to August 4, 1991 and the 91st birthday of the Queen Mother celebrated at Sandringham. Queen Elizabeth’s upturned wide-brimmed hat in red straw is trimmed with a hatband, back bow, brim piping and wide stripe around the underbrim in the same silk paisley print as her frock. It’s a matchy-matchy ensemble (characteristic for the time) that I don’t recall seeing before- do you?
Embed from Getty Images
Embed from Getty Images
Embed from Getty Images
Photos from Getty as indicated
Royal Hats 
This hat is ok but personally, I find the trim on the brim to be over-kill. There is just too much of that print.
I love the bow & accentuated trim on the brim.
My favorite hat is on the Queen Mother. I loved that she had her style and stuck to it! Always pretty and vibrant.
I don’t much care for the Queen’s hat or outfit – but think the Queen Mother looks like a dream!
I’ve been researching paisley recently, as you do. The teardrop pattern (‘buta’) originated in Persia and may show the top of a cypress tree (‘sarv’, the tree of life) blowing in the wind – it’s a tree that’s renowned for bending and not breaking. The buta in Azerbaijan is related to the Zoroastrian religion that dates back to the first millennium BC and which was also the dominant religion in Persia until the arrival of Islam in the mid-7th century AD.
The pattern came to the west on fabric, particularly shawls, and was popular in the 18th and 19th centuries, although was already being woven into textiles in western Europe from the mid-1600s. Paisley, a town in Scotland that was a centre for textile production, gave an ‘English’ name to the pattern. At its peak in about 1850, there were 6,000 weavers employed in Paisley.
So there’s today’s rabbit hole …
Thank you for the history. I like this pattern style and did not know it’s origin!
Fascinating! Thanks for sharing this!
I dont actually mind this hat. While it seems like a younger woman’s style, it looks quite good on the Queen.
Wow, maroon paisley with cobalt and green detail — it’s a colour combination that hasn’t been about for ages — so 1980’s!
I don’t think this hat shape suits HM at all – the sombrero-like brim, the way it is pushed up at the back, and above all the round crown. P Diana could have pulled this off very well indeed – but then, it seems Diana had the facial structure to look great in every hat, whatever the style.
My love of matchy-matchy (and paisley) doesn’t pass the test of this much square footage of paisley in one hit – and the voluminous bulky dress style of the era is not helping — but I’m fine with the paisley hat band, bow and brim trim: and, if the dress had the collar removed, the sleeves narrowed and shortened to 3/4, pleats removed, and a block colour coat were added, I would probably be on board with it to partner this hat.
View of complete outfit:
Oh, and The QM’s hat and outfit is totally gorgeous, as usual.
Well, I’m not clamoring to see this one again, but she’s done worse. I actually like the use of the coat fabric as a trim, but it should have been either the underbrim or the hatband, not both.
Anyone for taking a vote? (February 22, 1996) Another great smile!
Embed from Getty Images
Not sure what we’re voting on, but I like this shape better for having fabric on the outside matching the dress. On the featured hat, I think the matching fabric should have been limited to the bow, and the rest solid.
This one’s a lot better Jimbo.
Hmm. Okay. The little grey curl of hair looks a little strange possibly with the position of the hat on her head?
Don’t mind this. Still a tad frumpy as was her won’t then, but I like the colour and the broader brim.
Are you sure it’s not from 1991 though? HM looks a bit older here than she did in 1981 I think…
Good catch- these photos are clearly mislabelled! Correction made.