On Sunday, members of the Grand Ducal family of Luxembourg attended the annual closing procession of the Octave of Our Lady of Luxembourg, a national religious celebration that occurs every year several weeks after Easter. Grand Duchess Maria Teresa celebrated the day’s events in a new calot hat in gold-beige draped straw. It’s a quietly polished look for Maria Teresa – the gold hue of the hat coordinates well with the gold threads in her dress – that feels like it might have benefit from a bit of colour added to the ensemble.
Designer: likely Fabienne Delvigne
Previously Worn: this hat is new
Previously Worn: this hat is new
The Hereditary Grand Duchess and Princess Alexandra elected for more statement millinery pieces. Princess Stéphanie’s red headpiece of layered red banana fibre straw is embellished with a side multi-looped bow. Head wrap designs are tricky at the best of times and the placement of this one, low down on Stéphanie’s forehead, is awkward. Princess Alexandra’s hat, in navy straw, features a rounded crown, fluted wide brim and a red and white striped hatband.
My opposition to these hats is based in the styling of these ensembles- Princess Stéphanie’s businessy blazer seems an odd pairing for the headpiece (her headpiece and lace dress combo at National Day two years ago was a better combination) while Princess Alexandra’s beachy hat and summery halter dress are completely at odds with her dark leather belt, tailored jacket and pumps. The horribly matched necklines of the dress and jacket make it almost impossible for me to focus on the hat and that just makes me sad.
Designer: I suspect Fabienne Delvigne for Princess Stéphanie’s red headpiece. Princess Alexandra’s hat is unknown.
Previously Worn: both are new
Previously Worn: both are new
The annual octave procession always sees a number of Grand Ducal hats- what do you think of this trio of designs this year?
Photos from René Scho and Claude Piscitelli via Cour grand-ducale
Royal Hats 
The Grand Duchess looks lovely. The other ladies look like they might benefit from the use of a Polaroid camera.
Awful, quite awful. But very much par for the course for these minor continental royals.
Oh my.
Maria Teresa’s calot turban hat is fine, but it’s always an underwhelming style for me. If she’s gonna wear this much beigey-gold, then break it up with a statement necklace, otherwise it just washes her out. The sunglasses are a nice touch; reminds me of Grace Kelly.
Stéphanie looks lovely in this shade of bright red-orange, but this headpiece makes no sense; a cocktail hat or fascinator in this color would’ve been a better choice, or a white brimmed hat.
Alexandra’s whole ensemble confuses me. The hat is much too informal, and the jacket with a halter top dress? Strange and messy. My least favorite look of the day.
Re Stephanie and Alexandra: what you said, HQ.
I’ll add that the colour of Stephanie’s hat is way too strong for this blue-eyed, “natural-look” blonde to wear en masse next to her face, especially when combined with the blazer. For her, bright block colours like this one work best in smaller doses as accent notes — such as lipstick (exactly like GDMT has done in her outfit!) handbag, shoes, or earrings.. But I don’t think the wrap style suits her anyway, no matter what the placement. Stephanie’s round face is not flattered by head-hugging styles, and especially not styles worn low.
Alexandra’s picture hat looks very pretty on her: but as with all dark-haired women, a dark hat worn next to a dark upper half risks looking too heavy and uninteresting. This hat needs a light-coloured ensemble (no dark jackets!) with a lower neckline, plus small-scale dark accents only (no wide belts!)
Re GDMT: first rank royal dressing! I adore monochrome when it’s done well, and to me this look is the equal of the best of the kind we have seen on Mathilde and Maxima. I wish I could better see the folds of the hat straw on MT’s left – it’s something I’ve not always liked in Delvigne calots of this style – though it wouldn’t change my view that this hat is a perfect accessory to a beautiful and fashionable look. MT’s hairstyle, and arty, pearl-on-disc earrings (which she thoughtfully swapped when she later removed the hat) complement the hat to a T. BTW, does anyone know who designed MT’s dress? it’s a refreshing take on a classic, and soooo flatteringly executed. And I love those block-heel suede shoes….I do wish other, younger royals would also update their footwear collection to reflect what smart fashionable women of every age are wearing on the street right now….sigh.
MT’s dress is a new custom made Yves Dooms, per luxarazzi.
Thanks so much Maja, I did look at Luxarazzi, but i must have missed that info. I really felt that the outfit was not by Natan.
I’m in agreement with the general consensus here — Maria Teresa’s hat is lovely, but her outfit as a whole might have been livened up a bit with some contrasting jewelry, or even just purse/shoes. I do not dislike Stéphanie’s headpiece, but it harkens back to a past era, and would have looked better if her outfit had done the same. Maybe not a lace dress for this event, but certainly not a business suit — maybe just a “fluffier” white dress with a red scarf or necklace. And I actually do like Alexandra’s hat, though the only thing I can say about her jacket over halter is, maybe she was going someplace else afterwards where she wouldn’t have time to change?
So many questions! Do you suppose Stephanie’s hat is intended as a brimless “donut” style and she made a last-minute choice to pull down into more of a “do not” (if you will forgive me…)?
The thing I don’t understand about Alexandra’s is that the waves in the brim look symmetrical, but the whole brim is so droopy. Bad execution of a potentially interesting design?
Stephanie’s outfit is so nice but the headband-wrap thingy is the worst headwear I have ever seen her wear! It is a nice color and material, it should be used to make something different. I concur with the general opinion of Alexandra’s hat, too casual.
As soon as I saw these hats on another site, I began trying to come up with some kind comment for this blog. However, try as I might, I can still only admire the Gradn Duchess’s hat. Her entire ensemble is quietly lovely and appropriate, although a piece of colourful jewellery wouldn’t go amiss, as previously said. But the other two hats are just beyond comprehension. Perhaps there was a power outage and they got dressed in the dark?
Quite true. Maria Teresa just needs a colourful brooch or necklace to make her outfit perfect.
Alexandra and Stéphanie need the help of a stylist.
I am afraid to say that their hats all look as if ‘made by loving hands at home’.
Maria Teresa opted for a simple yet polished hat
I can’t find a single angle where Stephanie’s hat looks nice or flattering,
I agree with HQ Alexandra’s hat looks sad.
GD Maria Teresa looks lovely, her dress is very flattering … but, as you say HQ, a bit beige-y. A colourful necklace or accessories is all that it needed (close your eyes and imagine what Max might have done, on a good day). The two younger women miss the mark IMHO. Bandeau ‘hats’ need to stay in the 1920s. I’m not sure what sort of outfit that would be suitable for a church service could be paired with this headpiece. The colour seems to look good on Stephanie. I agree with everything HQ says about Alexandra. What a pity.
Really love GDMT’s outfit, even don’t miss color, she has a new glow to her which is amazing. Been following her since her wedding but lately she didn’t seem to have much fun with dressing, but ever since the visit to France she has made a wonderful come back. At 62, yess!