So pleased to welcome back reader Sandra for Part 2 of her musings about what hats designed by Dutch milliners she’d like to see Queen Máxima wear. I forgot to mention yesterday that Sandra is from Tauranga, New Zealand in the aptly named Bay of Plenty and has read Royal Hats since 2012. She writes, “generally it’s the first website I look at in the morning. Better than the news sites!” Thanks, Sandra! I’m honoured to be part of your morning routine! Sandra’s post today picks up where yesterday’s ended.
5. Eudia (Eveline Gentis-Smits): A young milliner who has had work in Vogue and Elle. Fascinator Lady Amherst is gorgeous and would suit Maxima’s flair. Ditto Paradise Luise and Fascinator Wave.
Eveline even makes a tiara! Here’s her 2-step guide to finding the right hat for your face.
6. Mirjam Nuver: She’s a bit ‘out there’ … but so is our darling Max. I could definitely see Max in the Solitary Ridge wide brim hat in wool felt, purple is one of her colours (and it comes in black), and the Claque B7 wool felt hat.
The Cocktail-Handprinted Navy would take some carrying off (but so does a lobster necklace) and since she seems to like doughnut hats and other oddities, she could try the Full Moon.
I also like this swirled black halo brim hat:
and this red wool hat:
7. Elisabeth Koch: Dutch milliner based in China. The Up+Down Red Felt Brim I could definitely see on Max, and the Orange Swirl.
Ms Koch is designing for a different target market but I have no doubt Max’s vivaciousness could carry off some of these pieces (just don’t let her see the wrap hats). And as we were looking at Princess Margaret’s ‘garden on a head’, how about the Snowball? Or, if someone were to shove me, the Red Nest (crownless). Have to say the photos on this site are not of the quality one might expect of a showcase.
8. Herma de Jong: ‘Pasja’ (Killer Queens collection) would look magnificent on Max!
I think she’d carry off the brown felt hat with feathers and even the yellow felt cloche and feathers hat from the Anna Karenina collection (although not in yellow, please – and I didn’t even open the Turbans file).
The ‘Pink Florentin’ with folded brim in the Breakfast at Tiffany’s collection has the sort of drama Max likes and I love what I can see of the pink hat with sweetpeas in Here Comes the Sun Ready-to-Wear collection.
Despite its unlovely name, Caterpillar from the Summerbreeze collection looks very Max, while she already wears variants of the grey felt and sinamay hat (For a Wedding and a Funeral collection).
The green felt and feather hat in The Animals would fit her wardrobe too.
9. Elmira Exclusive Hats (Russia-born Elmira de Raaf): The Brown hat includes the sort of animal print Max loves, and the Green cocktail hat has the same vibe. The Edwardian feel of the Burgundy felt hat, plus its deep, luxurious colour, would be great on Max. The website says Elmira has designed for the Dutch Queen (but doesn’t say whether it was Beatrix or Max).
10. Maria Etkind Millinery: Her collections are very small but having something on the head of the Queen at a high-profile event would undoubtedly be a boost – let’s try Muses from the MG17 Faith collection, or Petal Twist or Blue & Green 3D Waves from the Spring-Summer 17 collection.
Thanks so much to Hat Queen for all work creating this splendid blog that we love so much – and for the delicious opportunity to spend so much enjoyable time down rabbit holes researching this guest post!
Sandra- Thank you for this wonderful post. I think you’ve found an amazing potential collaboration between Queen Máxima and Herma De Jong. That ‘Pasja’ design would be a knockout on her! There’s something in each of these groups of designs that I think could work really well (some, perhaps, with a few tweaks) on the Dutch queen. Let’s hope she follows some of your suggestions!
Photos from Eudia; Hoeden M/V; Capello NL; Elisabeth Koch; Herma de Jong; Elmira Exclusive Hats; Maria Etkind Millinery
Royal Hats 
Sandra, these are awesome finds! I love nearly all of them (except the trims on the Maria Etkind perchers, and the poor dried-up pheasant feather attached in its middle on the central Elmira percher). And, I am dying to see the Herma de Jong “Pasja” from the aptly named Killer Queen Collection on a royal head.
BTW, I weakened, and opened the de Jong Turban Collection file. Wowza, those split cane(?) turbans seem to be inspired by this Jean-Paul Gaultier “cage dress”. http://assets.vogue.com/photos/55c651b708298d8be226a94e/master/pass/00490fullscreen.jpg Would Max say no to such a hat? one can’t be too sure!
it is a pitty that Design by Myra van de Korput is not mentioned. Her hats are worn all over the world. She hat made a hat for Queen Maxima as well.
Best regards,
Mieke
Hi Mieke,
Believe it or not, the website of Myra van de Korput did not come up during any of my Dutch hat-maker/milliner Google searches! I’m glad you’ve pointed me, and other readers, in that direction. Her Wave hats are particularly beautiful and intriguing: https://www.designhoeden.nl/wave-hoeden/
My searching was limited by my almost non-existent Dutch, which is my fault and apologies for that.
Best wishes,
Sandra
Mieke- which designs by Myra van de Korput do you think would be a good fit for Queen Maxima?
Also- can you help me with which hat Myra made for Maxima? I’ve done considerable research but can’t find which hat was her design.
Here are some recent Myra van de Korput designs that I think would be great on the Dutch Queen:
https://www.instagram.com/p/BTuDc71j06v/
https://www.instagram.com/p/BRtG47ZDI3A/
These are fabulous! I particularly like the 2nd one, the grey with the unusually arranged pink decoration. I wonder if the pink part is stiffened or loose like a scarf — I can’t really tell from the photo what it might be made of.
I think it’s pleated silk abaca, draped and sewn onto the hat as a type of alternative hatband. Nice detail, isn’t it?!
Thanks so much for the sample of Myra van de Korput’s range Hat Queen. I agree with Matthew, the grey and pink hat would be tremendous on Maxima.
Thanks so much HQ and Mieke, these designhoedenmyra hats are gorgeous! and very Maxima.
These look so Max!
Wow! These are some great choices, Sandra. I am intrigued by the Mirjam Nuver, but the designer should give us a clue about how these would look on actual heads. The Pasja has a stately look that makes me think of Prinsjesdag. I’ll vote for the Caterpillar and the pink sunhat, too. And what fabulous trims on the Maria Etkind perchers!
Nice post Sandra! I am a fellow Kiwi in Wellington. I saw Max and Willem-Alexander when they were here in Welli in November 2016. She had a fabulous slice hat on! Got photos! Love the structurally different hats you shared – very cool .
So jealous! Maxima looked fabulous when she was here in New Zealand. Every outfit a winner.
Yay for a fellow Kiwi! Love the hats, too, although the Pink Florentin does look as though it is some sort of shellfish about to snap shut about the model’s neck.
Thank you so much Sandra for the hard work creating this post. You have a real flare and creative side don’t you? I’m not much of a hat wearer myself, except to weddings and funerals, but I also love this website and visit it every day just for the beauty of these hat creations!
Thanks everyone for the thumbs up! I’m not much of hat wearer myself – although have the odd flirtation – but love looking at them and thinking about them. And I have learned so much since I started reading this site – construction techniques, materials, proportions. It’s a wonderful education.
For the next Dutch state visit to China, I really want Queen Maxima to wear that Elizabeth Koch red hat! It reminds me of the “Bird’s Nest” Olympic stadium and it is so creative! The Eudia hats are beautiful and I just poked around the websites of Maria Etkind, Elmira Exclusive Hats and Herma De Jong on my lunch break- all three designers looks like they would be a great match for Queen Maxima’s style. Please, please, please let her stylist read this post! I think it would be good for Queen Maxima branch out with a few new hat designers.
It was fun as you say going down these rabbit holes. I found a yellow pleated hat, a gold edged burgundy ribbon hat and a red flowers fascinator that I think would look great on Queen Maxima. Of your choices, my favorite is the Elizabeth Koch orange swirl. Thanks for the introduction to these designers.
Sandra you have made some wonderful suggestions. I did not know there were so many talented Dutch milliners. I love the swirled black halo hat from Mirjam Nuver, the black and white hat from Eudia and the burgundy one from Herma De Jong.
Just awesome! Thank you so much for these posts, Sandra. Do you ever have an eye!
These are just lovely hats! They really don’t go too “out there”…
I think Elmira Exclusive Hats would suite Autumn Phillips.
*suit
Agreed!