Tag Archives: Queen Camilla

British Royals Attend van Cutsem Funeral

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Prince Charles, The Duchess of Cornwall, Prince William and Prince Harry attended funeral of family friend Hugh van Cutsem at Brentwood Cathedral in Essex today. Camilla chose a new hat today, a black straw woven hat with a diagonal large rolled brim and bow on one side. It is one of the most simple hats she has ever worn; I thought it looked very good on her and was very fitting for the occasion.

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Designer: “Foxtrot” model from the Lock & Co. spring/summer 2013
Previously Worn: This hat is new

The Duchess of Gloucester repeated a black velvet beret.

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Photos from Getty as indicated  

Phillips-Tindall Wedding Guests

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2011-07-30 Zara

The wedding of Zara Phillips and Mike Tindall two years ago was not a royal wedding but instead, an intimate family affair where the family just happened to be royal! After looking back at the bride and her immediately family earlier today, here are the marvelous hats Zara’s extended family wore to her wedding.

Zara’s aunt, The Duchess of Cornwall, wore this dramatic Philip Treacy feathered headpiece trimmed with beaded pink and green flowers. It’s a LOT of feathers and while I applaud Camilla for carrying off such a statement headpiece, I think I would have preferred one of her picture hats with her tailored coat dress. This one seems slightly over the top for this wedding.

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The Duchess of Cambridge wore the infamous “potato chip hat” designed by Gina Foster. The large cream straw oval hat was trimmed with a large bow and flower behind the top brim. I thought it looked great on Kate and it remains one of the largest and most dramatic hats she has ever worn. Brilliant.

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After the international backlash to the hats they wore to Prince William’s wedding three months earlier, Princess Beatrice and Princess Eugenie attended this wedding in outfits and hats designed by the Queen’s dresser, Angela Kelly (a choice I can not imagine was a coincidence). Beatrice wore a stacked saucer hat in teal blue silk trimmed with the same fabric petals that decorated her skirt. The colour was beautiful on her but I thought the odd shape of this hat looked haphazard and unpolished.

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Princess Eugenie wore a cream hat with a diagonal chocolate brown straw brim and large cream feathers. I liked the colour with her chestnut hair but something about this hat was off for me. I think the cream base was too boxy and I would have preferred wispier, lighter feathers.

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The Countess of Wessex wore a spectacular beigey-pink asymmetrical waved straw hat with a rosette and long feathers. This hat, designed by Jane Taylor, was fun, light and lovely. I thought it was a beautiful compliment to her Bruce Oldfield dress and jacket and perfect for a summer wedding.

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Lady Sarah Chatto was her characteristically elegant self in this black straw hat with domed crown and mushroom brim designed by Stephen Jones. I am always a sucker for the classic combination of black and white and I thought Sarah looked fabulously stylish in this hat.

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All in all, I think the British Royal Family looked lovely for this summer wedding in Scotland. Beyond the gorgeous millinery, everyone looked relaxed and very happy to celebrate with Zara and Mike. Which was your favourite hat at this un-royal family wedding?

Photos from Getty as indicated

Birthday of the Duchess of Cornwall

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The Duchess of Cornwall (née Camilla Shand, previously Parker Bowles) celebrates her 66th birthday today. Camilla has officially been in royal life for eight years, although her presence um… on the sidelines, shall we say, makes it feel like it has been much longer. Past scandal aside, Camilla has proven herself to be a hardworking and personable member of the British Royal Family who genuinely cares and is involved with the charities she supports. With the help of British milliner Philip Treacy, she has also emerged as a MAJOR royal hat wearer known her large brimmed, dramatic and feathered hats. It’s nearly impossible to find Camilla wearing a hat without feathers; to celebrate her birthday today, I thought we’d  look back at one of her most prolific feathered headpieces. This headpiece was last seen at Zara Philip’s wedding in 2011 and I think it is just marvelous.

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Designer: Philip Treacy
Previously Worn: July 30, 2011; June 14, 2008

Photo from Getty as indicated

Ascot Day 2

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Royal Hats  Welcome to Day 2 of Royal Ascot 2013. I apologize for the late uploading of this post and promise that we’ll be back on regular schedule tomorrow! Katie Vale of Katie Vale Designs joins our commentary again today – Here is our review of today’s hats.

Queen Elizabeth in an Angela Kelly design

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Katie Vale: The green trim on the brim is too wide, so it makes the hat look unbalanced.  If the brim was a tad bigger then it would work more I think.  I also think that the flower is in the wrong shade, and as such it looks like it’s just been plonked on the side of the hat.  It doesn’t go with the rest of the design.  The base and trim are pastels and then the flower is brightly colour.  It looks like two different hats rolled into one.

Royal Hats Blog:  I have great difficulty criticizing the Queen (she is an amazing woman who has earned the right to wear whatever she darn well pleases) but I can’t find much nice to say about this hat. The colour scheme is silly, the shape is out of proportion, and the mint green wide fabric stripes are awkward (and I don’t like the green fabric with the pink straw). Katie’s ideas would make vast improvement but in the end, I’m not sure this hat can be redeemed. It looks like a formal clown’s hat to me.

The Duchess of Cornwall in a Philip Treacy Design

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Katie Vale: Once again we see her in a large cream brim hat.  I’m not a fan of this hat.  It looks like the brim has been caught in the wind and been flipped up!  However, I do love that she is not afraid to wear a massive brim, as so many people are these days.  So that makes me very happy!

Royal Hats Blog: Of all Camilla’s large cream hats, this one is my least favourite. Like the Queen’s hat, the proportion of this brim is off. I usually like twisted ribbon tails but these ones, along with the upturned brim, make Camilla look like she is stuck in a wind tunnel.

The Countess of Wessex in a Jane Taylor design

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Katie Vale: Gorgeous!  Absolutely love it.  The disc isn’t flat, it has a wave to it.  And then the delicately placed sinamay spirals, just add an interesting design.  I think her outfit overall works really well, with the neutral tones and a hint of pink.  I’m happy!

Royal Hats Blog: I want to like it… and I think I do. I’m still on the fence because it’s so dramatic and the shape reminds me a little too much of a giant potato chip. I agree Katie- this works because it is paired with a tailored and very neutral dress. The pink spirals certainly are  fun!

Lady Helen Taylor

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Katie Vale: I’d have thought that a felt hat in this weather would have been too hot to wear.  However, she carries it off.  I love the colour and the shape creates an unusual beret style.  We saw some colour blocking yesterday and this outfit just shows that it really can work with any colour pallet at all.  In theory this shouldn’t work, Aqua & Mustard shouldn’t go together but it does!  And I can’t find fault in this outfit at all!

Royal Hats Blog: I like many individual pieces here on their own- the turquoise beret (perhaps without the weird stem sticking out of the top), the turquoise earrings and nail polish, the colour blocked dress. Together, and with those utterly ridiculous sunglasses, she looks like a Cirque du Soleil performer. Sophie Wessex’s hat is looking better and better…

Viscountess Linley in a Stephen Jones design

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Katie Vale: I really like the neutral tones.  And the delicate material is very effective.  It sits daintily on her head.  But I feel there could have been a little more shape to the design.

Royal Hats Blog: Serena wore this to William and Kate’s wedding in 2011. I loved it then and I absolutely love it now. It’s feminine, interesting, detailed, attractive, and absolutely beautiful on her.

The Duchess of Gloucester

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Katie Vale: I like the bronze colour & the use of straw, but I think it’s a little too bland for Ascot. I see Ascot as the chance for everyone to go wild 🙂 its very similar shape to the turquoise felt one, but that was striking due to its colour & outfit. This is a tiny bit subdued but I appreciate the classic and elegant feel to it.

Royal Hats Blog: Brigitte has worn a number of these straw berets over the past year (she wore this particular hat and dress for the Service of Thanksgiving during the Queen’s Jubilee last year). It’s a lovely shape on her but I find the colour of this one, with her hair and complexion, quite flat. I agree Katie- This is Ascot, the time to wear wonderful and wild hats!

Princess Haya of Jordan, Sheikha of Dubai in a Stephen Jones design

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Katie Vale: Oh my! I’m in hat heaven! Stunning!!! Monochrome is such a key look this year. I love the Jackie O pillbox and the placing of it right at the back of her head. A much better choice than yesterday. This is elegant, yet eye catching due to the contrast of her hair! It’s funny as its small & subtle, like the one above bit it just compliments the outfit so well! Do you think she read this blog about her hat yesterday? 🙂

Royal Hats Blog: Hat heaven? With this thing? I’m not sure that a small white pillbox with a juvenile bow is the best thing to pair with a checkerboard dress (where are we anyway? The Monte Carlo Grand Prix?). I also find the placement off to one side very odd and prefer pillboxes worn square on the back of the head. I do adore a classic pillbox hat but this one looks cutesy and trite paired with this awful dress.

All in all, it was less spectacular day of millinery than we saw yesterday for opening day. I’m hoping that some of these ladies are saving their best hats for Ladies’ Day tomorrow! Some of you might be interested in these other noteworthy hats today: Lady Jane Cecil, Brix Smith-Start, Caroline Dalmeny, and Denise Lewis

Photos from Getty as indicated