Numerous heads of state gathered in Auschwitz, Poland yesterday to commemorate the 75th anniversary of the liberation of Nazi concentration camp, Auschwitz
Queen Máxima wore an black felt formed beret trimmed with a scrolled frog braid. The elegantly restrained design felt particularly fitting for this event. King Willem-Alexander wore a traditional Jewish kippah in gold embroidered blue velvet.
At such sobering events, fashion feels trivial and irrelevant and I struggled over covering this event. The only thing I want to say is that these four, restrained hats each feels a fitting choice for a memorial like this where the story really should not be about a hat.
This morning, Queen Máxima attended CNV Vakmensen’s (a very large Dutch union) anniversary conference, repeating her textured pink bandeau headpiece. The embroidered fabric used on the headpiece and coat are studded with small sequins.
There are numerous things to like here- the scale is great, large enough to give the headpiece some presence but not overwhelm, the fabric texture gives great dimension and the sequins add subtle sparkle when in motion. These things all balance the pale shade, making a very polished yet interesting ensemble for the Dutch Queen, who wears it very well.
Queen Máxima opened an exhibition on humanity at the Nemo Science Museum in Amsterdam this morning. For this event, she repeated her deep, midnight navy felt fedora with relaxed brim and tall pinched crown, trimmed with a wide navy hatband with flat, folded bow at the side.
On paper, a relaxed fedora, chiffon dress and ruffle necked coat don’t seem like a good combination but the intensity of colour, and the pattern of the dress drawing everything together, makes it work. I’m surprised how much I like the pairing of chic, less formal hat with the floaty dress (again, I think the pattern makes it work) and find the balance of the overall ensemble, from dark hat to scarlet shoe, to be surprisingly good. Styling sometimes elevates a hat and I think this was the case today.
King Willem-Alexander and Queen Máxima welcomed President of Poland, Andrzej Duda, and his wife Agata Kornhauser-Duda for a visit to Holland today. For an official welcome ceremony held at Palace Noordeinde in The Hague, Mrs. Duda wore a black felt beret percher with looping buff pink bow while Queen Máxima repeated burgundy velvet calot with black net veil.
The colour is great on Queen Máxima and the dotted veil overlay gives a surprising amount of depth and texture to the design. I’m not even that bothered by the hat’s pairing with Máxima’s red coat, a combination I’m not usually fond of but that surprisingly works here. Somehow the coat brings out a cherry undertone in the hat, brightening it up.
Tuesday’s enthronement ceremony was attended by a number of royal events adorned in either national costume or traditional century court dress, giving the wonderfully formal gown-and-hat combination we don’t often see.
Queen Máxima donned a familiar slate blue gown in transparent silk brocade printed with large roses but paired it with a different hat than we’ve seen with it before- her grey silk floral and dotted net tulle statement headpiece. The scale and bold design of the headpiece pairs wonderfully with the gown, elevating the sense of drama and gravitas of the overall ensemble.
Queen Mathilde was wonderfully elegant in a an exquisite gown, cape and pillbox trio in pale pink silk crepe. The clean, sleek lines of each piece make them balance perfectly together and create a serene and quietly regal look. It’s a fashion philosophy we often see used with the Imperial royal ladies- perhaps the inspiration or influence for this ensemble?
Designer: unknown. Gown by Armani Prive. Previously Worn: This hat is new. It is not the same as the felt calot worn February 6, 2014 as some blogs are reporting.
Queen Letizia paired her bright, floral gown with a divided bandeau headpiece in pale, dusky pink silk. The scale is great on her and the solid colour is a great choice against her patterned dress, although I thought the bandeau’s construction, with many visible stitches, wasn’t quite up to snuff.
Designer: Nana Golmar. It is a bespoke silk version of the velvet “Iria Headband“. Gown by Matilde Cano. Previously Worn: this headpiece is new
Crown Princess Mary’s muted lilac-grey caped dress was brightened with mulberry purple straw hat. The modified saucer is worn at a steep incline and trimmed with two huge silk flowers on the underside of the raised brim, the one at the front in mixed shades of purple. Supremely elegant on its own, I think this gown is again, elevated with the statement hat – not to mention those rubies!
Designer: Jane Taylor. Gown by Valentino Previously Worn: This hat is new
Crown Princess Victoria wore a straw saucer hat in the same deep inky purple shade as her gown. The piece, also designed to sit at a sharply tilted angle on the head, is lavishly trimmed with silk roses and straw twists beneath the raised brim, a touch that gives such textural contrast to the opposite, very smooth upper side of the saucer.
Designer: Philip Treacy. Gown by Escada. Previously Worn: This hat is new
Seated next to Crown Princess Victoria was a face new to Royal Hats, Swazi King Mswati III’s newest wife, Inkhosikati LaMashwama. She topped her white suit with a vibrant blue straw hat with disc base trimmed with rolled straw rosettes and large bow loops, blue tulle, purple cut feathers and pearls, scattered over the base.
I know some readers have been waiting days to discuss the hats in this post (my apologies for the delay) so I turn it over to you- what millinery looks here were your favourites?
On Wednesday, King Willem Alexander and Queen Máxima spent the third day of their state visit to India in Mumbai. Queen Máxima began the day in a repeated pale aqua straw picture hat with rounded crown and wide, sidesweeping brim with raw, unfinished edges.
The design is completed with what appears to be a slim hatband in either burnt feathers or dyed raffia, tied at the back of the hat in a bow with tails left to swirl in a circle around the brim. This detail gives such lovely movement to the design and the colour is both lovely on Máxima and a great fit for a tropical climate.
Designer: Fabienne Delvigne. Dress by Natan Previously Worn: July 2, 2018
Later that day, Queen Máxima changed into another blue ensemble, this one topped with a fascinator of rolled blue sinamay ribbons and darker blue cut and burnt feathers.
Designer: unknown. Dress by Sandro Paris Previously Worn: this headpiece is new
Thursday saw the royal couple visit Kochi, where Queen Máxima wore an orange straw hat with tall crown and wide, sidesweeping brim. The lower side of the brim has a stepped fold and a wide straw hatband completes the design.
The final day of the visit saw the king and queen in Alleppey where Queen Máxima made another diplomatic statement, this time flying a sartorial flag for the House of Orange. She topped her orange lace dress with a wrapped straw calot trimmed with a pair of large, layered half bows and feather quill.
I’ve long thought the dress lets this ensemble down but my lace quibbles aside, the hat makes a punchy statement despite its small size. The ensemble also made a lovely diplomatic counterpoint to Máxima’s nod to the Indian flag the day before
These four millinery designs join the two worn during the first two days of this state visit bringing Queen Máxima’s total to six for the week- an admirable total to be sure. I think the hats this week finished stronger than they started- what is your millinery evaluation of this Indian state visit?
King Willem Alexander and Queen Máxima arrived in India late Sunday (with the king co-piloting their plane!) for a state visit that officially kicked off yesterday.
For the first day of events, Queen Máxima wore a new dress and matching calot hat, overlaid in pale blue widely woven mesh on which is affixed a darker blue cotton lace. A large square aquamarine and diamond brooch was pinned to left side of the hat.
It’s a brave and interesting look but one I think is compromised by fabric choice- the rough edges of the lace’s blue mesh base give the ensemble (particularly the dress) a messy, unpolished look. The draped collar/sleeve also gives considerable volume to the top of the dress which inevitably, competes with the hat. On its own, I think the hat could work as the lace and mesh have some nice movement and lightness that is completely lost against the dress. Next outing, I’d like to see the hat paired with a solid, streamlined dress to see how it works.
Designer: unknown. Dress by Natan Previously Worn: this hat is new
We don’t usually discuss evening looks here but I’m going to bend the rules to include a magnificent gown Queen Máxima wore for last night’s state banquet. Made by Jan Taminau from an embroidered silk sari Máxima bought in Jaipur (known as the ‘pink city’) during her and the king’s 2007 visit, I thought it was diplomatic dressing perfection.
For the second day of engagements today, Queen Máxima repeated a hat some of us have been longing to see again. The wide coral straw saucer is edged in tan straw binding and trimmed with a mass of multicoloured feathers.
The pairing of this hat with the tawny silk dress and low ponytail is excellent and creates a less formal background for the hat to shine as the inevitable statement that it is. A few minor quibbles- I’d love to see less vertical placement of those feathers (it sill reminds me of an Obsk!) and the hat worn at a less extreme angle and tilted down over her eyebrow but overall, the design is a fun and vibrant alternative to Máxima’s go-to shapes and I was so happy to see it again.
