The Cheltenham Festival continued today with Ladies’ Day on a very windy second day of racing. The Duchess of Cornwall attended in her familiar hat in tan tweed with faux-fur cuffed brim. We’ve discussed this hat at length in the past (I’ve described it as a quintessential British aristocratic country hat- eccentric, mismatched, well worn and of the highest quality) and while it is not my favourite design in Camilla’s millinery wardrobe, suffice it to say it works well for a day at the races in the country in dismal weather.
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Previously Worn: Nov 24, 2017; Nov 26, 2016; Mar 29, 2015; Feb 12, 2015; Nov 30, 2014; Mar 12, 2014
Zara Tindall wore a striking red vertical saucer percher described by the designer as a hat with “cashmere covered base, trimmed with a two toned large silk flower and back bow detail”. I want to like this but the flower placement (sliced right through the middle by the saucer brim) and odd colour scheme (a half brown rose looks to me like a half dead rose and why would you want that on a hat?) prevent me from warming to it. It’s eye catching, yes, but I much prefer the chic fedora Zara sported yesterday.
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Designer: Juliette Botterill. It is the “Cashmere Flower Percher” from AW 2017
Previously Worn: This hat is new
Royal Hats 
I think the Duchess of Cornwall’s hat is eminently suitable for the occasion, and looks good with her outfit – albeit fairly unobtrusive. But Zara’s hat doesn’t seem the best choice for a windy day. How is she keeping it on?? Wouldn’t it catch the wind like a sail and make a spirited attempt at ripping her hair out? Ouch.
Loving the Zara pictures until I saw those terrible boots. They look like lumpy, falling down stockings!
On a more positive note it’s lovely to see her enjoying herself so much. Also can’t deny Camilla wears a hat well.
Camilla’s hat is great….it suits her style, looks good with her coat, and is probably warm for the weather.
Zara’s hat is a miss for me. I don’t like the bright pink and brown of the flowers and it sits too high and too far forward to me. But as with Camilla it does seem to be her style.
The issue I always have with Zara’s hats is that the scale seems off… she often favours tall hats, placed far forward on her head, and to me eye they appear off balance. I’d love to see hear in something with a brim. Yesterday’s fedora was very flattering.
Oh, yes! The Duchess of Cornwall’s hat and coat are familiar, but they do suit her so well. Not so sure about Zara Phillips’ hat. It’s so cold here (in the States) right now, that the hat looks too summery to me.
I love this hat of Zara’s and am so grateful for the close-ups. Cashmere base…divine and that big bloom. Sorry HQ, I have to disagree with you…I love it. I think the colours are beautiful. Zara rarely disappoints and to me this is quintessentially her…awesome. Thanks.
I love the hat as well. She’s so bold with her hat choices and I love her for it.
I adore this hat, too. The colour is luxurious on this blue-eyed blonde, and the beige petals on the two-tone roses provide gentle highlights and contrast, while exactly picking up Zara’a hair colour – so awesome!
What I find less awesome is the styling. Her earrings are too small, her hairstyle – words fail me; her lipstick is too pale for the hat’s strong colour, the coat is poorly constructed, the bag and boots are the wrong beige, and the dress just doesn’t go.
I wish I could say otherwise: these days, I feel Zara often misses the mark when she wears these elegant and rarefied percher confections, which demand a high level of styling refinement. I have admired her millinery style so much over the years, and I miss the Zara whose creative, head-turning looks, always showcasing her hats, originally won my heart. It seems I’ll just have to content myself for now with enjoying her fabulous hats for their own sake.
If we wore hats here in the State’s, I’d wear Camilla’s hat almost daily in the winter so I wouldn’t have to bother with my hair. Zara’s hat today isn’t my most favorite, but then I’m not fond of saucer hats. Instead of the red tones of the hat and the flowers, I wish she had worn a hat that would have accented her polka dotted dress. I definitely am not versed in hats like HQ or the other followers of this site but I thoroughly enjoy this site and looking at the various hats.
I understand Camilla loves these hats and she looks so well put together here, but ugh, why can we not get her anything new for her winter millinery selection??
I personally love Zara’s saucer cocktail hat! The color is beautiful and the design takes a familiar concept and makes it a bit newer. On my computer the petals look more like a dark cream/light beige instead of brown, so it doesn’t look like it’s a dying flower to me. For me, it’s gonna be hard for Zara to top this hat.
Meanwhile, Getty currently isn’t being cooperative in allowing me to embed photos of most of my favorite hats from Ladies’ Day; but to start, I will leave you with this one, because you know I want to snatch that fedora off that man’s head:
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Here are a few other favorites:
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And for some reason they won’t allow this one to be embedded, but I love the orange cocktail percher in this photo: https://www.gettyimages.com/license/931886758
The first red hat is wonderful!
Awesome choices, Jake!
Love the colour on Zara and the coat is beautiful. However, the hat bears no relation to her navy polka dot dress, but perhaps she knew she’d never be warm enough to take the coat off! I rather like the way the hat brim curls into the flower, but there is certainly something a bit ‘off’ with the flower – too big? And I agree, HQ, the brown petals aren’t pretty.
My favourite non-royal hat today was again on the head of ITV racing correspondent Francesca Cumani in this brightly patterned percher with black feathers by Bundle McLaren.
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