Category Archives: All About Design

Monday Multiples: Queen Elizabeth

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Thanks to Jimbo for providing the introduction and background research for this “Monday Multiples” series.

Jimbo’s Introduction:Queen Elizabeth stands out beautifully in a crowd when she chooses bright, cheerful colors, and she wears pink especially well.  Today,  attention is placed on a pair of beautiful hats worn with the same cozy coat. The second hat with its typical shape we enjoy seeing on Her Majesty, was last seen as recently as November 2018.

Look #1:Breton hat covered in the same pink textured wool bouclé as the ensemble’s coat by Rachel Trevor Morgan, worn November 6, 2009 and January 12, 2012

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Look #2: Also in the coat’s same pink wool bouclé and also by Rachel Trevor Morgan, a hat with straight sided, domed crown and cartwheel brim trimmed with a double folded hatband and twisted gold and pink rope bow.

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Thanks, Jimbo! Dearest readers, Which pairing of hat and coat do you prefer most?

Photos from Getty as indicated 

Top Royal Hats: November and December 2019

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Despite stiff competition, results for favourite new design and favourite repeated hat worn in are in with a British Royal sweep:


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Duchess of Cambridge’s Lock and Co. forest green saucer with leaf trim around the back worn Dec 25 



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Duchess of Cornwall’s black rounded brimless hat wrapped in feathers by Philip Treacy  worn Nov 10 

Jump over to the poll for favourite new hat here and repeated hat poll here to see the results in greater detail.  
Photos from Getty as indicated

Monday Multiples: Queen Elizabeth

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Thanks to Jimbo for providing the introduction and background research for this “Monday Multiples” series.

Jimbo’s Introduction: Queen Elizabeth saves the color black for the most solemn, somber, sad occasions – funerals and remembrances. At memorials, Her Majesty wears black and white, grey, navy, or even purple. Clearly, the heavy wool coat featured today is more suited for practicality than fashion (November in London can be blustery, windy, and downright bone chilling) As always, the queen’s hats take center stage, and this sextet of millineria will leave no one disappointed.
My favorite ( Look #3 from 2005) first premiered on September 14, 2001, at a St. Paul’s Cathedral memorial service for the September 11, 2001 New York terrorist attack.

Look #1: With a an angular cloche variation with slanted crown and upturned brim with multi-wrapped silk hatband, shown here on February 14, 2002 at Great Ormond St Hospital’s 150th anniversary celebrations, five days after the death of Princess Margaret

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Look #2: With a tall, fluted-crown cloche hat trimmed with a wide silk hatband and spray of feathers worn November 14, 2004 on Remembrance Sunday.

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Look #3: With a velvet crown and straw brimmed hat with large, sweeping black and cream quills, worn on May 11, 2005 for a St. Paul’s Cathedral memorial for victims of the December 2004 tsunami in South Asia.

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Look #4: With a fluted silk pillbox trimmed with a ring of braid on the crown, a silk bow and spray of feathers worn November 10, 2005 to the Westminster Abbey Field of Remembrance.

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Look #5: With cloche variation with silk covered crown, felt brim and tall, sloping felt wrap around the crown, trimmed with a knotted bow and curling quills and worn November 9, 2014 for the the annual Remembrance Sunday Service at the Cenotaph. The hat was designed by Angela Kelly and made by Stella McLaren.

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Look #6: A black felt hat with indented crown and raised kettle brim simply trimmed with layered, raised hatband knotted at the front, worn November 12, 2018 on Remembrance Sunday. This hat was also designed by Angela Kelly and made by Stella McLaren.

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Thanks, Jimbo. I’ve also always liked the hat in Look #3 for its interesting mix of materials (the straw brim really lightens the look). Dear readers, which pairing of coat and hat do you prefer most?

Photos from Getty as indicated 

Queen Elizabeth And Wessex Family Attend Church

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Queen Elizabeth was joined for Sunday service yesterday morning St Mary Magdalene Church in Sandringham, Norfolk by the Earl and Countess of Wessex and their children. For this outing, the Queen repeated her modified dark green felt cloche with high, stacked asymmetrical crown and short brim. The hat is trimmed with a wide dark green felt hatband punctuated with an under-hatband in lime green, a knot in these two green shades and a pair of curved dark green quills. The limited photos don’t do the hat justice and it remains a lovely design on Her Majesty.

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Designer: Rachel Trevor Morgan
Previously Worn: Apr 13, 2019;  Jan 21, 2018

The Countess of Wessex repeated repeated a more casual camel felt fedora with overlapping pheasant feather hatband. The shape and scale of this hat are ones that Sophie wears well and the feather hatband elevates the design. I’m just not sure about its pairing with her wide-legged pink jumpsuit.

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Designer: Suffolk Fedora in Camel from Hicks & Brown
Previously Worn: Aug 25, 2019; Dec 23, 2018; May 14, 2018

What do you think of these two familiar hats out for church yesterday?

Photos from Getty as indicated 

Top Royal Hats: July & August 2019

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Results for favourite new and favourite repeated hats worn in July and August are in, dearest readers, and while I heartily agree with your choices, the winners took me a little by surprise:


Princess Tsuguko’s cream hat with graphic divided black crown and trim worn on August 10




Crown Princess Victoria’s headpiece of folded lilac ribbon flowers by Örjan Jackobsson worn August 31 

I think this is the first time we’ve seen these two princesses’ millinery designs win these polls, something which fills me with great excitement! Jump over to the poll for favourite new hat here and the repeated hat poll here to see the results in greater detail.  
Photos from News 24 and  Örjan Jackobsson

Duchess of Cambridge’s Christmas Hats

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With Christmas less than two weeks away, we’re going to take another look at Christmas Day hats of the past. Today’s look is at those worn by the Duchess of Cambridge:

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Burgundy felt stylised trilby by Jane Corbett in 2011; Emerald felt Gina Foster beret with flying bow in 2013; Chocolate felt pillbox with bowby Lock & Co. in 2014

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Forest green raised saucer with leaf flowers by Lock & Co. in 2015; Black alpaca hat with wide, cuffed brim from Peruvian Connection in 2017; Claret felt bandeau with chocolate bow back detail by Jane Taylor in 2018

Update: Since this post was published, the Duchess has worn the following hats on Christmas Day:

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Repeat of the Lock & Co.green saucer in 2019

The standout here for me is the 2011 trilby- a creatively fantastic shape so beautifully highlighted by the lighter colour on the brim binding. While other designs here certainly have merit, they just don’t match that first trilby (a hat, I might add, I’ve been waiting 8 years for a second outing!). What about you, dear readers- what stands out to you in this group of hats?

Photos from Getty as indicated

Nobel Peace Prize 2019

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King Harald, Queen Sonja, Crown Prince Haakon and Crown Princess Mette-Marit all attended 2019 Nobel Peace Prize Ceremony yesterday in Oslo. 

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Queen Sonja repeated her black beret for this event. The brimless design follows an interesting pyramid shape and is rimmed with black sequins that give it much sparkle and dimension. We’ve seen it a few times before… so alas, there’s not much new to add.

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Designer: unknown
Previously Worn: Dec 10, 2018; Feb 7, 2014; Dec 11, 2013; Dec. 10, 2008

Crown Princess Mette Marit repeated her chunky gold bandeau headpiece. While she has often worn it woven with a contrasting ribbon in the past, this time the headpiece stood on its own.

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Designer: Prada
Previously Worn: April 16, 2015; Jan 17, 2015; October 20, 2012; May 31, 2012; April 17, 2010 

This event is one of a few annual hatted events for the Norwegian Royals and, as such, I’m a little disappointed there weren’t any new hats yesterday. Any new thoughts about these designs?

Photos from Getty as indicated