Queen Elizabeth was spotted today enjoying Champions Day at Ascot Racecourse in her repeated royal blue silk cloque fabric covered hat with flared crown, slim hatband and downward sloped brim with kettle edge wrapped in black faux fur.
There’s still much to like about this design, beginning with its brilliant colour and contrast. Interestingly, the first two outings of this ensemble included a blue and white floral printed dress that was replaced today by an unprinted on in just barely a shade darker royal blue than the hat and coat. The resulting look is more streamlined and increases the impact of the faux fur trim, which works so well for an autumn or winter look.
Embed from Getty Images Embed from Getty Images
Designer: Angela Kelly made by Stella McLaren
Previously Worn: Feb 22, 2019; March 29, 2018
What do you think- does this hat pair better with the floral dress or this solid blue one?
Images from Getty as indicated
Royal Hats 
I much prefer today’s darker blue dress to the original floral with white. (The fur trim says “winter”; the floral dress did not.) I wonder whether this dress too was made for the coat or whether it’s just one of the Queen’s many darkish bright blue dresses.
I also prefer the original, wider lapels on the coat. I think the lapels actually lay flatter in the original version than they do now. By now I suspect the whole coat is sort of out of alignment.
The overall design of the coat and hat is excellent, but the fur trim on the hat still needs tweaking. From a distance, in particular, this is a striking outfit.
I like it better with the solid dress but I still want to move that fur trim from the brim to the hatband, or better yet leave it off all together.
I don’t think I would like the fur as a hatband, but on the other hand, if you look at the 2018 post (the first wearing of this ensemble), the very last photo shows more of a top view (HM is looking down as she walks) and in that view, the fur almost looks like it was added later as an afterthought. It could just be the nature of the construction, but HatQueen, did we ever see this hat prior to 2018 without the black edging?
No, it has always been worn publicly with the faux fur trim.
I agree that the plain coloured dress does produce a more streamlined look (and the blue/black combination is very elegant) but that’s offset unfortunately by the irritating elements which were discussed extensively in the 2018 post, namely, the hat’s clunky, poorly executed faux-fur trim & repetition/over-use of the thick coat fabric plus the fact that the lapel doesn’t lie flat above the top row of buttons.
I like this hat and coat ensemble a lot and am happy to see it again. I agree with others that it seems rather wintery for October, but also remember that both my mother and grandmother were always cold when they reached their 90s, so we should give HM a pass on that. I also think it’s the black collar and cuffs that do contribute to that impression, rather than the heaviness of the fabric. Also agree that the solid color dress goes much better with this coat — floral fabric always seems spring-like to me, even when it’s heavy, and so the previous floral dress seemed to me to be in conflict with a coat with “fur” collar and cuffs.
It’s not all that cold in the UK today so this does seem a very wintry outfit. Much prefer it with the solid dress, makes the black really pop. Still not my favourite, it feels quite heavy with all that fabric, and that for trim inevitably looks a bit wonky, but the colours are fab.
The Queen looks beautiful. The outfit seems to relate more to Winter than Fall. No idea what the weather is like there. The use of the two colours gives a sophisticated look and radiates comfort. One of the best outfits ever. The hat is 👌 perfect. Well done.
I like this hat a lot. The narrow hatband and narrow “fur” edging are just enough, with the wide collar of the coat.
I must say I do prefer this dress underneath. I imagine it was worn because HM was going to remove her coat and keep the hat on. I think the hat would have looked too heavy with a floral dress.
The color, the coat, the brooch are all fantastic for HM, but the construction of the hat still is questionable unfortunately. Also, this ensemble says deep winter to me and thus feels too heavy for October, especially when the weather didn’t look to be that cold at Ascot today (although I know everyone’s body temperatures run differently). The solid color dress is a nice change from the usual floral patterns that gives it a more Saturday casual feel, although some color blocking like the red and orchid dress would’ve been fun too.