Monthly Archives: December 2016

Queen Máxima Opens Tech School

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Queen Máxima was in Den Bosch yesterday to officially open the Hieronymus Academy of Data Science in the former convent of Marienburg. For this event, she repeated her red felt Garbo hat trimmed with slim leather hatband.

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Queen Máxima, Dec 1, 2016 in Fabienne Delvgine | Royal Hats  Queen Máxima, Dec 1, 2016 in Fabienne Delvgine | Royal Hats

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Designer: Fabienne Delvigne
Previously Worn: October 14, 2014; November 8, 2013
This is the the second head-to-hem red ensemble we’ve see this week, giving an interesting opportunity to compare (see the other one here). Which red ensemble do you prefer? And, how much does the hat influence your choice?
Photos from Getty as indicated; Albert Nieboer and Albert Nieboer via PPE

Millinery Collaboration: Jane Corbett & The Duchess of Cambridge

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Royal HatsDuring the early years of her royal life, the Duchess of Cambridge turned to British milliner Jane Corbett for a number of her hats. This pairing produced a number of beautiful designs that solidly established Kate’s hat wardrobe and helped define a burgeoning personal millinery style.

2017 marks Jane Corbett’s 20th anniversary as a milliner and to celebrate, she has designed three collections of hats – one in felt and one, a couture line of one-off designs. A third anniversary collection of 21 limited edition designs will be added each month for the next year. In honour of these new collections (the first Corbett designs available for purchase online) and aniversary, I thought it would be fun to look back at all the hats Jane Corbett has made for Kate:

2008-05-17-wedding-of-peter-autumnr  2009-08-14 Nicholas Van Cutsem wedding 2  2009-08-14 Nicholas Van Cutsem wedding 3

Black straw pillbox with straw tails and net tulle veil worn to Peter & Autumn Phillips’ wedding, May 17, 2008
Pale blue straw round percher with silk blooms worn to a friend’s wedding, August 2009

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Cornflower blue straw percher hat with silk flowers worn for the Duke of Edinburgh’s 90th birthday, June 2011
Black felt hat with beaded trailing bow detail worn Nov 13, 2011 for Remembrance Sunday

2012-05-29-bp-jubilee-garden-party jane-corbett-lace-diskr

Pale pink straw hat with lace trim worn for a Buckingham Palace garden party, May 29, 2012

2012-06-18-order-of-the-garter   jane-corbett-white-cocktail

White straw percher with flying bow detail worn for the Order of the Garter Service, June 2012

2012-09-29 Kate 2  2012-06-17-trooping-of-the-colour-3

jane-corbett-grey-straw-organdie-kate-sep-2011r

Palest blue straw saucer percher with interlooped straw bow tails for Trooping the Colour, June 2012 and
wave shaped straw hat with embroidered organdie worn for a friend’s wedding, Sep 29, 2012

The Jane Corbett design I receive the most requests to feature here on Royal Hats is the burgundy velvet felt stylised trilby that Kate wore for her first Christmas as a member of the British Royal family. With contrasting piping and a raised, ruffled brim around the back, the hat’s unique shape and saturated colour combine to make a wonderfully stunning design.

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As we wish Jane Corbett congregatulations on this millinery milestone, I’m curious about which of her designs for the Duchess of Cambridge stand out to you most. If any of you purchase one of the hats from this collection, be sure to share it with us here as well!
Photos from Getty as indicated; Hello Magazine, Bauer Griffin and Bauer Griffin via Zimbio; Anwar Hussein and Paul Hackett via Getty;  MarieClaire.co.uk; Max Mumby/Indigo via Getty and Jane Corbett

Day 1 of Singapore State Visit To Japan

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Singapore President Tony Tan  and his wife Mary were welcomed by Emperor Akihito and Empress Michiko at the Imperial Palace in Tokyo yesterday for the start of a five day state visit. Predictably, Empress Michiko wore a hat for the welcome ceremony, a large domed saucer in palest oyster grey, trimmed with a spray of silk roses and leaves. It’s one of the larger hats we will ever see on Michiko and the scale works well for her.

Empress Michiko, Nov 30, 2016 | Royal Hats

Empress Michiko, Nov 30, 2016 | Royal Hats

Designer: unknown
Previously Worn: I believe this hat is new

Crown Princess Masako wore a midnight blue velvet hat with founded crown and sharply upfolded brim.Trimmed simply with a silk hat band in the same brighter blue as her suit (the hat matches her lapel), this design is all about the luxurious sheen off the velvet that covers it. It’s so great to see saturated colour on Princess Masako that any qualms I have about the hat’s shape (or an annoyingly large pucker in the velvet on the crown) are erased.

Update- thanks to reader Avery who notice this hat was first worn back in late January 1995 while on a visit to Jordan.

Crown Princess Masako, Nov 30, 2016 | Royal Hats

Crown Princess Masako, Nov 30, 2016 | Royal Hats

Designer: unknown
Previously Worn:January 1995; February 7, 2016
I suspect we’ll see other hats during this visit- what do you think of these to for its start?