Monthly Archives: May 2016

York Family Hosts Garden Party

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The Duke of York was joined by his daughters Princess Beatrice and Princess Eugenie today at Buckingham Palace for a garden party honouring the Not Forgotten Association. While the Duke did not wear a morning suit (and therefore, no top hat), the princesses both used the event to show off new percher designs.

Princess Beatrice wore a navy felt percher hat with large felt bow, pink felt leaves and arrow trimmed pink feathers. While the hat was obviously chosen to coordinate with her colour blocked dress and jacket, I don’t think it was a success. Not only is the choice of a felt hat on a summer day odd at best, the felt trim and feathers simply look messy. I have a hunch that the navy percher hat Beatrice wore to Ascot last year would have been a much better match for this coat and dress.

Designer: unknown
Previously Worn: This hat is new

Princess Eugenie’s round percher hat was covered in blue ombre feathers. While the design was a good match for her blue floral dress and the beautiful ombre detail gives a painterly quality to the piece, the single feather trim was an awkward embellishment. A silk bloom or straw twist (or both!) might have worked better for this design.

Designer: Gina Foster. It is the Orlov design from SS 2012
Previously Worn: This hat is new

We have seen the York princesses on a string of really lovely millinery of recent. Hopefully, this will continue in the coming weeks.

Photos from Getty as indicated

Japanese Royals in Italy

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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.

Princess Kiko, May 11, 2016 | Royal Hats

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

Queen Celebrates 300 Years of The Royal Artillery

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Queen Elizabeth was on Salisbury Plain in her role as Captain-General of the Royal Regiment of Artillery to oversee a Royal Review on the occasion of the regiment’s 300th anniversary.  For this event, she repeated her pink straw cloche hat with diagonal crown wrap in the same pink bouclé as her coat. The hat, which is trimmed with an interwoven pink silk looped bow at the side, is a good scale on her and I like the repeat of the bow silk on the brim’s piping. I have never been a fan of these diagonal crown wraps which, while adding interesting shape, always look awkward to me. That being said, this ensemble is a very pretty colour on Her Majesty and I never fail to marvel at her ability to choose an outfit and hat that will make her stand out in any situation. Pale pink is not a hue one associates with standing out in a crowd but she did so beautifully today.

Queen Sonja Opens Bergen International Festival

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Queen Sonja was in Torgallmenningen yesterday to officially open the Bergen International Festival, a two week extravaganza of music, theatre, dance and performance arts. For this event, she appeared in a new hat.
Queen Sonja, May 25, 2016 | Royal Hats

Zooming in for a closer look at this navy straw piece shows us that it has a slightly domed, straight-sided crown and a short Breton-style upturned brim. The brim is edged in a wide stripe of ecru silk piping that matches the stripes on Queen Sonja’s coat which is also used for a hatband around the base of the crown. The design is finished with a flat ecru bow at the front which is centered with a navy stripe. It’s a graphic piece clearly designed to match the coordinating striped coat and the two pieces work very well together.

Queen Sonja, May 25, 2016 | Royal HatsQueen Sonja, May 25, 2016 | Royal Hats

What do you think of Queen Sonja’s new hat?

Photos from NTB scanpix via The Royal House of Norway

Danish Queen Celebrates Cathedral

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Queen Margrethe of Denmark was at Maribo Cathedral on the island of Lolland yesterday to celebrate the church’s 600th anniversary. For this celebration, she surprised with a new hat. The bright red bumper design, made in the same fabric as a streamlined red coat, is simply trimmed in a bow at the side in the same fabric as the ensemble’s patterned dress. It’s not the most exciting of hats but it tops a vibrant and elegant outfit that works beautifully all together on the Danish Queen.

Queen Margrethe, May 24, 2016 | Royal Hats

Queen Margrethe, May 24, 2016 | Royal Hats Queen Margrethe, May 24, 2016 | Royal Hats

Queen Margrethe, May 24, 2016 | Royal Hats

Queen Margrethe’s hairstyle provides a challenge for hat wearing and often, her hats make her appear as though she is completely bald. I think the shape and scale of this piece works well in this regard and as for the colour-  Margrethe never shies away from a red (nor would we want her to!) and she wears it well.  What do you think of this new hat for her?

Photos from Billed Bladet and Scanpix via The Danish Monarchy