Prince Fumihito and Princess Kiko visited Italy earlier this month. While their program included visits to the Vatican and Bologna, some of their time in Rome was not covered by the mainstream media and we missed a new hat worn by Princess Kiko on May 11 (thanks to reader Angela for finding this!). In natural textured straw, this design features a rounded crown and cartwheel brim and is trimmed in a wide hatband in the same navy silk stripe as Kiko’s dress. The scale of the piece is much larger than she usually wears and the overall ensemble is a far more bold and graphic one than we have seen on her in a very, very long time. It’s not the best hat or dress she has ever worn, but it is a departure and that’s worth something in the world of Imperial Royal fashion.
Thanks again, Angela, for passing this along. What do you all think of this uncharacteristically graphic hat on Princess Kiko?
Photo from EPA/Angelo Carconi via Alamy
Royal Hats 
The princess looks beautiful. I love the hat and dress!
I love it! Bold yet simple. It’s something I might choose to wear myself!
I like the pattern of her dress, but not so much the cut. But this is one of the best hats I’ve ever seen on Kiko! It doesn’t look like it’s too big for her head, especially since it’s a brimmed hat, and from what I can tell if frames her face very well. Brava!
Very sharp!
I think she looks outstanding. I want her lovely hat, it’s lovely.
Such a pleasure find ! And so nice to see a larger style hat!
One has to wonder (or at least MrFitzroy has to wonder)– Given this departure by Princess Kiko from typical Imperial style, and also the ensembles worn by Princess Hisako in Sweden recently (including her unusual yellow and white hat, and the acid green evening gown), if perhaps the Princesses are given a bit more leeway for fashion and personal style when they travel abroad for events — than when they are actually in Japan.
How refreshing to see Princess Kiko wearing more of a western-style of clothing and hat rather than the typical Imperial style – solid color, boxy suit, white gloves, bowler hat. I think Princess Kiko looks terrific.
Actually, I’ve hardly ever seen the Japanese princesses wear something that wasn’t western-style clothing. What you call the “typical Imperial style” is really a conservative mixture of more Victorian/Edwardian style full-length dresses or skirt suits mixed with mid-20th century hat styles, a.k.a. western-style clothing. Please be mindful of this.
Well said, Jake. It’s also good to acknowledge that the Imperial royals wear traditional Japanese attire from time to time (like the kimonos Princess Kiko recently wore at the Vatican and to meet the Italian President).
The typical Imperial style these days may be clothing my in a western idiom, but the wardrobes of princesses certainly seem to follow stricter and narrower rules when they are in Japan than when they travel to other countries.
Delightful. She has such a sweet demeanour.
Love the hat, but the dress is kind of busy. Nice that she’s stepping out, though.
Delightful!
I had to look twice at this one and Queen Sonja’s outfit (two posts back). There are more similarities than differences.
Love the hat, a change from the usual Japannese attire xxx
Lovely!
I agree.
The princess looks enchanting in this hat–hope we will see more of these. (Only niggly complaint is that the hat obscures her face perhaps a little too much.) And while this is a bold departure in design for hat and dress for her, she has kept the color palette very simple.