Yearly Archives: 2015

British Royal Wedding Four Years On: Immediate Families

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A wedding When Prince William married Catherine Middleton on April 29, 2011, there was nearly as much speculation about the colour of the Queen’s ensemble as there was about the bride’s dress. While bookies predicted blue, Queen Elizabeth arrived at Westminster Abbey in a dress, coat and hat in sunshine yellow. Designed by her longtime dresser Angela Kelly and made by in-house milliner Stella McLaren, the Queen’s sailor style hat featured a round, flat crown covered in the same silk crepe as her dress and coat. The flat straw brim was edged in a wide band of the same fabric and the hat was trimmed with a side spray of yellow silk crepe rosettes and velvet leaves. The side of the crown was also sewn with the same pintucks that starburst around the neckline of Her Majesty’s coat. While the shape of the hat was rather austere (and minimally flattering), the colour was the epitome of spring.

The Duchess of Cornwall went with her usual uniform of a tailored Valentine coat and larger-than-life Philip Treacy hat. While its wide, upturned brim gave the hat dramatic shape, the gossamer ivory straw it was constructed from made the hat feel very airy and light. Interestingly, Camilla had worn this hat before and was one of a few members of the family not to choose a new chapeau for this event.

Carole Middleton had the toughest fashion challenge of the day, coming up with a hat and frock that fit in with all the other royal guests. Her pale blue Catherine Walker coat hit just the right note and gave a subtle nod to William`s mother (who wore many Catherine Walker designs). Carole topped her hat with a Jane Corbett designed saucer hat in the same pale blue as her coat. The saucer was edged in a wide stripe of pale blue silk and the underside was trimmed with a folded ruffle of silk edged straw. The same ruffle trimmed the top of the hat, anchored with one of the embroidered frogs used for the closure on Carole`s coat. These details combined to create a balanced hat that looked beautiful on Kate`s mum.

In their pale pastel hues, these hats were well suited to this spring wedding. Did any stand out in particular to you?

Photos from Getty as indicated

British Royal Wedding Four Years On: The Bride

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2011-04-29 William and Catherine

While much of the royal watching world has their attention glued to the doors of a certain hospital’s maternity wing, it seems like a great time to take a royal hat detour. Numerous readers here have requested look back at the hats worn at the wedding of the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge. As the couple celebrates their fourth anniversary tomorrow, let’s revisit these millinery masterpieces.

Before we get to the hats, we need to look back at the bride. Expectations for Kate’s gown were monumental- not only was this a dress for a future queen, it was going to placed under more media scrutiny than any other British royal wedding gown had ever been before. Kate entrusted this challenge to Sarah Burton, creative director at Alexander McQueen, and reports are that the two worked closely together on the design.

The dress’ bodice followed a decidedly traditional shape, thanks to a McQueen signature boned corset, with a cinched waist and sweetheart neckline. Made of ivory satin gazar, it was overlaid in appliquéd silk net tulle; 58 gazar and organza buttons fastened up the back with rouleau loops.

While initial reports stated the lace was handmade, the Royal School of Needlework confirmed that the lace appliqué was cut out of larger lengths of lace produced on large 19th-century machines (from Sophie Hallette and Solstiss in France as well as the Cluny Lace Company in Derbyshire) then hand stitched to silk net tulle. This method of assembly created the illusion of lace woven to perfectly (and symmetrically) fit the bodice of the dress.

In a patriotic nod, Kate reportedly requested the lace include all flowers of Great Britain- roses for England, daffodils for Wales, thistles for Scotland, and shamrocks for Northern Ireland.

Following a traditionally Victorian shape, the dress was lightly padded at the hips and opened into a long, full skirt. The pleated skirt, described by McQueen as designed to echo an opening flower, featured a back bustle which flowed into a three metre (nine foot) train. Unlike many other trains on royal wedding dresses, McQueen’s incomparable structure held the shape of the dress and the train beautifully as Kate walked the aisle of Westminster Abbey. I loved how the train seamlessly flowed from the skirt, making it look like an integrated part of the design (instead of looking like a long bed sheet thrown on the back, as many royal wedding trains unfortunately do).

Also made of satin gazar, the skirt was covered in the same lace appliqué as the bodice. Unfortunately, the intricate lacework did not show up well on video and the detail we see now in photographs was not visible to viewers on television.

Kate topped her gown with a fingertip veil of ivory silk tulle edged in lace. For her processional down the aisle, she wore the blusher over her face. During the first hymn, her father folded it back.

Kate’s veil was was anchored by the Halo tiara; the scroll motif of the tiara was a beautiful compliment to the delicate lace on her gown and edging her veil. The Middletons commissioned diamond earrings for the daughter as a wedding present. The earrings that incorporated the scroll of the tiara and an acorn from their family crest.

Kate changed into a different McQueen gown for the private evening reception. The strapless dress was also made of white satin gazar and featured similar padded hips and full skirt. A diamante studded belt gave a little sparkle and Kate topped the dress with a short white angora cardigan to keep away the evening chill. While this dress was an anticlimactic end to Kate’s wedding fashion, it looks like a fun frock for dancing.

It was reported that Kate’s ‘something old’ was the 19th century style lace on her dress, ‘something new was her dress and earrings, ‘something borrowed’ was the tiara, and ‘something blue’ was a ribbon sewn inside the dress. While this may or not be true, what’s clear is that Kate followed very traditional shapes and materials for her dress. At the time, I remember those in the fashion world being slightly underwhelmed as it was not the high fashion masterpiece they had hoped for. Looking back, Kate’s dress seems entirely her- traditional, understated and classic with a subtle modern twist. It’s a royal wedding dress that I think will stand the test of time and look as beautiful to us viewers in 40 years as it does to us now. I think it  is a dress of exquisite detail that was a perfect proportion for both Kate and for Westminster Abbey.

What did you think of Kate’s wedding dresses? Did you think the Halo tiara was the right choice for her? Stay tuned first thing tomorrow morning for our first look at the hats worn at this wedding. As I’m sure you can recall, there were some corkers.

Imperial Couple Award Midori Prize

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The Midori Prize is a biennial international prize awarded to individuals who have made outstanding contributions to the conservation and sustainable use of biodiversity at global, regional or local levels. The 9th prize was awarded yesterday at a ceremony in Tokyo attended by the Emperor and Empress. Empress Michiko repeated her pale grey rimmed saucer hat with folded flower trim in the same charcoal grey as her suit. Interestingly, this is the same hat we saw the Empress wear last week– since she seldom repeats the same hat back to back, we can only guess she is very fond of this one. Of all her grey hats, this one is certainly my favourite as well.

Empress Michiko, April 27, 2015 | Royal Hats

Empress Michiko, April 27, 2015 | Royal Hats

Designer: likely Akio Hirata
Previously Worn: April 17, 2015; January 14, 2015;  April 11, 2014; December 6, 2013; December 2, 2013

Photos from Asahi 

Takamado Princess Supports Arctic Science

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Princess Hisako of Takamado travelled to Toyama City yesterday to officially open Arctic Science Summit Week. For this honour, Princess Hisako wore a cream straw hat we have not seen on her before. At its base, this hat is quite simple- it’s a classic bowler with rounded crown and short, folded brim. The trim, a wide fluted band anchored to the base of the crown, gives structural interest to the piece and makes the bowler shape disappear. I’m not sure this hat is entirely successful (it looks like it has two unrelated brims) but is is a creative shape and I’m all about encouraging millinery experimentation with the Imperial royals. This piece immediately reminded me of Queen Beatrix’s ‘spool’ hats– what do you think of it?

Princess Hisako, April 26, 2015 | Royal Hats

 

Designer: unknown
Previously Worn: This hat is new

Photo from Kitanippon Shimbun

King’s Day in The Netherlands

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While a great national party of flea markets, concerts, and community-based festivities took place all around The Netherlands today, members of the Dutch Royal Family celebrated the Koningsdag (King’s Day) national holiday together in Dordrecht. King Willem-Alexander and Queen Máxima enjoyed the day with their three daughters, Princesses Amalia, Alexia and Arianne.

Embed from Getty Images
Embed from Getty Images

Queen Máxima unveiled a new hat for today’s celebration. In vibrant pink parabuntal straw, the large brimmed picture hat featured a sharply upfolded ‘slice’ brim and was trimmed simply with a darker raspberry ribbon around the crown. This hat shape has become a staple for Máxima for good reason- it looks wonderful on her. The raised brim removes the facial-obstruction that usually occurs with large brimmed hats and the dramatic shape lends a sense of drama that Máxima carries so well. Today’s all pink ensemble is a daring choice but the darker shade of pink on the hat, gloves, and shoes gives enough contrast to make the outfit work. Máxima wears vibrant colour better than most and today’s ensemble hit a perfect note for the celebratory nature of today’s events.

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

My only qualm about the hat were the giant hatpins used to secure it. Not only do they look like royal weapons, they interrupt the beautifully smooth curves of this hat.  

Queen Máxima, April 27 in Fabienne Delvgine | Royal Hats

Embed from Getty Images

Designer: Fabienne Delvigne
Previously Worn: This hat is new

I adore Koningsdag because the Dutch royals always look like they are having immense fun. What did you think of Queen Máxima’s hat today? Has it erased your memory of the one she wore over the weekend, as it thankfully did for me?

Photos from  Getty as indicated; Patrick van Katwijk via Corbis