This Week’s Extras

Posted on by

No surprise, there were no royal hats worn this week. However, a number of new millinery designs caught my eye:
Spectacular bird headpiece with vertical ombre dyed tail feathers by American milliner Tommy Cobau
The prettiest periwinkle textured picture hat with silk hatband by British milliner Rachel Trevor Morgan
Copper straw wide brimmed bergère hat with gold hatband by Australian milliner Brea Moreland
Red asymmetrical hat with graphic black and white striped hatband by Irish milliner Carol Kennelly
Pink silk bandeau with ruffles of pink and latte silk by British milliner Rachel Henry
Royal blue felt brimmed hat with bowed hatband by Brazilian milliner Graciella Starling
Adore the shape of this draped beret in printed grey felt with beaded tassel by Salzberg milliner Nadia Grubelnik

Wonderful sense of movement and lightness on this black and white felt design by London-based milliner Anna Stefanou

Fascinating shape and texture on this halo bandeau of gold and teal cut paillettes by Irish milliner Ashleigh Myles
Eggshell straw percher with glorious oversize silk flowers by Australian milliner Felicity Northeast
For our dear gents, a loden green tall crowned design (with wind cord!) by Danish brand Hornskov København
Magenta button percher with lace overlay and jinsin trim by British brand All Dunn Up Millinery
Bandeau of dusky pink leather flowers by Australian milliner Kylie Heagney
Edgy black straw trilby with double chain hatband by British milliner Victoria Carson
One of the most spectacular undersides to a hat I can remember. By Australian milliner Carla Murley.

https://www.instagram.com/p/CDLeO_Dja7h/

Lovely new portraits of Crown Princess Mette-Marit released for her 47th birthday

Photos from social media as indicated

Most Bows?

Posted on by

Bows are a common hat embellishment but most hats have just one. This weeks discussion question centers around multiple bows, dearest readers, in a quest to find the royal hat or headpiece with the most bows.

Embed from Getty Images

For clarification- we’ll define a bow as a decoration made from a single material fashioned (usually tied) into two loops. Bow tails, in this discussion, will be optional (not required to consider a bow, a bow!). In the case of a multi-looped bow, the bows must be visually separate (or easily separated by the eye if they are layered on top of each other) such as the one on Princess Haya’s hat, below. We’re not looking for the bow with the most loops- we’re looking for the hat with the most bows!

Embed from Getty Images

By this definition, both of these hats contain two bows. Who will raise the stakes to hats with three? Four?!  Or more?!

Photo from Getty as indicated

Top Royal Hats: March, April & May 2020

Posted on by

Results from polls for your favourite new hat and favourite repeated hat worn in March, April and May are in. Not only is there a tie, there is also a first here at Royal Hats- all three winning hats were worn to the same event:

 

Embed from Getty Images
The Duchess of Cornwall’s navy felt picture hat with ostrich feather wrap by Philip Treacy worn March 10



Embed from Getty Images Embed from Getty Images
The Duchess of Sussex’s green teardrop beret with net veil wrap and large bow by William Chambers and the Duchess of Cambridge’s red felt saucer with flowers and oxblood bow by Sally Ann Provan both worn March 10

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

Life Of A Hat: Princess Anne

Posted on by

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.

Embed from Getty Images

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.

Embed from Getty Images
Embed from Getty Images

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

Embed from Getty Images

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.

Embed from Getty Images

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.

Embed from Getty Images

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

Posted on by

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

Embed from Getty Images

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

Embed from Getty Images Embed from Getty Images
Embed from Getty Images

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