Monthly Archives: December 2018

Imperial Royals Celebrate Emporer’s 85th Birthday

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Emperor Akihito marked his 85th birthday yesterday with an annual greeting from the Imperial Palace balcony and a special birthday lunch which included members of the extended Imperial royal family.

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While the Empress did not wear a hat (as other monarchs usually do not when hosting an event in their home), Crown Princess Masako wore a matching midnight blue velvet ruched dress and bumper hat. The same bugle bead embroidery on the cuffs and collar of the dress trims one side of the hat, adding a lovely bit of sparkle against the dark colour which is glorious on Masako.

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Designer: unknown
Previously Worn: While very similar to this hat, I believe this is new

The ladies of the Akishino family wore a trio of calot hats, all which I think are new. Princess Kiko’s royal blue design features a cuff and bow (or butterfly) trim at the side while Princess Mako’s narrower design (a bandeau-calot hybrid) in pale seafoam green silk is trimmed with pale pink roses on the side. Princess Kako completed the trio in a pale aqua silk covered calot with cuff brim and silk floral trim at the side.

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Princess Hisako and Princess Tsuguko of Takamado and Princess Nobuko, Princess Akiko and Princess Yoko of Mikasa joined the family for a celebration lunch, all of them in brimless pillbox or bumper designs. Princess Hisako stood out in a vibrant blue feather trimmed bumper hat previously worn to the 2014 annual New Year’s Poetry Reading. Princess Tsuguko repeated her peach silk covered bumper hat trimmed with large abstract leaves in the same hue (worn for the New Year Poetry Reading last January). Princess Nobuko’s hat, in pale celery green, features a bumper brim that overlaps on one side and a crown covered in the same lace as the bodice of her gown. Princess Akiko’s pale yellow bumper hat is lavishly trimmed with what looks like a large silk flower and net ruffles in the back while Princess Yoko repeated the textured salmon pink pillbox trimmed with chevron stripes of ostrich feathers that she wore for the New Year’s Poetry Reading in 2016. 


It’s wonderful to see most of the Imperial royal family in attendance for this celebration- the Emperor’s last before the throne is passed to Prince Naruhito in April. What do you think of these festive brimless hats yesterday in Japan?
Photos from Getty as indicated

British Royals Attend Church in Norfolk

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Queen Elizabeth attended Sunday service this morning at St. Mary Magdalene Church in Sandringham, Norfolk, joined by the Wessex family. For this rainy outing, the Queen repeated her grey felt hat with red velvet hat band and binding around the upturned brim. The design is trimmed with a mass of slim grey, white and red feathers anchored with a red velvet button.

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This hat’s last outing provided better photos which endeared me to the beautifully executed red velvet trim, which really sets off this hat and links it seamlessly to the patterned coat. I’m still not a fan of the feather placement, which I think is meant to be whimsical but I’m afraid leans more towards haphazard. The red and grey scheme is a great look for this season without screaming, “Christmas!”

Designer: Rachel Treavor Morgan
Previously Worn: Oct 15, 2016;  Feb 8, 2015; Jan 9, 2011; Oct 28, 2010; Dec 25, 2008

The Countess of Wessex repeated her camel felt fedora with overlapping pheasant feather hatband.

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It’s a simple hat that paired well with Sophie’s camel coat and bright green dress (love the pop of colour provided by that dress!). Not every hat needs to be a show stopper and this one is a great choice for Sunday church in the country.


Designer: Hicks & Brown. It is the Suffolk Fedora in Camel
Previously Worn: May 13, 2018
This was a good taste of hats we’ll see in Norfolk this week- what do you think of this pair?
Photos from Getty as indicated

This Week’s Extras

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Last Sunday, the Swedish royal family donned warm winter hats to unveil the statue of King Carl XIV Johan (the first Bernadotte King of Sweden) in its new location on the Slottsbacken “Castle Slope” in Stockholm
Prince Alexander of Sweden in a festive hat with his father on Monday to receive this year’s royal Christmas trees


Princess Rym Ali of Jordan in a fetching deep aubergine felt cloche on Tuesday with her children at a tree lighting ceremony.
Queen Elizabeth arrived in Norfolk on the train on Thursday, in one of her characteristic head scarves.
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The following new millinery designs caught my eye this week:
Garnet felt sidesweep with floral ruffles and curling quills from British milliner Bundle McLaren
Navy fur felt cloche with beautifully raised brim from Czech milliner Jolanta Kotabova
Luxe black cherry beaver felt fedora with silver silk hatband from Danish brand Hornskov Copenhagan
A very festively trimmed electric blue veiled button percher from Rachel Trevor Morgan
Dark green fedora with stunning navy and gold brocade hatband from Philip Treacy
Star trimmed red bandeau from British milliner Harvy Santos
Mesmerizing unraveling straw top hat from the insanely creative mind of British milliner Stephen Jones
Scarlet wide-brimmed fedora from Belgian milliner Fabienne Delvigne
And this floral helmet, made by Philip Treacy for a nature exhibit at the Victoria & Albert Museum. Glorious!

Lovely holiday greeting portraits from the royal families of Jordan, The Netherlands, Belgium and Greece

Photos from Getty and social media

Hat From the Past

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Royal Hats to this day in 1929 and a young princess boarding the train at King’s Cross station en route to Norfolk (and to the Sandringham estate) in a wee bonnet.

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Photo from Getty as indicated

Inventory: Duchess of Sussex’s Black Hats

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Black hats are a staple in every royal millinery wardrobe and it’s no surprise that less than a year into her royal working life, the Duchess of Sussex already has several:

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Designer: Stephen Jones; Philip Treacy
Introduced: Apr 25, 2018; Apr 25, 2018

3.Embed from Getty Images  4.Embed from Getty Images  5.Embed from Getty Images
Designer: Philip Treacy; unconfirmed; unconfirmed (I suspect both are Stephen Jones)
Introduced: Aug 4, 2018; Nov 11, 2018; Nov 11, 2018

UPDATE- Since this post was published, the Duchess has added the following hats:

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Designer: Awon Golding, Stephen Jones
Introduced: Dec 25, 2018; Nov 10, 2019

This is the first inventory we’ve started for Meghan and I’m curious about your thoughts. At first glance, it’s not the most exciting of hat collections but black hats seldom are. I appreciate some of the small details here- that marvelous beaded dragonfly on #2, the exuberant twists on #3 and even the luxe velvet texture of #4. No doubt we’ll see this group of hats grow over years to come but for now, what do you think?

Photos from Getty as indicated