Tag Archives: Autumn Phillips

Easter at Windsor: Part 2

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We continue our look at the royal hats on Sunday at St. George’s Chapel at Windsor Castle with the Countess of Wessex. Sophie topped her floral dress with a navy straw percher saucer hat trimmed with silver metallic leather flowers and leaves, burnt feathers and rough-edged crin. I understand the design is about making a statement of the edgy trim but it came off a bit messy for me.

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Designer: Jane Taylor. Dress by Oscar de la Renta
Previously Worn: This hat is new

Lady Louise Windsor repeated her navy satin covered button percher with multi looped satin and beaded bows. It’s a great scale for this young royal hat wearer and the bit of sparkle makes it a wonderfully youthful choice. With her navy floral dress, the hat tops a great Easter look.

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Designer: Emily London. Dress by Reiss
Previously Worn: Oct 12, 2018

Princess Anne repeated her oyster straw hat with sideswept brim trimmed with layered cream curling quills. The hat used to also include feather trim in apricot/burnt orange hues that have now been removed- an interesting development that extends this hat’s ability to be paired with different ensembles such as the silver silk frock Anne paired with it here. For good views of this hat in its previously trimmed form, jump over here to its last outing, last June at Ascot.

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Designer: unknown
Previously Worn: June 19, 2018; June 4, 2018;  June 20, 2017, May 20, 2017 

Autumn Phillips wore a new navy straw hugger percher design trimmed with cream silk flowers and a swath of ruffled widely woven tulle veil. The cream trim links well with the statement buttons on Autumn’s dress and the hat’s blocking creates a beautiful line to the design. It’s a lovely design by a designer we’ve not seen on a royal head before- a designer I can’t wait to see more of.


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Designer: bespoke Julian Garner.  Dress by Claire Mischevani.
Previously Worn: This hat is new

Zara Tindall topped her elegantly streamlined cream coat with a pink felt formed button percher trimmed with curving leaf trim in silver and pink and white gingham patterned leather. The hat’s interesting trim makes a wonderful statement that is tempered ever so slightly by its pale colour scheme- a scheme which Zara wears really well. It’s an interesting but pretty hat well suited to an event such as this.

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Designer: Sarah Cant. Coat by Goat Fashion.
Previously Worn: This hat is new

This wraps up the eight royal hats we saw at Windsor on Easter Sunday. This group included a few surprises and renovations which makes me curious, dearest readers- which designs stood out most to you?

Photos from Getty as indicated

Cheltenham Festival 2019: Day 4

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Gold Cup Day at the final day of this year’s Cheltenham Festival was a wet one today but rain (and a LOT of mud) did not seem to dampen racegoer’s spirits. The final day of the races this year saw four royal hats, all worn by members of the Phillips Family. Princess Anne repeated her turquoise felt fedora with two-toned, layered silk hatbands and side spray of feathers. It’s one of my favourite hats in her wardrobe and was a chic choice for the races, standing out against grey skies. I adore the mix of hat and coat with the grey printed scarf.

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Designer: unknown
Previously Worn: Dec 25, 2018; Apr 1, 2018

Autumn Phillips wore a new hat, described by the milliner as “A rich Burgundy fur felt fedora, trimmed with two rows of navy braid. The fedora has a wide brim which gently slopes down flattering the face.”  I love a good fedora and this one is GREAT on Autumn. Peter repeated his well-worn brown fedora.

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Designer: Camilla Rose Millinery. It is the Dusk Fedora from AW 2018. Guinea London velvet coat.
Previously Worn: This hat is new

Zara Tindall has had stellar looks all week but, I think, saved the sharpest for last. Topping her marvellous black and white checked coat was a black felt saucer hat trimmed with a single white quill and a folded red leather bow. The hat is a style and scale we’ve seen many times on Zara but the overall look is so beautifully styled, it looks fresh and fabulous.


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Designer: Bespoke Sally Ann Provan. Coat by Claire Mischevani.
Previously Worn: This hat is new

That wraps up this year’s Cheltenham Festival. We’ve seen 12 royal hats at the races this year- which ones have been your most favourite?

Photos from Getty and social media as indicated

Favourite Repeated Royal Hat of 2018

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Last year, several hundred hats stepped out on royal heads for the second, third, (or twelfth!) times. Each month, you picked a favourite from these repeatedly worn designs to assemble a list of ten stunning semi-finalists for the year. You have voted, dearest readers, and now we crown a winner in this race for Favourite Repeated Royal Hat Design of 2018:

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Princess Anne’s straw picture hat with cream brim, navy crown, feathers, bows and quills worn March 12

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Autumn Phillips’ magenta straw cocktail hat with rose & quill twists by Juliette Botterill worn June 23

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Queen Máxima’s deep purple felt upsweep with side brim pleat by Fabienne Delvigne worn November 21

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The Countess of Wessex’s oyster straw Jane Taylor picture hat with curling feathers worn June 18

 

The Countess of Wessex’s lattice brimmed straw saucer hat with twists & coral feathers by Jane Taylor worn May 15

Congratulations to British milliner Jane Taylor, who created this winning saucer hat, and to the other three milliners who designed these beautiful runners up. I can’t say I expected to see one of Princess Anne’s hats included in this list but such is the wonderful world of royal hat watching- there are surprises around every corner!
Jump over to this post to see the poll results in greater detail and please- share your thoughts about these winners! 
Photos from Getty as indicated and The British Royal Family

British Royal Family Celebrate Christmas- Part 2

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Continuing our look at the hats worn yesterday to Christmas service in Norfolk, we jump to the York princesses.  Princess Beatrice repeated her wide brimmed fedora, a hat that doesn’t exactly stand out but that works on her very well nonetheless.

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Designer: unknown. Coat by Claire Mischevani.
Previously Worn: November 19, 2014

Princess Eugenie topped a stunning red and black coat with a black duchess silk hand-made bandeau headpiece with ruched center. The placement feels awkwardly too far forward toward her forehead- I think the piece would have worked much better worn over the crown of her head.

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Designer: Emily London; it is a bespoke version of the “Ellen” design. Coat by Andrew Gn.
Previously Worn: This hat is new

The Countess of Wessex wore a new hat, described by the designer as “bespoke wet look velvet cocktail hat with vintage veil.” Cocktail hats of this scale and style are a common choice for Sophie which is a shame, as the beautiful details of this one (the sheen of the velvet, the lovely molded shape of the base, the very finely woven veil) are lost a bit in the sense that we’ve seen this before on her.

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Designer: bespoke Jane Taylor. Coat is by Suzannah.
Previously Worn: This hat is new

Lady Louise Windsor topped her streamlined ecru coat with an angled beret percher hat in animal print felt. The bold shape, which is elevated on one side, and the daring print are stand out from all the hats we’ve seen Louise wear to date, something that fills me with joy and happy claps. I adore watching this young royal hat wearer find her millinery style through experimenting with new shapes, styles and, in this case, prints and admire the confidence it took to choose and carry off this design.

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Designer: Jane Taylor
Previously Worn: This hat is new
Princess Anne repeated the turquoise felt fedora we first saw her wear this year at Easter. The fedora shape works so well on her (particularly when worn with a slight angle to the brim) and I really like how the two-toned, layered silk hatbands link with the ensemble’s matching coat turquoise with lighter blue collar. It’s a sharp and stylish hat that Anne wears well.
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Designer: unknown

Previously Worn: Apr 1, 2018

Autumn Phillips topped her forest green coat with a matching hand-blocked beret percher hat in peachbloom felt trimmed with a crystal pearl studded flying bow. I really like how this beret’s shape, with its gentle curves, becomes its focal point, magically making that bow appear to be a far more subtle detail than it actually is. The hat is so beautifully balanced and its very festive colour looks wonderful on Autumn.

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Designer: Sally Ann Provan. It is a bespoke version of the ‘Sora’ design. Coat by Claire Mischevani.
Previously Worn: This hat is new

Zara Tindall wore an eye-catching hat described by the designer as a “thistle purple felt mini sloped beret trimmed with deep purple felt and bronze leather leaves”. Zara wears such quirky statement percher hats so well and this design, with its punchy colour and strong sense of movement thanks to the leaf trim, does no overwhelm her. I love an unexpected colour pairing that works and on Zara, the navy and purple combination in this ensemble is great.

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Designer: Sarah Cant. It is the “Cyclamen” design from AW 2016. Coat by Hugo Boss. 
Previously Worn: This hat is new

That wraps up this year’s British Royal Christmas hats. Which ones stood out to you most?
Photos from Getty as indicated

York Royal Wedding: Phillips and Armstrong-Jones Families

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We continue our look at the hats at today’s wedding of Princess Eugenie and Jack Brooksbank with those worn by members of the Phillips family. Princess Anne repeated her emerald green straw blocked beret base hat trimmed with wide bow in the same fabric as her suit. While the hat base isn’t as refined as it could be, the colour is absolutely stellar on Anne.

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Designer: unknown
Previously Worn: June 22, 2017

Autumn Phillips topped her emerald floral dress with a straw button percher hat trimmed with large straw bow, curling green quills, green open weave net veil and small, trimmed feathers in black, pink and green.

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Designer: Edwina Ibbotson. Dress by Suzannah
Previously Worn: This hat is new

Zara Tindall wore a grey silk covered button percher trimmed with a lavish spray of silver roses, grey feathers and leaves. The hat is a go-to shape and style for Zara- it works beautifully on her and made a great compliment to her bright blue coat.

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Designer: Juliette Botterill Coat by Claire Mischevani
Previously Worn: This hat is new

 There are extremely limited photos available of the Armstrong-Jones family- most visible is the wide cartwheel brimmed picture hat in pale pink felt worn by Lady Sarah Chatto. Sarah favours classic shapes such as this and while she often leans to neutral colours, this pink is so lovely on her. The Countess of Snowdon topped her bohemian printed dress with a delicate gold headpiece. It’s an unexpected pairing of dress and headpiece and I wish we had a better view. 
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Designer: Sarah’s hat is Stephen Jones. Serena’s hat is Rachel Trevor Morgan AW 2018
Previously Worn: Both hats are new
Lady Margarita Armstrong-Jones wore a in a navy button percher with veil printed with large dots. It’s a youthful hat that suits her well- the pompoms on the veil are charming!
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Designer: Rachel Trevor Morgan AW 2018
Previously Worn: This hat is new
What do you think of these six hats today at Princess Eugenie’s wedding?
Photos from Getty as indicated

Pair of New Hats For Church in Scotland

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Queen Elizabeth was spotted en route to church in Scotland this morning in another new hat and it’s a beauty!

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The lime straw design follows a modified cloche shape with squared crown, narrow lime straw hatband and wide navy binding around the short brim. The hat is finished with lime and navy straw leaves and curled navy feathers. While I’m afraid there are no photos from the church showing the full ensemble, the views here show great promise. The hat’s punchy colour scheme is an eye catching one, the trim, while lavish, appears to be balanced and that navy brim edging surrounds the Queen’s face in a shade that suits her well. Lime green around the face isn’t always flattering (particularly with straw, where light filtering through the hat can cast a sickly green shadow) and this hat tackles that problem so well.

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Designer: unknown
Previously Worn: I believe this is new (I thought it might be a reworked version of this hat but the straw weaves are entirely different)
The Queen was joined by the Prince of Wales and Princes Royal again today. Princess Anne surprised in what looks like a new light blue straw hat with cream hatband, brim piping and feather chrysanthemum blooms. The bottom photo below suggests a flat crown on this hat- a feature that concerns me. We’ll have to wait for a full view on this design.


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Designer: also unknown
Previously Worn: this hat is new
We’ve had some millinery surprises in Scotland over the past month- what do you think of these two designs?
Photos from Getty as indicated

Church Hats in Scotland

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We’re going to postpone our Tuesday series on Queen Elizabeth’s iconic hats until tomorrow to catch up on a number of new and repeated hats that appeared in Scotland Sunday morning for church. The queen led her family in a new turquoise felt hat and matching coat trimmed with a mass of copper feathers on the front of the hat. The feather trim is an unexpected colour clearly ties to the ensemble, thanks to the open collar on the coat which reveals a good look at the Queen’s copper and teal silk floral dress. The hat shape looks a bit clunky to me but I’m going to reserve full review until we have a better look.

Designer: unknown. 
Previously Worn: This hat is new

The Duchess of Cambridge repeated her modified navy felt saucer percher hat with raised back, trimmed in overlapping felt leaves. It’s a simple hat that pairs beautifully with her navy trimmed coat.
Designer: Lock and Co.
Previously Worn: February 7, 2016 and March 26, 2015 (private event)
Princess Anne repeated her purple felt fedora with wide brim and layered, slim hatband (with looped bow and feathers on the opposite side as this view). Autumn wore a beret based percher in black or navy that looks to be trimmed with a side bow. There aren’t any similar hats we’ve seen on Autumn before, leading me to suspect this is a new design.

Designer of Princess Anne’s hat: unknown
Previously Worn: March 16, 2018  
Designer of Autumn’s hat: unknown
Previously Worn: I believe this hat is new
Interestingly, the Countess of Wessex and Lady Louise Windsor were both in attendance but neither were in hats (see this photo gallery of additional shots). So Sunday’s outing saw four hats- two of which appear to be new. Thoughts?
Photos from Peter Jolly/REX/Shutterstock and social media as indicated