Tag Archives: Countess of Snowdon

90th Birthday Service of Thanksgiving: Linleys and Chattos

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While Princess Eugenie’s fashion was very 1950s today, Viscountess Linley jumped forward to the swinging 60s with her ensemble. Her hat is an eye catching rounded pillbox in textured cornflower blue straw, trimmed with a flat bow at the front. With her plaid coat from the same era, it’s a LOT of look but Serena carries off the exaggerated hat and I think it’s rather fun on her.

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Designer: Rachel Trevor Morgan
Previously Worn: This hat is new

Margarita Armstrong-Jones looked very grown up in a green silk covered percher cocktail hat trimmed with looped green bows and white silk flowers. This shade of green is lovely on Margarita and the scale is perfect for her. We have another budding royal hat wearer here, dear readers!

Margarita Armstrong-Jones, June 10, 2016 | Royal Hats

Designer: I suspect Rachel Trevor Morgan as well
Previously Worn: This hat is new

Lady Sarah Chatto topped her navy and white ensemble with a new saucer hat in the same colours. The white straw underbrim on this piece livens it up and while I’d love to see Sarah try out a few other shapes, I really like the colour contrast and sale of this piece on her. It looks like a hat most of us could integrate into our own wardrobes and this practicality makes me adore Sarah’s millinery choices all the more.

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Designer: Stephen Jones
Previously Worn: This hat is new

Another three new hats for the British royals today! What do you think of these three very different designs?

Photos from Getty as indicated and Rex Features

Sunday Service at Sandringham

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Queen Elizabeth and the Duke of Edinburgh were all smiles in the sunshine yesterday as they attended Sunday service at Hillington Church near their Sandringham Estate. For the occasion, the Queen repeated her sloped crown hat covered in peach bouclé with a coordinating straw brim and layered bow, fabric disk and feather trim. I often feel that when hats and clothes are constructed from the same fabric, the resulting ensemble can be rather flat  or one note. This hat’s mix of texture proves that does not have to be the case. With the number of times this hat has been worn, the Queen seems to agree.

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Designer: Rachel Trevor Morgan. Coat by Stewart Parvin.
Previously Worn: October 17, 2015; March 10, 2015; July 18, 2012; March 14, 2011; November 23, 2010; September 14, 2010; November 19, 2009

The couple were joined by family members Viscount and Viscountess Linley. Serena topper her country tweed jacket with a black beret based cocktail hat trimmed with a mass of black feathers. We’ve seen this style of millinery often on British royals but I think the volume and placement of feathers on this piece makes it a winner.

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Designer: Rachel Trevor Morgan. It’s design R15W28 from the AW 2015 collection
Previously Worn: I believe this hat is new
Photos from Getty as indicated 

British Royals Celebrate Christmas

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As they do each year on Christmas Day, members of the British Royal Family attended church this morning at the Church of St. Mary Magdalene near the Sandringham Estate. Queen Elizabeth led her family in a new bright red hat and coat with grey and black mottled faux fur trim. The hat, with a flat crown covered in red fabric, features a matching faux fur brim.

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Designer: I suspect Angela Kelly
Previously Worn: This hat is new

Duchess of Cornwall topped her grey and black embellished coat with a black felt hat with flyaway raised brim. The hat is simply but effectively trimmed in a wide stripe of silk around the brim. Camilla’s hats are often lavishly embellished and this more streamlined piece is a nice contrast for her.

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Designer: Philip Treacy
Previously Worn: This hat is new

Duchess of Cambridge wore a new hat in hunter green felt. The perching saucer shape on this piece is supported by a large poinsettia-like flower at the back which that gives much texture and interest to the hat. The colour is lovely on Kate and the hat was showed off to great effect by her chignon.

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Designer: Looks like Lock & Co.
Previously Worn: This hat is new

Countess of Wessex looked wonderfully elegant in a grey tweed coat with matching hat. The cocktail hat, with a beret base, features a tall rim at the top of the hat. The small hat is given further visual punch with trimmings of a large twist of coordinating grey straw and a swath of black net tulle (see the hat in greater detail here). Dove grey is an unexpectedly lovely colour on Sophie and I thought she wore the piece well.

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Designer: Jane Taylor
Previously Worn: This hat is new

Lady Louise Windsor stepped out in a simple black tam trimmed with a small bow at the side. This piece seems to mark Louise’s entry into the realm of hat wearing which, excitingly, gives us royal hat fans one more hat wearer to watch.

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Designer: Jane Taylor
Previously Worn: This hat is new
Princess Anne repeated the feather trimmed cream straw hat we first saw her wear at Ascot earlier this year. This outing, she turned the feather encrusted, raised brim to the side (instead of at the front, as she wore last time) and this small change makes a vast improvement for this hat. It is still not my favourite piece although I thought Anne looked very well put together in her green tweed coat and chocolate accessories.
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Designer: unknown
Previously Worn: June 16, 2015

Princess Beatrice wore a new bespoke piece in black velvet.(see a better view here). The bumper brimmed hat is trimmed with beaded detail around the crown and a flat bow with beaded centre on the side of the brim. Placed at a jaunty angle on her head, the colour and scale of the hat made it a beautiful piece for the young princess.

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Designer: Juliette Botterill 
Previously Worn: This hat is new
Princess Eugenie repeated the dark teal straw cocktail hat with black crin swirling trim we saw her debut at Ascot this year. The hat’s beaded brooch trim at the top its base adds a festive touch that makes it a great choice for Christmas and I was happy to see it worn again today.
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Designer: Nerida Fraiman
Previously Worn: June 19, 2015
Lady Sarah Chatto wore a simple black straw hat with simple rolled brim. Sarah’s personal style tends toward the simple and streamlined and while not as memorable as other hats worn today, it fits well with Sarah’s aesthetic.
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And finally, Viscountess Linley wore a chic fedora while her daughter, Margarita, wore a relaxed Garbo hat. Both pieces were in fashionable navy blue. This brings the total number of hats seen today to eleven- which ones stood out most to you?
Photos from Getty as indicated

British Royal Wedding Four Years On: Linleys, Chattos and Gloucesters

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Royal Hats Some of my favourite royal hats worn at the wedding of the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge four years ago were worn by extended members of the British Royal family. Here is the first of two posts devoted to looking back at these hats.

Viscountess Linley kicks off our review in a straw based bandeau headpiece covered in small rectangles of silk. These rectangles were placed to form the petals for structured flowers, anchored with pearl button centres. These most unusual flowers were not only striking, but created the most wonderfully layered and textured effect on the design. With her streamlined cream Roland Mouret coat, the Stephen Jones designed bandeau made for a modern and very chic ensemble.

Lady Sarah Chatto also turned to Stephen Jones for her grey straw saucer hat. I adore the juxtaposition between the modern shape of the hat and Sarah’s 1950s inspired Jasper Conran dress. Lady Sarah has cream and black versions of this same hat that she wears frequently, sometimes with the addition of a brooch on the top of the hat. If you start the wedding video at 38:00, you’ll see the brooch sparkling on the hat during her arrival at the Abbey.

Viscountess Linley, Countess of Ulster and Lady Sarah Chatto, April 29, 2011 | Royal Hats

The Countess of Ulster (pictured above in front of Lady Sarah, wore a small black straw percher hat. Her mother-in-law, the Duchess of Gloucester (below), wore a dramatic navy and white hat. With a small white straw crown and large navy saddle brim, the hat was trimmed with curled ribbons around two sweeping navy feathers. This hat is much bolder than what we’re used to seeing on the Duchess and I thought it was smashing on her.

 The Duke and Duchess of Gloucester’s two daughters, Lady Davina Lewis and Lady Rose Gilman, also attended the wedding. Lady Rose’s headpiece consisted of a a large white headband topped with a large, muti-layered pinwheel flower. The pinwheel, in a slightly darker shade of grey than her coat dress, looked to be centered with faux pearls.

Lady Davina Lewis and Lady Rose Gilman, April 29, 2011 | Royal Hats

While difficult to see here, Lady Davina’s hat was made of the same navy satin as her dress. Built on top of the cocktail hat’s round base was a tall slope of folded silk in high waves. The bottom of this trim was made in magenta silk, revealing a shock of pink contrast at the back of the hat. It is a rather avant garde piece that you might need to see on video for a better look (you can see the Gloucester family’s arrival at Westminster Abbey here at 37:00).

Lady Davina Lewis and Lady Rose Gilman, April 29, 2011 | Royal Hats Lady Davina Lewis and Lady Rose Gilman, April 29, 2011 | Royal Hats

This group of hats shows great creativity and style, don’t you think? Stay tuned later tomorrow morning for some beautiful hats worn by the Kent cousins.
Photos from Getty as indicated and BBC TV via The British Monarchy

British Royal Wedding Ten Years On: Extended British Royal Family

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Royal Hats The wedding of  the Prince of Wales and Camilla Parker Bowles ten years ago was attended by numerous members of the British Royal Family. After looking at the hats worn by the couple’s immediate families and Charles’ siblings,let’s look back at the millinery worn by members of the extended British Royal Family.

Viscountess Linley followed the fascinator trend of the time with a statement headpiepiece of pink feathers. The piece curved around her head, down the side of her face, leaving her looking like her head was alight in pink flames. I adore the colour of this headpiece with her grey sill suit find the shape to be overly theatrical. Lady Sarah Chatto was characteristically streamlined in a large dove grey picture hat. Embellished only with a slim silk band around the base of the crown, the focus of the hat was found in the contrasting shapes of the flat crown and cartwheel brim. With Sarah’s coordinating dove grey dress and coat, the look was streamlined, clean and elegant (and the perfect backdrop for some of her late mother’s diamonds).

The Duchess of Gloucester (center, below) topped her tailored powder blue coat with a wide picture hat in the same shade. The hat was wrapped in multiple strips of organdie ribbon braided in a wide plait.

The Duchess of Kent wore a flirty mint green cocktail hat with silk base and cascade of side feathers. While I think more vibrant colours are much more flattering on Katharine, her hat was whimsical and unexpected and I liked it much more than her pale floral and mint green silk suit.

Princess Alexandra of Kent topped her lilac jacket with a felt hat in the same shade. The higher-than-usual domed crown was balanced by a wide brim that slightly upturned on one side and a triple pleated band that knotted at the front of the hat. I adore this shade of purple on Alexandra but wonder how many sandwiches were hidden under the tall crown (what other purpose could warrant the height of that crown other than smuggling snacks?)

Princess Michael of Kent chose an ensemble in classic navy and white. Her hat also featured a domed crown, anchored by an oval brim in cream straw. The hat’s only trim, a curving horizontally placed feather spine, was a little austere but emphasized the oval shape of the hat. The austerity of the hat balanced the fussiness of her suit and accessories (how many brooches does a royal really need?) and I think her hat translates more successfully today than the rest of her ensemble.

Stay tuned for the final post covering this wedding which will look back at the hats worn by royal guests.

Photos From Getty as indicated