Princess Hisako of Takamado is wrapping up a visit to Ireland to commemorate the 60th anniversary of Japan-Ireland diplomatic relations. Last Friday, she visited Irish President, Michael D Higgins and his wife Sabina at their official residence, Aras an Uachtarain in Dublin. She repeated a natural straw hat with short, kettle brim and a straight-sided crown with domed top. The hat is simply trimmed in a slim knotted hatband in the same fabric as her suit and a pair of orange feathers at the side. Here is a great side view of the hat in the Irish Times, taken at a visit to a children’s hospice in Dublin later that day.

Thanks to reader Avery who commented over the weekend about Princess Hisako of Takamado’s appearance at the Tokyo Tableware Festival last week. Her hat is so interesting I thought it was worth its own post (words seldom said about an Imperial royal hat!). The mushroom shaped design looks to be covered in black silk and is trimmed with a large pouf of black feathers at the back. It’s an unexpectedly avant garde choice for Hisako’s lace trimmed tweed suit- I’m not sure the two pieces show each other off to greatest effect. That being said, it’s a design that has taken me completely by surprise and for that reason alone, I’m inclined to love it.