Tag Archives: Princess Akiko

This Week’s Extras

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On Monday, Princess Nobuko wore a white hat to attend the 130th anniversary of the Japanese Red Cross Society’s  Branch in Gunma.
Princess Hisako started out this week in Aichi attending an annual conference on nutrition and dietary improvement. For this event, she wore a cream hat with square crown and curved brim, trimmed with lichen green hatbands and side embellishment.
On Tuesday, Princess Hanako wore a yellow pillbox with embellished sides for the 30th anniversary of the Praemium Imperiale Arts Prize.
On Wednesday, the Duke of Sussex was in military uniform and cap again to lay a wreath at the National War Memorial in Fiji.
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Also on Wednesday, Princess Mako celebrated her 27th birthday and was spotted arriving at the Imperial Royal Palace in Tokyo to visit her grandparents in a bumper hat covered in beige-pink patterned silk
Yesterday, Princess Ayako worshipped at the Three Palace Sanctuaries in advance of her wedding next week. While She was in traditional dress (and hairstyle), her mother, Princess Hisako, sisters Noriko Senge and Princess Tsuguko and cousin Sayako Kurada all wore white hats.


Today, members of the Takamado and Mikasa families donned brimless black hats to commemorate the second anniversary since Prince Mikasa’s death (Sankei)
Princess Margriet in a red pouf fascinator today to christen a reconstructed expedition ship
The following new millinery designs caught my eye this week:
Amazing gravity-defying ombre turban from London-based Awon Golding
Winter white felt angular cloche with exuberant pheasant feathers from British milliner Annabel Allen
Turquoise and tan feather headpiece with net veil from Australian milliner Neil Grigg
Red silk ruched bandeau with pearl trim from British milliner Laura Cathcart
Pale percher with statement sunburst spiky trim from Irish milliner Laura Hanlon
Navy wide brimmed design with red jin sin twists from Australian brand Millinery Jill
Two designs from British milliner Bundle McLaren- a wonderfully modern take on a pillbox in oxblood
with a flying bow and a chic black beret percher with silver dipped curling quills
Pale grey sculpted French lace bandeau tiara with dotted net veil from British label Catherine Walker & Co.
Navy straw percher with copper-tipped navy goose feathers from Irish milliner Theresa Nugent
Dramatic, 1950s-inspired blocked straw saucer covered in velvet on top and silk and graphic,
Art-Deco patterned lace on the bottom from from Texan milliner Milli Starr
And from Melbourne-based milliner Louise MacDonald, these wonderfully vibrant and textural bandeau headpieces of woven ribbon.

Crown Princess Mette-Marit shared this week that she has been diagnosed with chronic pulmonary fibrosis. While she is optimistic about treatment and the future, the illness will undoubtedly continue to impact her and her royal role. Living with chronic disease is not easy and as such, I request that all future comments about the Crown Princess’ millinery choices be framed with compassion.
This week had an abundance of state banquets (in Portugal, Fiji and the UK) with some stunning royal looks – including Queen Mathilde here and here, the Norwegian royals, the Danish Royals and Princess Ayako at the formal Choken-no-Gi ceremony- likely the last time we’ll see her in a tiara.
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Imperial Princess Takes on Presidency of Turkish-Japanese Archaeology Foundation

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Japanese Princess Akiko of Mikasa became the honorary president of ‘Prince Mikasa Foundation in Istanbul’ yesterday at a reception at Sakip Sabanci Museum. The foundation was established last year with the permission of the Turkish Government to provide continuous support for the study of Japanese Institute of Anatolian Archaeology. For this appointment, Princess Akiko topped her pale, celery green silk dress and jacket with a white brimmed hat, trimmed with a celery silk hatband

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While the hat coordinates with the ensemble well, it also offers some subtle contrast through colour and its smooth, curving lines, which play well against the sharp cut of the jacket. Much was debated yesterday about what shape and scale of hat flatters Akiko best- I think this shape works well on her and ADORE that she placed the hat at a slightly jaunty angle!


Designer: unknown
Previously Worn: June 6, 2018; April 27, 2016
It’s been great to see more of Princess Akiko during this week’s Turkish visit- this hat is my top pick of the trio she has worn. What do you think?
Photos from Getty as indicated

Imperial Princess Visits Turkey

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Princess Akiko is visiting Turkey this week, primarily to attend an event organized by her late father’s foundation at Sakip Sabanci Museum in Istanbul. On Monday, she began her trip in the capital, Ankara, where she visited Anitkabir, the mausoleum of Turkish Republic’s founder Mustafa Kemal Ataturk, as well as the Turkish-Japanese Foundation. She topped her navy and white suit with a prim white silk hat with short, kettle brim and straight-sided, domed crown, trimmed with a wide navy hatband

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Designer: unknown
Previously Worn: October 4, 2015 

On Tuesday, the young princess visited at the Naval Museum in Istanbul where she oversaw the the receipt of replicate of the Japanese Seiki warship that first visited the Ottoman Empire in 1878. For this event, she repeated a white (or palest grey?) cloche variation with wider, upturned kettle brim. The hat is trimmed in a wide dove grey hatband (the top of which shows a navy stripe close to the top of the crown) and a small bow in the same blue tweed as Akiko’s jacket.
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Designer: unknown
Previously Worn: April 20, 2017
Perhaps not the most exciting of hats but it’s wonderful to see one of the young Imperial princesses out on a higher profile diplomatic tour. 
Photos from Getty as indicated

This Week’s Extras

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Crown Prince Frederik celebrating his 50th birthday gala dinner last night in military uniform with wonderfully feathered bicorne hat.

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Queen Mathilde repeated her black silk calot hat Friday at the funeral of the Duke of Württemberg

The Earl of Wessex looked dapper again in his Panama hat to present Duke of Edinburgh Gold Awards on Thursday.

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Princess Akiko of Mikasa in a natural canvas hat with black piping to plant rice earlier this week.

The following new millinery designs caught my eye this week:

Elegant black and white straw bergere hat by British milliner Jane Bailey
White straw upsweep trimmed with the most wonderful flowers from London-based Bundle MacLaren
Striking black and caramel straw percher (the veil!) and fedora from Madrid milliner Biliana Borissova
Swooning over this massive brimmed design with lilac velvet hatband from Australian brand Murley & Co.
Fascinating inverted brim on this almond lattice straw wide brimmed saucer from London-based Philip Treacy
Closeup view of detailed petal-by-petal rose construction in Rachel Trevor Morgan’s studio

I’m always drawn to classic black and white and this stunning wide brimmed design, by Australian milliner Catherine Ellen, puts a beautifully modern twist on this colour scheme.

 Royal Hats

Great article by Omid Scobie about the whole story behind the Duchess of Sussex’s wedding dress (Harper’s Bazaar). Speaking of the wedding- I updated nearly all of last weekend’s posts on the royal wedding with late release photos (there are some great ones!). You can access all of these posts here. And don’t miss this interview with Canadian media personality Ben Mulroney about his children’s participation in the wedding. 

Prince Hussein passed out high school diplomas to a class that included his sister, Princess Salma. Their exchange was adorable, as are the photos with Queen Rania trying on Salma’s mortar board.

And we close with the same prince that opened this post- Crown Prince Frederik’s 50th birthday celbrations kicked off last weekend with a mile long “Royal Run” held in cities across Denmark. Frederick was joined in Copenhagen with Crown Princess Mary and their four children.

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Imperial Royals Attend Spring Garden Party

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On Wednesday, members of the Imperial royal family joined the emperor and empress at the the Akasaka Imperial Gardens in Tokyo for the spring garden party, an annual event that brings us a parade of Imperial royal hats.

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Empress Michiko topped her ice blue silk suit with a small saucer hat in the same hue, trimmed with blue camellia flowers and a flat bow around the front.

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Crown Princess Masako wore a pale pink straw hat with domed crown and short kettle brim, trimmed with a wide ruched straw hatband that finished in a large bow at the side. The bow makes the hat, I think, softening the angular lines of the crown and giving the piece some much needed energy.

Apr 25, 2018 | Royal Hats

Princess Kiko and Princess Mako wore hats in the same domed crown and kettle upturned brim shape. Princess Kiko’s hat, in pale blue, is delicately trimmed with a wide silk ruched hatband and silk blossoms on the side. Princess Mako’s white design, which has a wider brim than her mother’s design, is trimmed with a wide turquoise hatband and origami flowers that circle the hat. The combination of wider brim and higher contrast trim (with interesting origami) makes this a winner for me.

Apr 25, 2018 | Royal Hats

Princess Nobuko stood out in a light purpley-grey hat with gentle side upsweep on the brim. The hat is exuberantly trimmed in a side spray of feathers and a wide swath of lavender and dark purple net tulle wrapped around the base of the crown that gives great movement to the design and links so well with the sheen of purple shades visible across the weave of her silk suit. Prinkess Akiko topped her pink suit with a matching hat with button crown, short cartwheel brim and bow on the side. Princess Yoko matched her pale yellow suit in a coordinating silk wrapped pillbox hat.

Princess Hisako wore a peach hat with square crown and widely rolled brim (the brim looks to be in the same silk jacquard print as her jacket while the crown looks to be a solid colour). Princess Tsuguko paired her burgundy silk dress in a matching bumper hat wonderfully trimmed with a wide silk bow and flowers on the side. Princess Ayako topped her yellow dress with a white button percher hat embellished with yellow and white flowers around the top half of the hat’s circumference. The floral trim on the hat references the ruffle on the hem of her dress, making a wonderfully coordinated and balanced head-to-hem look.

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How great it is to see a variety of colour, trimmings and shapes on the Imperial Royals?! These nine hats, each of which I believe is a new piece, certainly made for a colourful millinery parade. Which designs stand out most to you?