Tag Archives: Empress Masako

Imperial Royals Celebrate Emperor’s 30th Anniversary

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January 7, 2019 marked the 30th anniversary of Emperor Akihito’s accession to the Chrysanthemum throne. This anniversary was officially marked yesterday with a series of celebrations, beginning with the Emperor and Empress receiving family members, all in formal daytime court dress, at the Imperial Royal Palace. Crown Princess Masako repeated a blue silk bumper hat- a short video clip shows this piece has an interesting twisted brim around the back, something I don’t think we’ve been able to see until now.

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Designer: unknown
Previously Worn: Dec 9, 2018; Dec 9, 2017; Dec 9, 2015
Princess Kiko wore a cuffed calot hat covered in peach silk that I think is a new design for her. Princess Mako repeated the bandeau calot she wore on the day of her engagement announcement back in September 2017. Not visible here, the piece is trimmed with silk roses and leaves on the right side. It’s an interesting choice, particularly as her dotted silk gown has previously been worn with a matching bespoke calot covered in the same fabric. Princess Kako repeated her soft yellow spadded bandeau trimmed with a trio of silk blossoms on the bottom of each side, tucked behind her ears. Check out this bandeau’s previous outings on October 20, 2018 or January 14, 2015 for a better view. 


I believe Princess Hanako repeated her dark green velvet hat with clamshell-shaped bumper brim with ostrich feather trim. This view shows the design is completed with a bow at the back. Princess Yuriko of Mikasa (grandmother to Princess Akiko and Princess Yoko) wore a low-profile bumper hat in deep eggplant purple with ribbon detail on the back. 

Princess Nobuko of Mikasa wore an open ring-shaped headpiece wrapped in green velvet. Princess Akiko topped her blue silk suit (with beautiful cutwork collar and yoke) with a matching silk rolled brim hat trimmed with ostrich feathers and blue veil. Princess Yoko’s tall, pale gray-green silk hat with high cuffed bumper brim had a retro 1960s feel, amplified by its placement on the back of her head. 

Princess Hisako of Takamado topped her textured pale lilac suit with a matching flat crowned hat with double brim, the outer one wrapped in the same fabric as her suit. Princess Tsuguko was also in a flat-crowned design, her repeated peach silk hat trimmed in looped peach fabric around the bumper brim.

The Emperor and Empress then attended an event hosted by the Japanese government at National Theatre in Tokyo. Empress Michiko repeated her slightly domed saucer hat covered in pale pink silk with white lattice crin underbrim, beautifully trimmed with silk cherry blossoms and a luminous silk bow

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While the hat is not unlike Michiko’s other hats in terms of shape and scale, the colour is a slight departure (so good, right?!) and the trim is simply lovely. It’s a good hat for her as saucer hats go and I’m glad she chose something outside her usual grey palate for this celebration.
Embed from Getty Images
Embed from Getty Images
Designer: likely Akio Hirata
Previously Worn: Nov 14, 2018

The evening saw a dinner at the Imperial Palace (Crown Princess Masako arrived in plum and Princess Kiko in vibrant blue) while today, most of the extended Imperial royal family was seen at a formal tea party. These photos certainly don’t show great view of these hats- despite these shortcomings, do any hats stand out to you?

Photos from Getty as indicated; The Asahi Shimbun, The Asahi Shimbun, The Asahi Shimbun and The Asahi Shimbun via Getty; Sankei News

This Week’s Extras

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Last Sunday, Princess Hisako wore a jaunty cream felt hat with purple hatband for the annual Japanese Tableware Festival
On Tuesday, Princess Hisako attended a photography exhibition at Sankeien Garden in Yokohama. She repeated her grey felt hat with Pork Pie crown and short, kettle brim with wide burgundy hatband and side spray of feathers for this event.
On Friday, Crown Prince Naruhito and Crown Princess Masako attended the 64th National Youth Book Report Contest award ceremony in Tokyo. Princess Masako wore a burgundy felt hat with domed crown and short, upturned Kettle brim, simply trimmed with a wide velvet hatband.

Crown Prince Haakon Crown Princess Mette-Marit popped over to Sweden this week to enjoy a day out skiing with Crown Princess Victoria and Prince Daniel and take in the 2019  Alpine Ski World Championships along with Princess Estelle, Prince Oscar, Princess Ingrid and Princes Sverre.


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British milliner Dillon Wallwork shared this peek into a sketchbook he used while working for Philip Somerville. It’s fascinating.
The following new millinery designs caught my eye this week:
Beautiful cream straw button percher with ombre watery blue twists by British milliner Vivien Sheriff
Wonderful striped ribbon placement on this navy straw percher from Italian milliner Giulia Mio
Lovely embroidery of spring flowers on this cream straw bandeau by Ukrainian milliner Elena Martynenko
Sky blue straw percher with flowers and soaring twists  by Yorkshire milliner Justine Bradley-Hill
Pale pink straw upswept saucer with silk peonies by Spanish milliner Eugenia Jiménez
Practically perfect Mary Poppins vibe on this crimson wool felt design from Italian brand Birdcage Hats
Statement black straw picture hat with woven green brim overlay & feathers from Aussie brand Millinery by Mel
Adore the movement on this blue straw and crin percher by Spanish-based British milliner Donna Hartley
The prettiest pale green and grey headpiece by Ghanan milliner Velma Owusu Bempah
Stunning black and white straw sculptural pinwheel design made by Australian milliner Chris Mullane at a workshop taught by Dutch milliner Eugenie van Oirschot (see the finished hat here with some others from the workshop)

And from Spanish brand Conchitta, this cream picture hat with pleated brim and feather flowers. It’s exquisite.


Reader Lisa also shared this fascinating article about the folded headdresses worn my Malaysian monarchy, following our discussion last week on the new Sultan’s coronation headgear. It’s worth a read.
Princess Akiko’s cultural organization, Shinyusha, hosted a traditional clothing workshop at the Kamigamo Shrine on January 26, 2019. During the workshop, she donned a traditional jūnihitoe.

 

Photos from Getty and social media as indicated

This Week’s Extras

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Her Majesty Margareta of Romania in a navy bowler hat on Wednesday to deliver gifts to Săvârșin Castle staff
More calot and bumper hats on members of the Imperial Royal Family on Thursday, who gathered at the Imperial Royal Palace for a year-end family luncheon.
The following new millinery designs caught my eye this week:
Adore the sculptural layers on this green and purple felt hat by Hungarian milliner Zsófia Marx
Navy beaded button percher with looping crin trim from New Zealand milliner Anel Heyman
Red felt hat with black feather-embroidered brim from London-based Turkish milliner Merve Bayindir
Spiky black bandeau headpiece from Munich-based milliner Nicki Marquardt
Stylish and so wearable chocolate sidesweep in bouclé tweed & leather from Dutch milliner Wies Mauduit
Dark burgundy felt trilby with black silk abaca trim from British milliner Bundle McLaren
Saucy crown shape on this elegant winter white felt design from Czech milliner Jolanta Kotabova
Interesting accordion folded brim on this black & purple boater by Argentinian milliner Flor Tellado
Large lotus flower shaped headpiece in gold crin from British milliner Stephen Jones
Amazing black and red ombre felt pinwheel by Dutch milliner Eugenie van Oirschot

And from from London-based Irish milliner Philip Treacy, this stunning ruby red velvet felt percher with oversize silk rose and veil

More holiday photo greetings were shared this week by Prince Carl Philip and Princess Sofia; King Albert and Queen Paola and Prince Nikolaos and Princess Tatiana of Greece.

Photos from social media as indicated

Imperial Royals Celebrate Emporer’s 85th Birthday

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Emperor Akihito marked his 85th birthday yesterday with an annual greeting from the Imperial Palace balcony and a special birthday lunch which included members of the extended Imperial royal family.

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While the Empress did not wear a hat (as other monarchs usually do not when hosting an event in their home), Crown Princess Masako wore a matching midnight blue velvet ruched dress and bumper hat. The same bugle bead embroidery on the cuffs and collar of the dress trims one side of the hat, adding a lovely bit of sparkle against the dark colour which is glorious on Masako.

Embed from Getty Images

Designer: unknown
Previously Worn: While very similar to this hat, I believe this is new

The ladies of the Akishino family wore a trio of calot hats, all which I think are new. Princess Kiko’s royal blue design features a cuff and bow (or butterfly) trim at the side while Princess Mako’s narrower design (a bandeau-calot hybrid) in pale seafoam green silk is trimmed with pale pink roses on the side. Princess Kako completed the trio in a pale aqua silk covered calot with cuff brim and silk floral trim at the side.

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Princess Hisako and Princess Tsuguko of Takamado and Princess Nobuko, Princess Akiko and Princess Yoko of Mikasa joined the family for a celebration lunch, all of them in brimless pillbox or bumper designs. Princess Hisako stood out in a vibrant blue feather trimmed bumper hat previously worn to the 2014 annual New Year’s Poetry Reading. Princess Tsuguko repeated her peach silk covered bumper hat trimmed with large abstract leaves in the same hue (worn for the New Year Poetry Reading last January). Princess Nobuko’s hat, in pale celery green, features a bumper brim that overlaps on one side and a crown covered in the same lace as the bodice of her gown. Princess Akiko’s pale yellow bumper hat is lavishly trimmed with what looks like a large silk flower and net ruffles in the back while Princess Yoko repeated the textured salmon pink pillbox trimmed with chevron stripes of ostrich feathers that she wore for the New Year’s Poetry Reading in 2016. 


It’s wonderful to see most of the Imperial royal family in attendance for this celebration- the Emperor’s last before the throne is passed to Prince Naruhito in April. What do you think of these festive brimless hats yesterday in Japan?
Photos from Getty as indicated

This Week’s Extras

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Queen Silvia and Crown Princess Victoria wore brimmed hats last Sunday to the funeral of Count Oscar Bernadotte; Princess Sofia wore a black hair bow and snood. You can see the hat and headpiece worn by Dagmar Von Arbin (née Countess Bernadotte of Wisborg) and Countess Marianne Bernadotte here. 
Princess Anne and Vice Admiral Laurence were in Chile last weekend to take part in a number of events to mark the Bicentenary of the Chilean Navy.
A preview of the Swedish royal annual documentary shows the Crown Princess and her family enjoying summer in several casual hats.
On Wednesday, Emperor Akihito and Empress Michiko attended the 50th anniversary ceremony of the Sharoushi Act in Tokyo. The Empress repeated a small grey rimmed saucer hat with layered silk bow.

Princess Masako celebrated her 55th birthday today with a visit to the Imperial Royal Palace. She wore a repeated robin’s egg blue rounded pillbox for the visit.

The following new millinery designs caught my eye this week:
Black wave-shaped saucer trimmed with autumn leaves by Italian milliner Giulia Mio
Forest green cloche with ruffled brim ’round the back by British brand Whiteley
Wonderfully chic wide brimmed, tri-colour straw Panama hat by Australian milliner Neil Grigg
Adore the unique shape on this blocked bright pink hat shared by British milliner Tracy Chaplin
Veiled black felt hat with layered mushroom brim by Russian milliner Lia Gureeva
Button perchers with veil and pompom embellishment from British milliner Rachel Trevor Morgan
Very  handsome navy blue fedora with ribbon hatband and feather trim from British brand Christys
Angular chocolate felt hat and snappy plaid crin hatband by Czech milliner Jolanta Kotabova
Sideswept picture hat covered in coral ostrich feathers by British milliner William Chambers
Slightly bonkers sisal boater covered in flowers and 3D polka dots by California milliner Amy Fowler

And from Irish millinery brand Angels and Insects, this red velvet blocked percher trimmed with luxuriously beautiful scarlet velvet and silk dahlia blooms and green leather leaves. LOVE.

Charming new portrait of Princess Ingrid and Prince Sverre on the occasion of the prince’s 13th birthday
Princess Madeleine shared this sweet snap of Princess Leonor’s ballet debut in The Nutcracker

Photos from BestImage and social media as indicated