Monthly Archives: December 2020

This Week’s Extras

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Prince Philippos of Greece and Nina Flohr were married in a civil ceremony last Saturday, December 12, in St. Moritz, Switzerland. The bride wore a ivory boucle suit and large structured bow in her hair, both by Chanel

On Monday, Emperor Naruhito and Empress Masako attended the opening ceremony of the Global Environmental Action (GEA) International Conference in Tokyo. Empress Masako repeated a deep green hat with upfolded brim edged in braided trim.

Princess Charlene wore a Dior lambskin leather beret on Wednesday as Princess Gabriella christened a new police boat named in her honour

The following new millinery designs caught my eye this week:
Beautiful scarlet velvet halo bandeau with silk roses by British milliner Bee Smith
Stunning jeweled hatbands and trim on felt fedoras in jewel tones from Italan brand Borsalino
Icy blue felt hat with grey trim and wonderful folded ribbon hatband by American milliner Dorothy Morant
Burgundy button percher with beautiful vintage folded ribbon by Dutch milliner Wies Mauduit
Winter white felt octagonal cloche with fur pompom by Canadian milliner Karyn Ruiz
Chic leopard print felt trilby with emerald velvet hatband and bow by Italian brand Batog Hats
Purple felt beret with lovely velvet leaf and floral trim by American milliner Wayne Wichern
Glamorous perchers in orchid purple with crystal veil and scarlet with crin ruffle by UK milliner Tracey Miller
Two turtle doves (!!) by Spain-based American milliner Parrish Lee

 

Ice blue velvet and sequin covered halo bandeau by British brand Stephanie Elizabeth Millinery
Tweed pillbox with oversize lily trim by French brand Mei Mei France Chapeaux
Statement vertical saucer covered in fantastical fuchsia feathers by Australian milliner Cynthia Jones Bryson
Dapper beaver felt fedora in the most beautiful shade of teal by Hornskov København
Prink straw brimless design with wonderful folded ribbon trim by Spanish milliner Eugenia Jimenez
Elegant grey felt beret with net veil trim by French milliner Clotilde Toussaint
Fun floral trim on this vibrant blue beret percher by British brand NDLQ millinery
Black and maroon felt fedora with patent leather hatband by French milliner Geneviève Parois
The most darling green and black striped button percher with bows by British milliner Rachel Trevor Morgan

Lovely Christmas greetings from numerous royal houses

We close this week with a tale of Christmas magic, told by the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge

 

Photos from social media as indicated

Hat From the Past

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Royal Hats25 years back to this day in 1995 that saw Empress Michiko commemorate the 50th anniversary of the end of the World War II in a gorgeous deep deal silk hat.

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Photo from Getty as indicated

Top Royal Hats: September & October 2020

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Results for your favourite new hat and repeated hat worn in are in with two clear (one landslide!) winners:


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Queen Elizabeth’s pink felt hat with layered hatbands and silk flowers by Rachel Trevor Morgan worn Oct 15 



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Queen Máxima’s cream, tan and black striped straw saucer by Bettina Thomas worn Sep 16

Jump over to polls for favourite new hat and favourite repeated hat to see the results in greater detail.  
Photos from Getty and social media as indicated

Inventory: Princes Anne’s Red Hats

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Today we’re diving into Princess Anne’s closet to look at all of her red hats. To my great surprise, she has only added four in this colour scheme in the past 40 odd years:

1.   2.   
Designer: unknown
Introduced: Dec 25, 1984; Apr 3, 1988

3.    4. 
Designer: unknown
Introduced: June 18, 1996; Jan 27, 2019 

What’s most interesting to me here is not so much the styles, as the few number of hats in this hue. Maybe the Princess Royal is not such a fan of red? While the first two are well into their third decades of wear, they continue to make public appearances, usually around Christmas. The first design has not aged particularly well (as one may expect for a pyramid of pompoms) while the second has nearly fit in with the beret percher styles that have been fashionable over the past decade. The most recent acquisition, a deep scarlet velvet bucket hat, feels less stylish than the beret and while the third hat has not been seen in a long while… it wouldn’t surprise me if it magically appeared at Ascot next year.

What do you notice about this group of hats? If you were to add a red hat to Princess Anne’s wardrobe, what style would you choose?

Photos from PA; Max Mumby/Indigo, Tim Graham and Nigel French/PA Images via Getty Images

Princess Eugenie’s Christmas Hats

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We continue our retrospectives on hats worn on Christmas Day today with a peek into Princess Eugenie’s archive:

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Velvet hats in jewel tones for Christmases 1995 through 2001

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 Mulberry stovepipe cloche with feather explosion in 2002; Winter white beret in 2003; Cuffed faux fur hat in 2004

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Burgundy felt beret in 2005; Chocolate cocktail hat with feathers and looped bows in 2006: Ivory beret in 2007

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 Black felt blocked beret in 2008; Philip Treacy fuchsia fedora in 2009; 

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Philip Treacy Black fedora with pheasant feathers in 2010; Burgundy stylized beret with rose in 2011;

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 Repeat of the 2008 black felt blocked beret in 2012 and 2013 (with an added Christmas tree pin)

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Juliette Botterill cerise percher with knotted trim in 2014; Nerida Fraiman teal straw percher with black crin in 2015;
Sarah Cant scarlet felt button with sculpted leaves and silk blooms in 2016

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Whiteley cuffed black felt beret with bow in 2017; Emily London black ruched bandeau in 2018;
Juliette Botterill blue silk bandeau with arrow trimmed feathers in 2019

I love a jewel tone on Eugenie so in this collection, my eye is naturally drawn to the colourful designs worn in 2009, 2011, 2014 and 2016, along with the beautiful blue feather trimmed bandeau she wore last year. What do you notice about this collection? Which designs stand out most to you?

Photos by Geoff Robinson/Shutterstock; Getty as indicated