Singapore President Tony Tan and his wife Mary were welcomed by Emperor Akihito and Empress Michiko at the Imperial Palace in Tokyo yesterday for the start of a five day state visit. Predictably, Empress Michiko wore a hat for the welcome ceremony, a large domed saucer in palest oyster grey, trimmed with a spray of silk roses and leaves. It’s one of the larger hats we will ever see on Michiko and the scale works well for her.
Designer: unknown Previously Worn: I believe this hat is new
Crown Princess Masako wore a midnight blue velvet hat with founded crown and sharply upfolded brim.Trimmed simply with a silk hat band in the same brighter blue as her suit (the hat matches her lapel), this design is all about the luxurious sheen off the velvet that covers it. It’s so great to see saturated colour on Princess Masako that any qualms I have about the hat’s shape (or an annoyingly large pucker in the velvet on the crown) are erased.
Update- thanks to reader Avery who notice this hat was first worn back in late January 1995 while on a visit to Jordan.
News broke this week about a new relationship for Prince Harry. If you read one thing about American actress Meghan Markle, let it be this post on her blog, in her own words. Impressive.
And finally… the much anticipated Netflix series “The Crown” was released this weekend. If you’re able to overlooking some glaring historical inaccuracies (the addition of Wallis Simpson’s presence at the abdication of King Edward VIII, for example), the scale of production is impressive and the costumes are glorious. I’d love to hear what you think of it.
Empress Michiko wore a quintet of saucer hats during a visit to Kyotolast Sunday through Wednesday (Imperial Family of Japan blog). The first, second and fourth hats all appear to be new designs. I love the lattice under brim on #1, the sharpness of the black and gold contrast of #2 and the softly romantic cream flower trim on #4.
And finally… British royal photographer extraordinaire Chris Jackson shared this snap of several vintage editions of Paris Match magazine. The resemblance between the subject and his very popular ginger grandson is remarkable.
King Philippe and Queen Mathilde embarked on a state visit to Japan earlier this week. They were officially welcomed at the Imperial Palace in Tokyo on Tuesday where, as expected, the occasion saw a number of new hats.
Queen Mathilde stood out in a new brown wool casque style headpiece covered in red-orange and brown maple leaves. There’s no doubt this is a unique and daring design that requires considerable millinery bravery to carry off but I wonder if it’s a little TOO far out there to be considered attractive. I’m just not sure a leaf covered helmet, no matter how creative or beautifully executed, can be flattering.
Designer: Fabienne Delvigne Previously Worn: This hat is new
Empress Michiko topped a charcoal suit with a small matching saucer hat. While this follows the same shape and scale of many of Michiko’s other hats, it is set apart with a double underbrim in silver lattice straw and a simple ribbon twist trim in a lighter shade of grey.
Designer: Likely Akio Hirata Previously Worn: I believe this hat is new
Crown Princess Masako topped her pale pink suit with a matching hat. While the shape of this design- with a domed, straight sided crown and primly upturned brim- is neither memorable nor flattering on Masako (from the front view, the hat looks too big for her), I think it may be partially redeemed with that lovely, pleated hat band.
Designer: unknown Previously Worn: I believe this hat is new
These three hats cover completely different ends of the royal millinery style spectrum and while it doesn’t seem fair to compare them, I can’t wait to hear your thoughts on each design. Let’s chat!
After taking a few days off here to enjoy the Canadian Thanksgiving long weekend, it’s back to business as usual today here at Royal Hats. Hold on- we have lots to cover today. First up are some Imperial royal hats that may surprise you.
Back on October 1st, Princess Hisako of Takamado opened the 28th “Starry Sky Town, Blue Sky Town” National Conference on environmental awareness in Kochi. For this honour, she wore a white hat with straight sided crown and slightly raised brim on one side. While the hat is fairly simple in design, its embellishment, a hat band made of layered ruffles in the same pink print of her suit, is a major departure for an Imperial hat. I’m not sure the ruffled hat band works but I love the use of such a vivid pattern on a Japanese royal ensemble.
On October 2, Princess Hisako wrapped up her visit to Kochi with a stop at the Center for Advanced Marine Core Research at Kochi University. For this event, she topped a printed beige jacket with a coordinating fedora hat. This hat looks to be trimmed with a beige bow at the back and a hat band made of black net tulle that ties in with the print on her jacket. The colour is rather bland and I’m not sure about back bows on fedoras but the tulle hat band has me intrigued as it adds some interesting texture to the piece.
Back on September 28, Crown Prince Naruhito and Crown Princess Masako attended a ceremony to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the National Theatre. For this event, Princess Masako repeated a white hat with trilby style brim, straight-sided square crown and wide monochrome hat band.
From September 28 to October 2, Emperor Akihito and Empress Michiko visited Iwate Prefecture to take in the 71th Japanese National Sports Festival. For their arrival on September 28, Empress Michiko repeated a denim blue suit and matching saucer hat trimmed with knotted bows backed in gold. The vivid contrast on this hat makes it one of my favourites for Michiko and it was lovely to see her in it again.
For a visit to Kamaishi on September 30, the Empress repeated a dark slate blue-grey saucer hat trimmed with a white silk origami-style bow with slim blue and black stripes that look to be hand painted.
On October 1st, the royal couple officially opened the National Sports Festival held at Kitakami. For this honour, Empress Michiko wore a pale grey hat with domed center and flat double brim trimmed with a large monochrome silk bow on the front brim. If you look closely in the second photo, you’ll notice that the lower brim appears to be made of fine straw in a lattice pattern which lends some subtle textural contrast to the piece. It’s a larger size hat than the Empress wears and the scale is most attractive on her.
Designer: unknown Previously Worn: I can’t find a previously worn hat with the same lattice underbrim- perhaps this is new?
On the final day of their visit, the Emperor and Empress took in in the gymnastics competition of the National Sports Festival in Morioka City. Empress Michiko repeated a suit and hat in the most wonderful shade of cereulean blue that we have not seen in several years. In the style we have come to associate with the Empress, the saucer hat features a raised rim around the back and a flat bow that wraps around the front. While not an exciting shape, what makes this hat stand out is its bright colour- such a wonderful departure for Michiko and and one she wears so beautifully.
Designer: unknown. Likley Akio Hirata Previously Worn: November 1, 2013
Do any of these seven Imperial royal hats stand out to you in particular?
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