Category Archives: All About Design

Inventory: Crown Princess Victoria’s Purple Hats

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Crown Princess Victoria celebrated her birthday on July 14, an occasion we belatedly celebrate with another inventory of her headpieces and hats. Today, we’re looking at all of the purple designs in her wardrobe, shown below in order of introduction:

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Designer: Elie Saab; Philip Treacy
Introduced: Jun 18, 2010; Oct 11, 2015

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Designer: Parant Parant (Örjan Jackobsson); Philip Treacy
Introduced: Aug 31, 2019;  Oct 21, 2019

I’m struck first by the breadth of colour, from barest hint of mauve to deeply saturated royal purple. We see Crown Princess Victoria in a lot of headpieces so it’s not surprising to see two of the four here, although it’s worth acknowledging the exceptional detail in both. What do you notice about this quartet of purple hats?

Images from Getty as indicated; Dominique Charriau and Chris Jackson/Pool via Getty

Multiples: Queen Máxima

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Three weeks ago, Queen Máxima repeated a gold straw hat with high, sidesweeping slice brim. So far, she has paired this “Bellisima” design by Fabienne Delvigne with three different ensembles:

Look #1: With a gold beaded gown by Jan Taminiau for Prinsjesdag on September 17, 2013

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Look #2: With a brown caped coat and lace dress, both by Claes Iversen worn March 20, 2018 for a Jordanian state visit and October 31, 2019 to present the Prix de Rome

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Look #3: With a Zimmerman gold floral and lace dress worn June 24, 2021 for the 75th anniversary of the EYE Film Museum

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Which ensemble do you think pairs best with this hat?

Images from Getty as indicated 

Conclusion of Dutch State Visit to Germany

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King Willem-Alexander and Queen Máxima concluded their state visit to Germany today with visits to the Technical University of Berlin, conservation area Landschaftspark Herzberge, Herzberge Landscape Park and Humboldt Forum museum.

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For these events, Queen Máxima repeated her warm brown straw picture hat with high upswept slice brim. The hat is simply trimmed with a Petersham ribbon hatband tied in a loose bow at the side.

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Máxima wears warm tones so well and this hat’s shape, one we associate closely with her, makes a great statement. The pairing of structured hat with today’s floaty dress is a little unexpected but it really works.

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Designer: Fabienne Delvigne
Previously Worn: Jul 2, 2019;  May 25, 2018;  Feb 18, 2017; Nov 28, 2016; Nov 1, 2016; Sep 14, 2016; Jun 2, 2016; Apr 21, 2016; Mar 10, 2016

What do you think of this ensemble in Berlin today? Jump over to this post to see the other nine outfits we’ve seen the Dutch queen pair with this hat.

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Images from Getty as indicated  

Multiples: Countess of Wessex

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The Countess of Wessex wore repeated hats to Ascot this year, a “Greatest Hits” tour that paired familiar designs with new ensembles. She began with this gorgeous beigey pink straw waved disk with quills and silk flower by Jane Taylor, a hat she has now paired with three different ensembles:

Look #1: With a beigey-pink shirred silk jacket and dress with fluted silk skirt in the same hue by Bruce Oldfied for Zara and Mike Tindall’s wedding on July 30, 2011

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Look #2: With a patterned white and rusty brown structured jacket and pleated skirt worn to a June 4, 2014 garden party at Buckingham Palace

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Look #3: With a beigey-blush belted dress by ARoss Girl x Soler worn June 15, 2021 to Royal Ascot

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Seeing these three pairings now side-by-side, which ensemble do you prefer most with this hat?

Images from Getty as indicated 

Inventory: Grand Duchess Maria Teresa’s Red and Orange Hats

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As public events for Luxembourg’s National holiday today were replaced with a speech from the Grand Duke (read it here), I thought we’d celebrate this day instead with an inventory of Grand Duchess Maria Teresa’s red and orange hats:

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Designer: all are unknown
Introduced: April 12, 2003; April 24, 2006; May 9, 2010

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Designer: both are Fabienne Delvigne
Introduced: Oct 20, 2012; Jun 23, 2017

It’s an ecclectic mix with some bold shapes! The challenge here was classifying the colour of #4, a coral-orange hue that leans to pink in some light. In the end, I decided it was more orange/red than pink but am open for further debate!

So… what do you think of this vibrant quartet of millinery on the Grand Duchess? What shades and shapes do you think suit her best?

Images from Getty as indicated; Mark Randers via Getty; Albert Nieboer/PPE; Christophe Licoppe/Photonews and Sylvain Lefevre/Getty Images via Getty