Category Archives: All About Design

Inventory: Princess Benedikte’s Pink and Burgundy Hats

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The Danish monarchy released a lovely new portrait of Princess Benedikte yesterday to celebrate her 77th birthday.

Taking inspiration from this photo, we’re marking her birthday with a look at her pink and burgundy hats:

1. 2.  3.   
Designer: all unknown
Introduced: October 2003 or earlier; April 2, 2005 or earlier; January 21, 2006 or earlier

4.    5.
Designer: both are unknown
Introduced: 2007 or earlier (feather pouf removed for an April 2015 outing and replaced by October 2017) May 11, 2011 or earlier

6.  7.
Designer: both are unknown
Introduced:  April 24, 2013; June 10, 2014

Princess Benedikte seems to favour deeper, berry shades and my, do they suit her well. I notice a streamlined, elegant aesthetic here with a single statement trim, if there’s to be trim at all. What do you notice about her pink hats?

Images from Marijan Murat/dpa/CorbisCorbis; Chris Jackson, Ole Jensen – Corbis/Corbis, and Mark Cuthbert/UK Press via Getty; Jesper Sunesen; Lars Salomonsen; Corbis​

Plaid?

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This week’s discussion question is one recently suggested in a comment thread: which royal hats are/have tartan or plaid? I’ve started us off with a young Prince of Wales in his namesake tartan.

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Image from Getty as indicated

Inventory: Queen Elizabeth’s White Hats

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While Queen Elizabeth remains in mourning following the Duke of Edinburgh’s death, celebrating her birthday with vibrant colour does not feel appropriate. Instead, we’re going to follow the an example set by her mother’s famous White Wardrobe for 1938 visit to Paris and celebrate Her Majesty’s 95th birthday with a look at her white and ivory hats.

A clerical note-  many of the Queen’s white and ivory hats are contrasted with a brim, crown or significant trimming in another colour. We’ll save these (along with the ecru and palest beige ones) for another inventory and concentrate here on the hats that are primarily white or ivory. In 2000, Queen Elizabeth had several hats in these hues in her wardrobe:

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Since 2004, she has added the following designs:

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Designer: Marie O’Reagan; unknown; unknown 
Introduced: April 5, 2004; June 17, 2004; March 11, 2006

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Designer: both are Rachel Trevor Morgan
Introduced: June 21, 2007; June 23, 2007 

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Designer: unknown; Rachel Trevor Morgan
Introduced: November 9, 2007; November 19, 2007

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Designer: Rachel Trevor Morgan; unknown 
Introduced: March 19, 2008; July 22, 2008 

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Designer: Angela Kelly (made by Stella McLaren); unknown
Introduced: June 18, 2009 (with flower later removed); June 20, 2009

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Designer: all three  by Angela Kelly (made by Stella McLaren)
Introduced: November 28, 2009; July 1, 2010; July 20, 2010

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Designer: unknown; unknown; Rachel Trevor Morgan
Introduced: July 22, 2010; November 24, 2010; April 15, 2011

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Designer: Angela Kelly (made by Stella McLaren); Angela Kelly (made by Stella McLaren); unknown
Introduced: May 17, 2011; October 29, 2011; December 25, 2011 

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Designer: both are Angela Kelly (made by Stella McLaren)
Introduced: June 3, 2012;  June 4, 2013

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Designer: Angela Kelly (made by Stella McLaren); unknown; Angela Kelly (made by Stella McLaren);
Introduced:  June 21, 2013; May 7, 2014; June 5, 2014;

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Designer: all are Angela Kelly (made by Stella McLaren)
Introduced: June 7, 2014; July 23, 2014; June 24, 2015;

 29. 30.
Designer: unknown; Angela Kelly (made by Stella McLaren)
Introduced: June 25, 2015I; January 11, 2016

I’ll be honest- when I think of the Queen’s hats, few white designs jump to mind. As such, I was surprised to see so many (granted, the first five seem to be retired). Where the queen does not disappoint, however, is in her breadth of shape, scale and embellishment. These might all be white/ivory hats but they are not boring.

What do you notice about Her Majesty’s white hats?

Images from Getty as indicated; Carlo Allegri/AFP; Tim Graham Photo Library, Tim Graham Photo Library, Tim Graham Photo Library, John Stillwell – WPA Pool, Gareth Fuller-Pool, WPA Pool – Arthur Edwards, Stefan Gosatti, Mark Large – WPA Pool and Francois Guillot/AFP via Getty; Press Association; Max Mumby/Indigo via Getty

Inventory: Queen Margrethe’s Pink Hats

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We’re peeking into Queen Margrethe’s hat wardrobe today for a look at her pink hats. At the turn of the millennium there were a handful in regular use:

These are now retired, replaced by new designs added since~2009:

1.  2.  3.
Designer: unconfirmed (all are likely Per Falk Hansen)
Introduced: May 9, 2009 or earlier; Feb 16, 2010 or earlier; June 2010 or earlier 

4.  5.   
Designer: unconfirmed (both are likely Per Falk Hansen); flowers on the light pink hat by Effi Pingel
Introduced: June 26, 2015; July 15, 2017 

I’ll admit- I did not expect this inventory to be so small. When I think of the Danish queen’s style, I think bright colours and while a few of these hats meet that mark, I somehow thought she had considerably more hats in this hue. Granted, several designs I thought of as pink turned out to be red but even so…

What do you notice about Queen Margrethe’s pink hats?

Images from Getty as indicated; Kay Nietfeld / picture alliance; Georges Merillon/Gamma-Rapho, Emmanuel Dunand/AFP, Julian Parker/UK Press, Francis Dean/Corbis, Sergei Grits/AFP, Ole Jensen – Corbis/Corbis, via Getty and Corbis

Multiples: Crown Princess Mary

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Crown Princess Mary’s has paired her elegant black and white floral Ralph Lauren dress with three different hats so far:

Look #1:  With a tan straw beret/calot hat with bow by Susanne Juul worn June 5, 2010 in America and  for Flag Day on September 5, 2014 (with a tailored black jacket)

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Look #2: With a blush straw brimmed hat with removeable straw rose worn November 22, 2011 to arrive on a visit to Australia

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Look #3: with a natural straw brimmed hat with multi-looped bow and feathers worn August 17, 2017 to open a flower festival in Odense

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Which hat do you prefer most with this dress?

Photos from Getty and social media as indicated