It was wonderful to see Queen Mathilde step out in a hat for the 75th anniversary commemoration of VE Day back on May 8. The beige velvet felt fedora she wore is one we’ve seen her pair with three very different ensembles:
Look #1: With a beige and yellow colour blocked dress and fuzzy yellow coat worn for an October 11, 2013 visit to Liege.
Look #2: With a vibrant orange belted dress with pleated skirt worn during an October 2016 visit to Japan
Look #3: With a navy and ecru Battenberg lace patterned shirtwaist dress by Natan worn May 8, 2020 to commemorate the 75th anniversary of the end of WWII in Europe.
Embed from Getty Images
Embed from Getty Images
Which ensemble do you prefer most with this hat?
Photos from Getty as indicated; Photonews, Kyodo News and Kyodo News via Getty
Royal Hats 
Look #2 somehow doesn’t work. Great color combo but that’s it.
Look #3 is good. Too bad the fit of the dress isn’t very flattering. It ruins the look for me.
Look #1 is my fave. It’s a bold look but I always loved it. And the hat goes so well with it. Since the yellow is so in your face it requires a neutral hat. The more casual fedora in a neutral color is a great choice.
Like others, I think #3 is the best of a bad lot. I don’t like the hat – too tall, too cone-shaped, sits awkwardly high on the head. Too much John Wayne and not enough Sarah Bernhardt!
i like fedoras, and i like this hat, but as mentioned they can look a little too casual sometimes.
by far, look 1 is the strongest – admittedly its a very bold look and not for everyone, but i think you have to applaud her for trying something different, and for me the use of nude accessories is definitely the way to go – especially with this more relaxed style of hat which doesn’t fight with the rest of the outfit. it makes me smile (for good reasons)
outfit 3 is smart and appropriate for the event.
unfortunately, i don’t think it works so much with the plain formal orange dress of look 2.
i do however prefer the placement of the ‘bow’ trim in the second two looks – i think its been moved more off-centre.
These are interesting! I’m not keen on a fedora shape for formal occasions, but to me this one has enough formal touches (less slouchy, the trim, the fabric) to make it fitting for a formal role. In the abstract, I’d have thought the beige hat would go best with the the orange dress, but in practice I find this the least successful pairing, since the strong dress colour just seems to wash out the hat and make it completely ineffectual. Conversely the first outfit is more successful than I’d have expected, I think the colour-blocking brings it together well. The styling of the third outfit is the best, and is really suitable for the occasion, with the hat looking very appropriate, it’s just the cut of the dress that perhaps isn’t as flattering as it might be…
This is tricky for me, because whilst I think the most recent dress, with its wide belt, was the least flattering design for the Queen, it’s my favourite styling with the hat. The colour in the dress is a match, the curls on the hat echo the swirls of the print, but it’s not matchy matchy. The neutral colours are sombre for the occasion, but lighter than black or solid navy.Perfect styling, just not my favourite dress shape!
Trickymum, thanks for summing up my exact thoughts. While the colors of #3 dress looks the nicest with the hat, I think the orange dress is more flattering on the queen – not quite so voluminous.
By far the third look! The first two are I’ll matche do think, using beige/camel as a neutral against acid yellow is, erm interesting, and although the colour scheme is good for the second look the hat and dress just don’t gel stylistically for me. The third is a much more successful pairing as fhe hat goes with the dress in terms of colour and style much better.
Totally agree! JamesB sums up my thoughts perfectly.
I’m with Jake. You summed this up perfectly JamesB. I agree with you about Hat #3.