Category Archives: All About Design

Monday Multiples: Duchess of Cambridge

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In the Duchess of Cambridge’s wardrobe is an elegantly tailored grey raw silk coat with hand beaded cuff and waist detail. Kate has paired this design, the “Buxton” by British designer Katherine Hooker, with two neutral hued hats:

Look #1: With a grey straw Rachel Trevor Morgan designed saucer with starburst overlay, straw multi-looped bow and curled feathers and a grey silk cowl necked dress worn June 13, 2011 to the Order of the Garter

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Look #2: With a Whiteley cappuccino parasisal beret percher with twist trim and a Jenny Packham floral dress worn June 9, 2012 for the marriage of Emily McCorquodale, one of William’s Spencer cousins

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Which hat do you prefer most with this coat ?

Photos from Getty as indicated 

Inventory: Crown Princess Mette-Marit’s Purple, Burgundy and Pink Hats

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Crown Princess Mette-Marit celebrated her 47th birthday last week,  something that calls for celebration.  What better celebration is there, dearest readers, than a dive into a royal millinery closet?! This time, we’re looking at her hats and headpieces in shades of purple, burgundy and pink; here they are, in order of introduction:

1.  2.    3.
Designer: Philip Treacy; unknown; Philip Treacy
Introduced: December 10, 2003; May 22, 2004; Sep 22, 2004

4.  5.Embed from Getty Images   6.
Designer: unknown; Mona Strand; unknown
Introduced: June 9, 2005; Oct 25, 2005; Jan 21, 2006

7.   8.  9.
Designer: all unknown
Introduced: May 17, 2006; June 11, 2006, Jan 20, 2009;

10. 11.
Designer: unknown
Introduced:  April 18, 2009, May 17, 2009 

12. 13. 14.
Designer: all unknown
Introduced: April 26, 2010; July 2, 2011; Nov 7, 2017

I initially prepared this as two inventories but brought them together when several designs (#8 and #11) didn’t classify definitively as either purple or pink. This merge uncovered some interesting trends. First is the division of darker and lighter tones- with the exception of #4, this collection is almost evenly divided between darker hued designs at the beginning of Mette-Marit’s royal life and lighter ones during more recent years. Second is how few hats have been added over the past decade- just three (and two of them headpieces). And finally, is the sad memory of some wonderful brimmed designs (looking at you, blushing #10 and striking #1) that were worn once or twice and disappeared, seemingly in favour of much smaller designs. Thankfully, dramatic floral and lace statements from headpieces #9 and #12 mitigate this slightly disappointing millinery trajectory a little.

So… what do you notice about this group of hats? Which designs stand out to you most?

Photos from Julian Parker/UK Press, A. Jones/J. Whatling/J. Parker/M. Cuthbert/UK Press, Antony Jones/UK Press, Sven Nackstrand/AFP, Mark Cuthbert/UK Press, Julian Parker/UK Press, Ragnar Singsaas, Julian Parker/UK Press, Sasha Mordovets, Sylvan Lefevre via Getty; Belga and Getty Images as indicated

Monday Multiples: Countess of Wessex

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The Countess of Wessex’s ivory lace covered beret-base percher is a delicately textured design with lovely dimension from its trimming- a silk rose, feathers and curling slim quills, all tinged in palest peachy-pink. Sophie has paired this exquisite Jane Jaylor design with four ensembles:

Look #1: With a blush Bruce Oldfield beaded bodice dress and crushed silk jacket worn May 17, 2014 for the annual General Assembly Meetings of The Church of Scotland

Look #2: With a cream silk belted dress with vanilla maribou colloar worn June 17, 2014 for the Order of the Garter

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Look #3: With a muted pink dress and streamlined cream coat worn  May 12, 2015 for a Buckingham Palace garden party

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Look #4: With a bubblegum pink Emilija Wickstead textured dress with high neck open around the back yoke worn for Trooping the Colour on June 09, 2018

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Which look do you think is best set off with this hat?

Photos from Getty as indicated 

Life Of A Hat: Princess Anne

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Most of the royal hats we see stay the same during their working lives. Some might be paired with different ensembles but a vast majority stay in their original form.  However, while wading around in my archive of Princess Anne’s royal hats last week, I found a hat that has undergone subtle transformation. Designed by the late British milliner John Boyd, I believe the hat first appeared in 1983 while on a visit to Japan.

The pale wheat-hued straw brimmed hat with ivory crin overlay was repeated for a May 1985 Buckingham Palace garden party and with a printed dress for the agricultural “East of England” show (in June 1985, 1986 or 1987), both seen below.

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Princess Anne paired this hat with a nautical navy jacket with brass buttons and white trim on June 4, 1986 for the Epsom Races. This outing is probably the most famous for this hat and photos captured at this event provide great views of its shape, trim and detail.

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On June 23, 1990, the hat appeared at Royal Ascot with the addition of a twisted, polka dot hatband.

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For a May 6, 2008 WWII memorial in France, the crown’s crin overlay was removed and an insignia brooch looked to be affixed to the front of the hat.

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The hat’s most recent outing on October 16, 2011  was without the insignia brooch and showed all the original trim – the twisted hatband, back bow and crin swirled rosette on the side – to be intact.

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The removal of the ivory crin over the crown is a minor touch that significantly altered the look of this hat- I can’t help wondering if it was removed for necessity or deemed an easy ‘fix’ to make more fashionable, 30 years after it’s creation? We’ll never know the answer to these questions… but I’m very interested to hear your theories!

Photos from The Asahi Shimbun via Getty; Alan Feeberry;  Getty Images as indicated

Monday Multiples: Princess Anne

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While Princess Anne famously has worn some hats over several decades, she also mixes pieces. Her ecru suit with tangerine silk binding and crossover blouse has been paired with three different hats:

Look #1: With a cream close-fitting percher hat edged with tangerine-backed bumper brim raised to flying bow tails at the back worn June 13, 1987 for Trooping the Colour and March 30, 1988 to open the Royal Easter Show

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Look #2: With an ecru straw pillbox with visor brim around the front and layered tangerine and ecru folded bow in the back worn for the Founders Day Parade at Chelsea Royal Hospital on June 5, 2008

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Look #3: A pumpkin straw modified cloche with angled brim, wide silk ruched hatband and posy of straw lilies studded with amber feathers by Walter Wright worn April 17, 2012 in South Africa

Which hat do you prefer most with this suit?

Photos from Foto24/Gallo Images and Foto24/Gallo Images; and Getty as indicated