to this undated photo of Empress Kōjun (mother of Emperor Akihito, wife of the late Emperor Hirohito) in a wonderful hat with wide, pleated brim overlaid in feathers.
Photo from Getty as indicated
Author Archives: Royal Hats
Top Royal Hats October & November 2017
Our races for top new and repeated royal hats worn in October and November this year came up with two very clear winners:
Countess of Wessex’s natural straw hat with lattice brim and coral feather by Jane Taylor worn in Brunei Oct 5
Princess Charlene’s navy felt hat with cartwheel brim by Gallia e Peter worn for National Day on Nov 19
Jump over to the original polls (repeated hats here, new designs here) for a closer look at the results or over here to see your growing lists of finalists for 2017. Stay tuned tomorrow for our last semifinal poll of the year.
Photos from The British Monarchy and SC Pool/Corbis via Getty
This Week’s Extras
Princess Hisako in a chic fedora on December 24 at the 39th Empress Cup All Japan Women’s Football Championship Final in Osaka (Sponichi)
Four of the Romanian princess attended a Christmas Day service at Savarsin church. Princess Margareta wore a textured fur pillbox while Princess Elena wore a black fabric hat with cuffed fur brim.
On December 25, members of the Imperial royal attended a memorial ceremony at the Imperial Palace on the anniversary of Emperor Taisho’s death. Princess Kiko and Princess Mako are pictured below- Princess Nobuko and Princess Yoko were also present.
On Dec 27, the Imperial Royal family attended an annual end of year family luncheon at the Imperial Palace. You can see Prince and Princess Akishino, Princess Mako, Crown Prince Naruhito and Crown Princess Masako arriving here.
Several new millinery designs jumped out at me this week:
Astoundingly glamorous jewel toned turban from Philip Treacy
Red felt percher pork pie with black feathers from Irish milliner Aoife Harris Design
Two stunning hats with hand beaded trim here and here from German milliner Nicki Marquardt
Royal blue silk covered pillbox percher with irises and lace from London milliner Cara Meehan
Felt trilby with intricately beaded hatband from London based millinery Bundle MacLaren
And a hat perfect for New Year’s Eve, this grey silk shantung beret percher with insert panel of sparkling paillettes from UK milliner Dillon Wallwork
Excellent translation of Princess Stephanie’s recent interview by our friends over at Luxarazzi
More Christmas photo greetings:
We end the week with a wonderful video clip, taken during King Harald and Queen Sonja’s 80th birthday gala dinner back in May when their grandchildren interviewed some of their guests. It’s utterly charming.
Photos from Sponichi, Royal Family of Romania
Hat From the Past
to this day in 1946 and a photograph taken at a Christmas celebration at the Swedish legation of Copenhagen that captured Queen Margrethe and Princess Benedikte of Denmark in Swedish St. Lucia wreaths. So sweet.
Embed from Getty Images
Photo from Getty as indicated
British Royals Celebrate Christmas: Part 2
Continuing our preliminary look at yesterday’s parade of British royal hats for Christmas Day, we come to the York Princesses. Princess Beatrice wore a cocktail hat with oval button base covered in electric blue velvet, trimmed with a silk rose and pleated silk abaca bow twist. On Christmas Eve, Beatrice wore another percher from this same brand- both hats have beautiful detail and trimming and are a scale that Beatrice wears very well. I’m less enamoured with the styling of this ensemble- perhaps with a black coat, the blue velvet would have been a lovely pop of colour. With this combination of black base, grey coat, awkwardly open neckline and blue hat, everything just looks haphazardly thrown together. It’s a shame because this is such a beautiful hat and this ensemble does nothing to show it off.
Embed from Getty Images Embed from Getty Images
Designer: Juliette Botterill. It is the “Velvet Rose Oval Mini” design
Previously Worn: This hat is new
Previously Worn: This hat is new
Princess Eugenie wore a black felt rounded hat with wide, cuff bumper brim, trimmed with a large bow on one side. The simple hat balanced her graphically colour blocked coat, making an interesting and eye catching ensemble. I’m not sure I actually like the coat… but it’s absolutely the right hat to pair with it.
Designer: Whiteley
Previously Worn: I believe this hat is new
Previously Worn: I believe this hat is new
The Countess of Wessex topped her Erdem floral coat with a bespoke calot style headpiece circle of leaves in navy and pink felt. It’s great to see Sophie experimenting with new hat shapes and on its own, this one is a unique and pretty design (the midnight blue velvet is a beautiful contrast with her hair) but it is completely overshadowed by the floral coat. I think this coat needed a larger brimmed hat with strong lines and presence to balance the ensemble. I also think some patterns are best left to the drapery…
Embed from Getty Images Embed from Getty Images
Designer: Jane Taylor
Previously Worn: This headpiece is new
Previously Worn: This headpiece is new
Lady Louise Windsor topped her burgundy collarless coat with a small black and burgundy cocktail hat. The visible, flat base on this piece officially disqualifies it from consideration as a fascinator even though it is anchored to Louise’s head on a headband. Embellished with burgundy and black (or navy?) crin twists, the piece remains light and airy despite its dark hues; it is a great compliment to Louise’s coat and looks very smart on her.
Embed from Getty Images Embed from Getty Images
Designer: my guess is custom Jane Taylor but this remains unconfirmed
Previously Worn: This piece is new
Previously Worn: This piece is new
Princess Anne wore what I think is a new hat… but with Anne, our favourite royal hat recycler, one can never be entirely certain. A square crowned cloche in grey felt, the hat is trimmed with a triple pleated black hatband, sidespray of feathers and cascade of overlapping feathers over the downward facing brim. Anne has introduced several feather-covered hats into her wardrobe over the past few years and the colour scheme, scale and feather placement on this one makes it more successful than some others. The hat showed especially well on this outing against Anne’s streamlined navy coat and black boots.
Embed from Getty Images
Embed from Getty Images
Embed from Getty Images
https://www.instagram.com/p/BdIqp3QjZh0/
Designer: unknown
Previously Worn: This hat is new
Previously Worn: This hat is new
Autumn Phillips topped her red-piped navy military styled coat with a red velvet cocktail hat featuring a large, round button base, multi looped bow and jewelled picks. The starburst pleating on the velvet which covers the base adds a beautiful background pattern to the piece and the colour, which looks great on Autumn, paired perfectly with her coat. We don’t see many red hats at extended British royal family events (presumably, not to take focus away from the Queen) which is a shame because this one is fantastic.
Designer: Emily London
Previously Worn: This hat is new
Previously Worn: This hat is new
The Countess of Snowdon wore a black (or navy?) hat with flat, linear crown and brim encircled in overlapping feathers. Lady Sarah Chatto ventured away from her go-to saucer shape to a new hat in midnight blue felt with wide, downward facing brim trimmed with a slim navy hatband and flat center bow. Both are statement pieces I wish we could see from multiple angles for a better view. I fear Lady Sarah’s hat is slightly too large a scale on her but will wait for its next outing to make a final assessment. I like the unique brim shape, which is visibly wider in front than in back.
Designer of Serena’s hat: unknown
Designer of Sarah’s hat: Stephen Jones custom version of ‘Facetime’ from Miss Jones AW 2019
Previously Worn: I believe both hats are new
Designer of Sarah’s hat: Stephen Jones custom version of ‘Facetime’ from Miss Jones AW 2019
Previously Worn: I believe both hats are new
Lady Margarita Armstrong-Jones rounded out the royal delegation in a classic Italian made fedora in slate blue felt. The hat is trimmed with a classic navy ribbon hatband and side bow. I wish Margarita’s coat better matched the hat but custom hats for minor royals (who we see wear hats once or twice a year) isn’t a realistic proposition and the different blues do coordinate fairly well. The scale of this piece is great on Margarita, who suddenly looks so grown up in it.
Designer: Borsalino
Previously Worn: This hat is new
Previously Worn: This hat is new
There are not many royal events which see nine new hats (not including the additional four new pieces we already reviewed in this post!). I’m curious dear readers- which hats here have caught your eye? Which hats do you think work particularly well for their royal wearer?
Photos from Geoff Robinson Photography/REX/Shutterstock; Tim Rooke/REX/Shutterstock; Chris Jackson via Getty; Ward/WENN.com ORG XMIT: wenn33520360; Ward/WENN.com ORG XMIT: wenn33520361; and Getty as indicated
Royal Hats 