Belgian Queen Presents Music Competition Prizes

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Queen Mathilde was in Waterloo yesterday to present awards to this year’s winners of the Queen Elisabeth (international music) Competition. For this event, she repeated a hat described by the designer as “a small bell hat made of red Panama and trimmed with ribbon and a matching bow.”

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The cloche remains a charming one for Mathilde with a scale and colour that suit her well. On past outings, I liked the pairing of red hat with this dress… I’m not sure if it’s lighting but on this outing, I think the hat slightly overwhelms the delicately patterned lace frock (scroll through the gallery below). The Belgian queen has some streamlined, lovely pale grey hats in her wardrobe (here, here and here) that might make a gentler pairing.

Designer: Fabienne Delvigne.  It is the ‘Audrey’ design.
Previously Worn: Oct 23, 2018;  April 25, 2018

This is the third time we’ve seen this hat and lace dress- have your impressions of this ensemble also changed?

Photos from Getty as indicated 

Danish Summer Cruise Begins in Køge

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The first leg of Queen Margrethe’s annual double summer cruise kicked off today with the royal yacht Dannebrog arriving in Køge. Today’s program of events included a carriage ride to Køge Town Hall and visits to a health and rehabilitation facility, performing arts center, sustainable housing development and a miniature village.

For these events, Queen Margrethe wore a new hat. The design features a short, flat crown covered in the same navy textured woven fabric (gabardine, maybe?) as her jacket and a short, cream cartwheel brim in what looks like straw.

The Danish queen tends to wear hats that coordinate with a specific ensemble, often with the same fabric used on both hat and garment(s). It’s certainly an efficient way to dress that results in extremely coordinated ensembles but it’s a level of coordination that can easily veer towards one-note or overly matched. This hat and jacket, however, escape such a fate. Margrethe’s cream skirt and sweater greatly help this, as does the jacket’s crisp navy and white pockets and sleeve placket and that adorable navy and cream striped purse. What has my heart a flutter, however, is the jaunty angle that Queen Margrethe wore it. In the end, this hat is a very simple design (fabric straight sided crown, straw brim, no trim) that becomes a statement of style when worn at that angle. It’s so good.

 

Designer: Mathilde Thoe Førster
Previously Worn: This hat is new

What do you think of Queen Margrethe’s new hat?

Photos from social media as indicated 

American-Imperial State Visit Concludes

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The American state visit to Japan concluded today with a photo op and farewells. Empress Masako wore a beautifully cut, textured white suit topped with a white bowler hat variation with the straight-sided, domed-top crown we’ve seen her wear many times before. Covered in what looks like white silk, the hat is trimmed in a wide hatband that either pinstriped in a pale, neutral stripe or made of multiple layers of overlapping white ribbon- until we get a closer view, it’s too hard to tell.

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The mix of textures on suit and hatband, combined with her exquisite pearl necklace, comes together for another quietly elegant look on Masako. Yes, the colour is a bit restrained but she wears it well and the soft palate has created a consistently stately look on her this visit- a look she has carried with poise and confidence. I just wish there was more than just a hatband to tell all her ivory/cream/white hats apart. I’m starting to suspect some are repeated, but with different hatbands…

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Designer: unknown
Previously Worn: Not with this hatband. But…maybe with another one? Stay tuned for an upcoming post where we’ll explore this more. 

What do you think of this look on Empress Masako today?

Photos from Getty as indicated 

Queen Máxima Opens Elder Care Facility

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Queen Máxima was in Steenbergen this morning to officially open an elderly care house. For this engagement, she reached back in her hat closet for a tall-crowned, ecru straw cloche that hasn’t been seen in over a decade.

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This design, with it’s lively spray of feathers on the side and slim hatband, has much to admire- it’s well constructed with a very finely woven straw and those feathers add great energy to the design. We’ve seen Queen Máxima in just a few cloche hats, I think, for good reason- the classic shape simply does not suit her well and the slightly stretched proportions on this design, while interesting, don’t help. Shape issues aside, I have great admiration for royals who style decade-old hats into current ensembles and this neutral hat pairs well with Máxima’s green silk suit.

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Designer: Fabienne Delvigne. Suit by Natan.
Previously Worn: April 4, 2006

Queen Máxima experimented with a handful of cloche shapes in the mid 2000s that we don’t see her wear much any more. Such experimentation is a necessary step (particularly for women marrying into royal families who haven’t worn many hats in their private lives) and I imagine this led her to the calot, turban and toque shapes that have become a signature look. What do you think of this cloche on Queen Máxima today?

Photos from Getty as indicated 

Imperial Royals Welcome American State Visit

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The first foreign state visit of the Reiwa Era began today with the arrival of the American President and First Lady in Japan. Emperor Naruhito and Empress Masako greeted their visitors with a welcome ceremony at the Imperial Palace, the Empress in what appears to be a new hat.

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In pristine white (silk, I think), the design features a short brim rolled on the sides and a straight-sided, flat crown. The hat is simply trimmed in a a hatband in the same parchment-hued silk as Masako’s matching suit, embellished in slim, diagonal pinstripes of pale taupe beads. It’s a quietly subtle look for the Empress and what stands out are those stripes of beads on the hatband, visible even at considerable distance, which add lovely movement and dimension.

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Designer: unknown
Previously Worn: I believe this hat is new

Crown Princess Kiko topped a pale blue silk dress with matching Breton style hat, covered in the same crepe silk. Rows of stitching punctuate the hat’s brim, which vents on one side in an elegant scallop. It’s another quietly subtle look but let’s not kid ourselves- this visit was never going to see bold looks or creative hats on the Imperial royal ladies.

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Designer: unknown
Previously Worn: I believe this hat is new

Thoughts about these two hats today in Japan?

Photos from The Asahi Shimbun via Getty; and Getty as indicated