat would be beautiful with a simpler dress, like the one Beatrice wore for Trooping the Colour on Saturday.

Fiona: Love her outfit but the hat in my opinion is not working for her. I wouldn’t have put black with those pastel colours (even though there seems to be a small bit of black in the skirt). Her hat placement is off, it looks like it is not sitting into her head at all and appears to be on the verge of falling off! She should have chosen a more pastel coloured hat or richer hued hat than the beautiful outfit. Sorry Beatrice, you were off the mark for your hat on this one but the outfit is quite fitting!

Jill: I like this hat – it’s youthful and a model of modern simplicity, plus I love that it is held on with this beautiful jewelled hat pin but I want it to sit a bit more forward on her, over the brow rather than on the side so it feels more balanced.

Sophie, Countess of Wessex in a new hat by Jane Taylor. Dress by Emilia Wickstead

Jill: Wow! This outfit is gorgeous and so ladylike, absolutely beautiful. I love the cream and the detail on the hat is lovely, the height is perfect paired with the tall collar of her dress and her profile is stunning.

Fiona: This is my favourite Royal look of the first day at Royal Ascot. Love the huge slice headpiece which sits almost vertically – really creates drama. Hair is perfect, outfit colour is so fresh and that high neckline which I am a fan of myself, is divine with a hem length that is daringly verging on evening attire. Full marks to Sophie for pulling out all the stops!

Christie: From a general, over all look, this hat would have to be one of my favourites of the day. Colour-wise and texturally, it’s bang-on with that dress.  And it’s sitting just perfectly on her head. I love how they’ve done such a beautiful trim, bringing in jinsin with that beautiful material. The lines just work so well with her face and the material of her outfit.  My only, tiny thing to pick would be the finishing of the piece.  For such a beautiful hat, I would have love to have seen those tiny fly-aways on the brim trimmed off and the folded brim bind invisibly and hand-stitched down. Otherwise, it’s just gorgeous.

Royal Hats: Agreed on all accounts! This piece is absolutely sublime. Not only my favourite royal hat of the day, this is my favourite overall royal hat so far this year.

Princess Michael of Kent in a repeated hat by Philip Treacy

Princess Michael of Kent in Philip Treacy, June 16, 2015 | Royal Hats   Princess Michael of Kent in Philip Treacy, June 16, 2015 | Royal Hats

Christie: This isn’t an easy shape to block so seamlessly in sinamay, so that is to be commended. I’m just not sure that the shape of the feather trim is purposeful enough?  It’s an incredible feather, and I don’t mind where it’s sitting, I just feel like it could have been shaped in a slightly more angular fashion, to work with the lines in her dress.

Jill: I like this hat a lot but I think on it’s own it is a bit of a bore, her dress actually makes the hat look better! All together it is a clean, modern look but I am not wowed. I must admit I am doing everything I can not to make any pirate references here…but she should have ether played up the unavoidable eye patch and had some fun with it or avoided a black hat.

Royal Hats: I’m not bothered by the eye patch (although white might have blended better)- it’s the earrings that are standing out like a sore thumb for me. Somehow, this fabulous, dramatic hat is lost in this ensemble.

Fiona: Quite like this, a little less formal in a lot of respects with the relaxed fitting dress, the not-so-matching necklace and earrings and quite formal structured hat with an enormous feather. She is playing safe but with a slightly quirky look. Might not be everyone’s cup of tea, but I certainly think she looks well.

What did you think of this quartet of Royal Ascot hats. Stay tuned for one more group of British royal hats that appeared today at Ascot!

Photos from Steve Finn/Splashnews, MK/Splash News and MK/Splash News via Corbis; Getty as indicated

Ascot Day 1: The Monarchs

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Royal Hats I am thrilled to be joined by three royal milliners, Christie Murray, Fiona Mangan and Jill Courtemanche, to review the royal hats appearing at Royal Ascot 2015! Let’s get right to our first pair of hats.
Queen Elizabeth  in a new hat designed by Angela Kelly, made by Stella McLaren. Coat and dress by Peter Enrione.

Christie: How lovely does Queen Elizabeth look! I love how her milliner has gone for a mixed medium piece – fur felt crown and brim bind with a sinamay brim.  The fur felt works with her coat, yet the sinamay keeps it summer-racing appropriate and light.  It’s a very interesting detail in her crown block, which frames those incredible silk flowers beautifully. It also balances the neckline in her jacket and the colour is just divine on her.

Jill: Not really unexpected, but this classic silhouette looks lovely on her and the color is a lively shade of fuchsia (a nod to the new princess perhaps) which is very flattering on her. I also like the combination of open straw with the fabric crown and edge, it’s finished seamlessly and the flowers are a perfect compliment to her ensemble.

Royal Hats: It’s another one of Angela Kelly’s Split Crown hats (the best one we’ve seen in this style, I think). I also love the colour and the use of the straw brim to keep the hat light. I’m thrilled to see more restrained embellishment than many other Kelly hats and agree that the flower trim is perfect.

Fiona: The Queen is one of the few people that seems to be able to pull off any colour and what a beautiful fuchsia bright colour she has on today! Her simple, safe hat with the classic style that she always gravitates to, works so well especially with the split in the crown at the front. And a floral dress, very nice! Very classy – she takes no chances, but she is the Queen and can’t afford to take risks at her age!

Princess Haya Bint Al Hussein in Philip Treacy OC 867. Dress by Dior.  

Jill:  I love that Princess Haya is always all in with her outfits, if this is where her week is starting, it’s going to be fabulous! That said, this is not may favorite hat, the detail work is amazing, all those individual flowers hand sewn with crystal centers are dreamy but the exaggerated back is not my thing, the profile looks a bit like it is going to take flight but to me this is an Ascot hat, it’s big, it’s gorgeous and just the right side of overdone.

Fiona:  I love that hat shape, quite quirky the way the brim swells at the back. The texture of the little flowers is very cute and works well with the whole outfit. A little unsure of the sparkly feather and flower, think they are a little fussy and plainer would have sufficed. Overall beautiful hat and a nice overall ensemble.

Christie: It’s difficult to comment on this hat as I’m not sure it’s on quite properly? I can see the look she was going for, but I think, for me, there’s just a bit too much going on.  I think you’d probably be able to get away with something this textural in a different colour but, in black, and with it’s size, I find it to be too heavy paired with a black jacket and her colouring. I would have loved to have seen this in a deep red or brighter colour, to colour-clash with her outfit.  It would be quite a striking hat with either no trim, or something clean and chic to break it up, like some simple, sculpted ostrich spines. With the encrusted ostrich spine and flower, I just feel like there are too many heros in this piece.

Royal Hats: Jill- Princess Haya IS always all in with her fashion, isn’t she?! I adore that. She has a long history of choosing the most dramatic hats in Philip Treacy’s collections and here she goes again! The diamanté studded flowers covering the brim prove that simple trims in vast numbers make a huge impact but I think the bath bath pouf on the side really needs to go.  While I adore the Ikat skirt, it seems at odds with the hat. Put this hat with a a tailored red Dior suit and I suspect we would all swoon.

Let’s not forget the handsome royal men- Sheikh Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum in an antique silk top hat above and the Duke of Edinburgh in a grey felt top hat below. The quirky brim shape on Prince Philip’s hat always makes me smile.

Prince Philip, June 16, 2015 | Royal Hats

What do you think of these first two Royal Ascot hats of 2015?
Photos from Steve Finn/Splashnews via Corbis; and Getty as indicated