twenty years ago to July 18, 1997 and a visit to Derbyshire that saw Queen Elizabeth in a hat with pleated white silk crown and transparent yellow straw upfolded brim. We don’t often see this kind of pleated crown detail on royal hats which makes this design stand out- funny that I don’t recall seeing it before. Was this hat new for you as well?
Embed from Getty Images
Embed from Getty Images
Embed from Getty Images
Embed from Getty Images
Embed from Getty Images
This hat is our final of 30 new-ish hats from the past we’ve looked at over the past two weeks- I hope you enjoyed this mini-series!
Photos from Getty as indicated
Royal Hats 
Thank you for your hard work on this amazing series. All of the hats were new to me. Some were great and some not so great. But even the not so great ones were entertaining. Enjoy your vacation.
Thank from me, too, HQ! What a fun feature during the slow hat-wearing season!
You’ve ended with a winner for me HQ! I love how this simple, unremarkable style is given a twist by the use of the pleating, and the choice of a the non-matching see-through brim ( although a sharper, minimal coat would have helped a lot).
This hat and the navy and white boater are my two faves from this retrospective, as they feel the most modern.
Sometimes it seems to me that I would need more than one lifetime to view all of HM’s hats. And then there are all of The Queen Mother’s hats to see; and all of Diana’s too, and so on. But as they say, it’s the journey that counts, not the destination. HQ, I appreciate your taking us down this interesting byway – many thanks.
Greetings from Sydney, Australia! A very big Thank You for a wonderful 2 weeks of ‘older’ hats – some I am glad she never wore again, some I wish HM had repeated more often! Yellow is always a winner on The Queen. Have a wonderful holiday and stay safe, X
Thank you, Hat Queen! I too thought of a jello mold when I saw this bright fun hat.
Fabulous selection from the archive. I’ve loved it, Hat Queen. Please do something similar soon
I’m so glad you all enjoyed this! I had fun putting it together.
And yes… I have something similar planned for early October. I’m going to be away from the blog for a few weeks on vacation but will have a similar series, along with a few other surprises to keep you all entertained while I’m away.
Perhaps we could have a vote on say our top 10 from this lot.
I won’t put a formal poll together but by all means- name your favourites!
This has been wonderful! Thank you, Hat Queen, so very much! Seeing all the different hats and reading the comments has been so lovely the past two weeks!
I’m not at all sure about this; the pleating is a step too far for me.
Thanks for a fabulous run through the archives; have had a great time seeing these forgotten titfers!
And just to add my thanks for the series, HatQueen!
You’re most welcome. I’m glad you all found these as fascinating as I did when I stumbled across them.
I love this butter yellow colour (the coat is great!) and the pleating is very interesting. I can’t decide if I like the see-through quality of the straw brim or not.
I like this hat because the white crown breaks up the all the yellow in the brim and the coat. I think the pleats were enough as the hat maker did without any other trim.
A wonderful end to a very much enjoyed mini series, thank you so much. This hat was a late addition to a very old outfit, originally worn for her 60th birthday in 1987. Interesting how the later hat made it look much less ‘1980s’, despite the shoulder pads!
http://www.gettyimages.co.uk/license/52118097
I am thoroughly enjoying this retrospective!
I do have a question. HQ, are you going to continue doing inventories of different colour hats? That’s one of my favorite features on this blog.
Absolutely… I’m just not sure when. They take a lot of time to put together. I’ll try and sort some out this fall.
I do like the hat brim and the colour (of hat and coat) but the crown reminds me of my bundt pan.
Thank you, HatQueen, for the retrospective. Fun to see changes in styles over the decades.
Or Jello Mold! I feel a cranberry jello salad in the works….
What a great series of posts! So interesting see HM’s hats from the past, which remind us (we who are old enough) of our own clothing, headgear, and lives in those days. Thank you so much!
1. Thank you so much for a fun 2 weeks of past beauties. This has been the highlight of my day!
2. Duxford, August 1, 1997: HM must have liked this yellow hat, since she repeated it just two weeks later.
Embed from Getty Images
When I was a racing photographer I was based in Newmarket. Duxford was just up the road. A fascinating place. I had a nodding acquaintance with HM, the Queen Mum and the Princess Royal. Especially since I was the only female. Oh the memories. That was the late 80s early 90s. The men could wear what they wanted at Royal Ascot. I of course had to tramp around in a dress and hat. I remember HM pointing to her hat and laughing. Only later did I see that in all the running back and forth it was sitting on my head sideways which is what she was trying to tell me! Love seeing HM in this retrospective and all the lovely hats.
You were a royal photographer! How exciting!!
Oh no. I wasn’t a royal photographer. I was a racing photographer. As you know the royals are highly connected to racing. All I have are pictures of horses. None of which are wearing hats!
Wow! I’d love to hear other stories (and see photos?!)!
That does seem unusually close for a repeated hat although we’ve seen her go with frequent repeats before!
This has been a fun and interesting 2 weeks. Thank you Hat Queen. A yellow hat on the Queen seems to be a winner no matter how it’s been made or its maker. I am not enamoured of the crown but I think that may be the way it has photographed, being so light and the play of the pleats making it difficult to get a good capture. A fun find.