King Harald and Queen Sonja of Norway were welcomed at the Finnish Presidential Palace in Helsinki today by President Sauli Niinistö and Jenni Haukio to start a three-day state visit.
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For the official welcome and visit to Parliament, Queen Sonja repeated the navy straw hat she first wore in May this year. Today’s outing gave us a better look at this piece which features a slightly domed crown and upturned brim edged in wide ecru silk ribbon. The ecru silk edging and darker hat band are my favourite elements on this hat as they provide wonderful contrast that works so well with Queen Sonja’s striped jacket (interestingly, a different striped navy and ecru jacket than she wore with the hat last time).
While the hat looks great in side profile above, from the front view, I don’t think the shape, scale and placement work. When the upturned brim is tilted back on Sonja’s head, the proportion of the hat optically shrinks leaving a too small hat that looks borrowed from a children’s sailor costume.
Queen Sonja’s second ensemble of the day included a cafe-au-lait coloured pillbox which matched a wonderful laser cut leather jacket. The mix of modern and retro styles here is so unexpectedly fun and while the pillbox takes back seat to the jacket, it works because the ensemble works so well together. It’s difficult to tell from this photo what the hat is made of but I really, really hope it’s also leather.
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Designer: unknown
Previously Worn: I believe this hat is new
Previously Worn: I believe this hat is new
Today’s first day of the state visit to Finland had both a millinery hit and a millinery miss for me- what is your assessment?
Photos from Getty as indicated; Vessa Moilanen via Getty; Lise Åserud/NTB scanpix via The Royal House of Norway; Jenni Gästgivare via Iltalehti
to this day, forty-six years ago, when the House of Orange played host to an Indonesian state visit. It’s not often that both host and guest don hats for a state visit but such was the case with Head Of The Indonesian State, Haji Mohammed Suharto, and Queen Juliana of the Netherlands. Juliana’s combination of wide coat collar, wide hat brim and funky glasses is certainly memorable.
Royal Hats 