to July 21, 1988 and a very smart white hat with upswept front brim trimmed with yellow flowers worn on a visit to Devon. While the hat follows the capulet shape favoured by the Queen Mother (a cloche shape with extended front brim that is folded back), the angle shown in this photograph makes it look wonderfully chic, almost foreshadowing the upswept brims that are en vogue today.
Photo angles and pairings can make or break a hat, illustrated here with this design’s repeat in the Caribbean in February 1994 with a printed silk dress. While floral print dresses were very much in style during this time, the resulting pairing of hat and dress doesn’t invoke the same descriptors (chic, streamlined, elegant etc.) that come to mind for the first ensemble.
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Photos from Getty as indicated
Royal Hats 
I absolutely love the first outing, with the tailored, color-blocked suit – chic PERFECTION!
The second outing is not so successful. Here it looks dowdy.
Amazing how different a hat can look when paired with two different outfits, isn’t it?!
HM is very chic in that first photo! The suit is so well-tailored, and the hat works very well. Don’t care for the floral multicolor dress in general, nor am I thrilled with the placement of the hat, which sits very Blossom-style, instead of being slightly turned to the side as it seems to be in the first photo. It really is often the details that make the difference!
My first thought was “Queen Mother”! The shape of the hat is so reminiscent of her. The Devon ensemble is really stylish. I too have reservations about its pairing with the floral print dress.
I agree. The picture of her wearing the floral dress looks like she borrowed a hat from her mother and it’s not good. On the other hand, I love it with that yellow suit. Very stylish.
It’s a good shape for her, and I wonder whether she didn’t take to it because she didn’t want to copy her mother’s look.
The whole look in Photo N°1 is surprisingly elegant.
This is a very lovely hat and overall look. My favorite part if the size and sweep of the brim. I also like that the adornment is at the back and not the front. I couldn’t help but notice the white gloves, handbag and shoes (smile). How about the headpieces of the native ladies in the last picture. They are fabulous! Makes me wonder if HM is commenting to the lady in red on her millinery.
You’re not wrong! That hat and suit is lovely; it gets said a lot but a shorter jacket is very flattering on her.
The flowery dress isn’t so great. I can find that being worn with two other hats, including (I think), this curious open topper…
http://austinfound.blog.statesman.com/2015/09/09/long-live-queen-elizabeth-ii-a-look-back-at-her-visit-to-texas/
It’s kind of amusing in that Texas photo that she still has her purse over her arm while speaking at the podium, as opposed to giving it to one of her ladies in waiting to hold. (Do ladies in waiting accompany her on foreign trips?)
I have mixed feelings about the hat in this post, but it is certainly better than that odd hat in the Texas photo!
The horse, of course, doesn’t like the carrot either!
August 6, 1996
But he apparently ate the hat, since she’s no longer wearing it!