At the April 5 Service of Hope at Westminster Abbey (held in memory of those who lost their lives in the Westminster terror attack March 22, 2017), the Duchess of Cambridge wore a black straw percher hat that many of you admired. The hat, from Lock & Co., is a bespoke version of the “Salsa” design from the Summer 2013 collection. Since 2013, Kate has paired this hat with three coats and I’m curious- which pairing do you like best?
Look 1: With a black and white dalmatian print Hobbs maternity coat, worn June 13, 2013 to christen a cruise ship
Look 2: With a blue military inspired Alexander McQueen coat, worn June 6, 2014 for the 70th anniversary of D-Day
Look 3: With a black and grey chevron Missoni coat, worn at an April 5, 2017 Service of Hope at Westminster Abbey
Photos from Getty as indicated
Royal Hats 
Seeing these different outfits makes me think more highly of the hat – it seems more versatile than I’d have thought for something that’s really quite distinctive in style. I think the pairing with the Hobbs coat is the jauntiest, and the outing with the Missoni coat is the most elegant.
The hat works well enough with all of these, but I like the Missoni best. Besides the “light black” and texture others have mentioned, I like the way the hat picks up the chevron pattern from the coat.
What a serviceable hat! Perchers like this aren’t my favorite style, but they are ubiquitous and much better than no hat at all. I think I like the dalmation coat pairing best, because it lets the hat feel fun. I think the hat might be a little too ‘fun’ for a military occasion, what with the big flourish. I like it very well with the Missoni coat, the textures are great together and the pattern of the coat really bring out the variegation of the material in the hat.
Nice! I expect we’ll see this one for years to come…
Just my opinion, but I see three incredibly ugly coats with a hat that is only slightly better. I hate hats that look like they are growing out of the wearer’s forehead or the side of the head for that matter.
For me the Missoni coat takes the win!
The Missoni by a mile for me. The blue coat is too structural and military for this flippy little hat now I look back at it. But the Missoni coat has a quirky edge that worked so well I thought. I liked the Dalmatian coat too, but it’s a much less polished look I think.
There is either a slight shine or a lighter-than-black shade to parts of the percher. This mottled effect is shown off to greatest extent both with the dalmation and the Missoni coats, since both have non-black shade as well. There’s certainly nothing wrong with the black and blue pairing, though, but any attractive black hat might have worked equally well with this outfit. I don’t think the same would be true for the other two coats.
The Missoni coat on its own is by favorite by far.
The dalmation coat for me!
I like them all, but the pairing with the Missoni coat was PERFECT!
Look 2 is my absolute fave. I like the contrast between the black and blue. And for some reason I think this hat just looks better with a plain coat. Look 3 is nice as well. Don’t really like combo 1.
I like the hat with the maternity coat best.
I think the blue, which surprised me. I don’t typically love blue and black outfits.
I like it best with the Missoni coat. It looks wonderful. My least favorite was when she paired it with the blue McQueen coat.
Missoni coat….the hats texture match that of the coat quite well.
The texture of those two pieces is a great match, isn’t it?!
I like all of them the same I think. None of them are spectacular, but they are all nice, fits together and work for the occations.
I prefer it with the Missoni coat.
Love the Dalmatian print – so fun! Really this hat looks great with all three, though the blue is my least favorite color combo. Nice to see how her placement/hairstyling has evolved.
I realize the first time she wore this hat she was pregnant, but I didn’t care for the coat as it made her look quite boxy in that full-length photo; a collar on the coat might’ve helped balance things a little. Also, the hat sat too low on her forehead in my opinion.
I like the color contrast of the blue McQueen coat and the black hat, but I think the black and grey Missoni coat edges it out ever so slightly because the details seem cleaner in that outing. I think Kate has done justice to this hat, and has made me like it more over the years, and it works well with her hair up or down.