One of Queen Mathilde’s go-to hat shapes is a ruched calot. Belgian milliner Fabienne Delvigne crafted one version in royal blue straw hat she has paired with three different printed silk dresses:
Look #1: With a deep blue and white printed Dries van Noten dress worn May 20, 2015 in The Hague for a reception for Belgian artists.
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Look #2: With an orange and royal blue floral print belted Natan dress, also worn May 20, 2015, to open a sculpture park in The Hague and repeated July 3, 2016 to attend Kroningsfeesten in Tongeren
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Look #3: With a white silk dress with blue floral border print worn June 28, 2018 while hosting an Australian state visit
Look #4: With a cream and blue bold Ikat print Natan dress worn April 30, 2022 for Princess Isabella’s confirmation and June 6, 2022 to present prizes for the Queen Elisabeth music competition.
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Which dress do you prefer most with this hat?
Photos from Getty as indicated; Nicolas Maeterlinck/AFP via Getty Images
Royal Hats 
All three are fantastic looks for Mathilde; this cobalt blue is a beautiful color for her. Orange & blue is one of my favorite color combinations, but I think #1 is my absolute favorite ensemble by a small margin; the navy heels and clutch of #1 allow the hat to shine more (in addition to being such a sophisticated outfit) compared to the other two looks, where all the accessories match in terms of color.
Great hat shape for her, and three great frocks as others have said. I’d just go with dress number 2, as the orange and blue combo is a winner for me.
A great hat in a wonderful shade of blue.
Hard to pick a favourite look because they’re all three really good. But for me, it’s between #1 and #2. And if I had to pick a winner it would be #2 because of the great combination with the orange.
Queen Mathilde looks wonderful in this hat and all three dresses! Very difficult to pick, but I’m going with No 1, because I just love a good crisp blue-and-white look, In No 3 the blue is a little too muted. The orange and blue dress in No 2 is vibrant and attractive, but just can’t quite top a classic blue and white.
This is a good example of successfully ringing the changes in what is basically the same outfit. The three dresses are near identical in shape, and it’s a shape that goes very well with the hat, so since there are no dreadful choices in terms of the colourways of the dresses and accessories, you get three very satisfactory outfits. I’d be hard pressed to choose between them, though – they’re too similar to generate strong preferences.
I like all three looks. She looks great in that style hat and all three dresses are pretty but I actually like the third look the best because of the limit bits of blue with the bright white. She looks great.
I am also torn between 1 & 2 with 3 being only slightly behind. The sculpture park, however, is one of my favorite royal appearances because the two queens seemed to be having so much fun together that day. The occasion plus the blue/orange color coordination certainly makes that the most memorable of the 3.
I’m loving #1. While I love anything orange, it accents the first dress so well. It’s perfection!
This is a tough choice as all 3 dresses are lovely and the calot pairs so well with all 3. I think it’s a tie between #1 & #2. For me, #1 is a perfect look, but I love the unexpected pop of orange in dress #2. Sorry! I can’t choose between those 2.
I agree Sharon. I think the hat looks wonderful with all 3 dresses, but like you I am torn between 1&2 being slightly better than 3, probably because they both have more color than the white one.