Princess Eugenie wore a new hat at Ascot today, described by the designer as a “hand-made hand-blocked panama straw hat with a vented brim and trimmed with handmade silk duchesse origami flowers.” Following the traditional shape of a boater hat, the hat takes a decidedly modern and creative twist with the vent between the brim and the base of the crown.
This boater hat’s twist on the traditional shape makes a wonderfully bold style statement! The unusual shape is softened by the white floral trim, which also links the hat with Eugenie’s dress. It’s not a look for the fainthearted (and works much better when there is not wind whipping hair up the void!) and I seriously admire the bravery needed to pull it off.
Embed from Getty Images Embed from Getty Images
Embed from Getty Images
Previously Worn: This hat is new
Royal Hats 
If the crown/base of this hat was larger, I would be all onboard, but it’s current size makes it a little too twee for my tastes. This hat looks good at some angles, but not others unfortunately; would like to see this experiment again, but executed a little differently. I really like her dress and don’t find it distracting/detracting from the hat.
Interesting! The brim suits Eugenie, not sure about the miniature crown. I agree that we could appreciate the hat better if Eugenie’s hair were styled closer to her head. I also agree that a plain colour dress in a longer length would show this hat off much better.
The hat is so fun, but I agree with many of you that this is not the right dress for it. I’d love to see it paired with something sleeker. There have been many mentions of My Fair Lady this week, and this pairing with the floral print looks more like the flower seller Eliza Doolittle than the Ascot Eliza.
Agree that the dress needs to be a smidge longer & weight the hem-I was watching it live on TV this morning when the wind kicked up & gave viewers a clear shot of her Spanx underneath.
This is a classic boater style with a modern twist. I think it goes great with the dress which I love! I especially love the yellow flowers on the dress, which give a little pop of color. My only quibble would be I think it should be a little longer. When Ascot is all over I think the awards should be by color. We have now seen three outfits in black and white.
Yes to the hat but not paired with this dress.
DITTO!!
I like the dress, and I like the hat, but not both together. Wouldn’t have been something if she wore a bright yellow hat?
What a fun hat! I had a look at the designer link to see how it all works structurally. Still not really sure, but I’d love to know! It looks really good on Eugenie but I think a low chignon would have helped the hat shine even more.
Erdem s not my favourite but it’s Eugenie’s favourite and she looks comfortable in it – this hat is very cute with the origami and all but it seems very light and doesn’t seem to have enough “omph” for the dress (sorry … that’s a technical term!) though she seems happy with it !
The hat is a win for me, but I do agree that the busy print of the dress detracts from it. A solid colored dress or a more muted print would have let the hat shine.
I really love this hat with its daring combo of traditional and modern. Unfortunately it does not get the styling it deserves – the print dress is too busy and I also think this would look better with a low bun, chignon.
I think it’s a fun, young hat for Princess Eugenie and I love that she’s always willing to try new styles. I would have liked to have seen this hat with a more solid color dress such as the red dress she wore last year. I think it would have showcased the hat more.
I like the daring hat but with the busy print on the dress, it’s a miss for me. With a solid color outfit or even with a more spaced out patterned dress, it might put more emphasis on the hat and be less busy overall.
Utterly adorable hat, perfectly matched to an equally charming dress.
This is so bold, and I really really love the idea of the vented open brim. Sadly for me the execution is just a bit off- something about the marriage of trim/brim/vent just doesn’t feel quite right. Maybe it’s my longstanding dislike for the boater shape, but I definitely look forward to more fun and different millinery from the Yorks. They’re favorites of mine.
Ooh that’s bold. I’m inclined to like it, it’s a fun hat and very creative. It also links very well with the dress. The photos aren’t doing it justice perhaps as it’s hard to see the details. But she looks very well put together and young and funky here.
I keep waiting for better photos to come up but, after nearly two hours of waiting, gave up. If better photos are released, I’ll update the post!
I highly recommend watching video of the carriage procession if you are able – it looks especially good in motion.