to this day in 1963 that saw a young Duchess of Kent attending church in Buckinghamshire in a coral pillbox hat.
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Photo from Getty as indicated
Monthly Archives: December 2016
Inventory: Princess Mary’s Black Hats
As we continue building royal hat wardrobe inventories, today we’re going to peek in the closet of Princess Mary of Denmark for a look at all of the black hats she has worn. Here they are, in the order they were introduced:
1.
2.
Designers: all unknown
Introduced: November 5, 2002; June 26, 2004
3.
4.
Designers: unknown; Susanne Juul
Introduced:January 1, 2005; September 23, 2006
5.
Designer: Susanne Juul
Introduced: November 7, 2011 (modified version with added trim reappeared October 6, 2015)
6.
7.
Designers: unknown; Susanne Juul
Introduced: March 17, 2015; May 27, 2016
Since this post was published, Princess Mary has added the following black hats:
8.
Designer: Susanne Juul
Introduced: October 2, 2018
I suspect the first three hats in this list are long retired, leaving four in current circulation. Numbers 4 and 5 are the workhorses as their streamlined designs fit in beautifully at the most sombre of events (and the recent addition of some new trim on calot #5 seems to have given it a new lease on life). Number 7 stormed onto the scene this year, easily claiming our pick for favourite new royal hat in May. The scale and exuberant shape of this piece sets it apart from Mary’s other black hats and it will be interesting to see how it is repeated in the future.
What designs stand out to you here, most?
Photos from Julian Parker via Getty; unknown; Keld Navntoft and Mark Cuthbert via Getty; Albert Nieboer / DPA / Abacapress; Splash News/Splash News/Corbis; Getty; Andreas Rentz via Getty
Hat Cousins: Queen Elizabeth and the Square Crown & Kettle Brim of Angela Kelly
During recent discussion about Queen Elizabeth’s newest purple chapeau, several of you referenced other hats with this same shape. Indeed- there are several other iterations of this Angela Kelly design, one I am calling the “Square Crown & Kettle Brim”:
Diamond Jubilee Service of Thanksgiving, June 5, 2012; In Germany, June 26, 2015;
Attending the Commonwealth Heads of State Summit in Malta, Nov 27, 2015;
90th Birthday Service of Thanksgiving on June 10 and Patron’s Lunch, June 12, 2016
Celebrating 60 years of the Duke of Edinburgh Awards, Nov 24, 2016
Since this post was originally published, four more variations of this style have been added:
Opening Parliament on June 17, 2017; Maundy Thursday, March 29, 2018;
At the Duke & Duchess of Sussex’s wedding, May 19, 2018; Hosting a Holyrood Palace Garden Party, July 2, 2018
The kettle brim, is upfolded at 90 degrees to create a cuff-looking edge, is a good design feature for the Queen as it allows her a slightly larger scale brim without obscuring her face from view. This handsome shape lends itself well to embellishment… which is where its downfall is also found. I think just one hat in this bunch has the right balance of froufrou – the pale yellow and grey design in the top- a balance that we saw last week is a little precarious. The others, I’m afraid, are a warning against fussy, overmixed textures and trimmings. I think the strong lines of this design work best with a “less is more” hand at embellishment.
I am curious, dear readers, what do you think of this signature Kelly design?
Jump over here for an index of other signature shapes Angela Kelly has designed for Queen Elizabeth
Photos from WPA Pool, Chris Jackson, Aberto Pizzoli, Max Mumby/Indigo, WPA Pool, Mark Cuthbert, AFP/Carl Court, Max Mumby/Indigo, Pool/Max Mumby and Jane Barlow via Getty
This Week’s Extras
Prince Harry acquired some new headwear today while on tour in Surama, Guyana
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Infanta Elena at an equestrian exhibition in Madrid with… you guessed it, another fedora (Semana)
This week saw the addition of another red hat into Queen Mathilde’s wardrobe putting the total now at eleven. Jump over to this post to see the full inventory.
John Boyd shared a photo this week of a new millinery creation with wonderful polka-dotted crin brim. On which royal head would you like to see this design at Ascot next year?
The Netflix series The Crown received as close to a royal endorsement as it’s ever going to get (Town and Country)
Royal writer Netty Liestra published an interesting list of royal recipes this week (NettyRoyal)
Beatrice Borromeo Casiraghi shared some never before seen photos of her wedding dress this week, giving us the best view of this Armani creation to date. So beautiful.
Some seriously glamorous gowns and jewels at the state dinner in Amsterdam on Monday night
Queen Elizabeth Visits University Residence
It’s the repeat many of us have been waiting for! For yesterday’s visit to Goodenough College, residential accommodation for postgraduates from the UK and all over the world who are studying in London, Queen Elizabeth repeated the pale yellow and grey hat she first wore in Germany last year.
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Embed from Getty ImagesThese photos show that the brim on this hat is made of straw- a detail not clearly visible during its last outing. This sublte design feature that lends some textural contrast against the fabric covered crown.
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Sometimes absence grows fondness to a greater degree than it is warranted- what do you think of this hat now that we’ve finally seen it again?
Photos from Getty as indicated
Royal Hats 