The Dutch King and Queen kicked off a three day state visit to Slovakia today.
Queen Máxima wore a new teardrop beret percher hat in the loveliest midnight blue velvet, trimmed with a large, animated bow.
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It’s a small scale design that packs good visual punch, thanks to the lively bow and luxurious velvet sheen. Styled with a monochrome ensemble, it made for an sleekly understated look.
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Designer: OC960 from AW 2023 by Philip Treacy. Dress and coat by Natan.
Previously Worn: this hat is new
Thoughts about Queen Máxima’s new hat?
Images from Getty as indicated
Royal Hats 
Love the colour of this hat and it is a nice change from QM’s usual much larger millinery choices. She looks warm, comfortable and so stylish. Also, what a beautiful brooch.
Lovey hat; and when she took the coat off the combo with the beautifully tailored dress was fabulous. Máx does glam even when she does understated colours.
No argument from me — this hat is a standout. Love how the velvet shimmers in the light and the sculptural look of the bow.
I may be in the minority today, but here goes:
1. I love the hat in all manner of speaking, especially the beautiful color. Blue has always been my favorite color, and THIS blue tops all other shades!
2. The hat looks much nicer and balances better with the dress. The enormously large and loooong coat make the hat too small, IMO.
3. The sensible shoes are a wise choice for outdoor cobble stone walking, to be sure, but they’re not very flattering. They are either badly scuffed up, and/or have a workman’s steel tip appearance.
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4. HQ, you may have missed two real humdinger Royal hats in early February, so I’m not attaching them here, since they’re a month old. Both are casual in nature, which may explain why they were overlooked.
I LOVE it!
Love the velvet, love the color, love the placement! It is amazing that Maxima can look so good in large , picture hats and these smaller-scale hats, too!
Love the Navy hat, she looks great.
This look is elegant. A dramatic hat but well-coordinated with the whole ensemble.
(HQ – a new email for me but the same person as before…)
It’s been interesting to see Máxima experiment with more perchers and cocktail hats in the last year or so, and this is one of her most successful IMO. The color is fantastic and the design flatters her well.
P.S. the brooch was beautiful and it was interesting to see her change shoes, especially when one pair looks like quite similar to those worn by our dear Queen Elizabeth II (not meant to be any sort of commentary, merely an observation).
A classic yet very elegant look for Queen Máxima. Hat, coat, colour , jewellery: all beautiful.
Your remark about the shoes is interesting, Jake. I’ve always wondered how Máxima managed to walk (and more recently dance) so apparently effortless through state visits in those towering stilettos!
I spoke about it once with the owner of a shoe store where I like to come and he explained she probably puts her weight in a certain way on the front of her feet, rather like a ballet dancer. He predicted that one day, she would stop doing that and would choose more ‘sensible’ shoes. I can quite understand that at the age of almost 52 she feels the need for more comfortable footwear for city walks. She turns out to be human after all; luckily she still looks divine!
Oh, there’s no doubt I’m also amazed at how she does it in high heels so much of the time! These other shoes were just clearly not her usual style, so it was interesting to see her switch into them without any obvious reason as to why.
These perchers are a European royal uniform but it’s nicely matched with her coat and elegant for the occasion.
Love the Dutch royals, always so warm-hearted and gracious.