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If someone asks you, name a famous person who is associated with hats, whom do you imagine? The statistics shows that the majority would likely respond “Queen Elizabeth II!”
She is already remembered as the longest-reigning monarch of Great Britain. It seems the Queen is still somewhere in the UK, flaunting her flamboyant and sometimes surprisingly artful hats. Unfortunately, Her Majesty turned into history after she had passed away September 8, 2022. She is known for her devotion to the Crown and her family, as well as for many good deeds. However, in this article, we will focus on the Queen’s whimsical headgear as well as her faithful milliners, who created the clothing items for the Royal Lady to stand out from the crowd. Many people would wait for the new Queen’s hat style, guessing which pattern, color, and style would it be next time. Moreover, her hats were deliberately tailored to perfectly match her outfits.
Although the modern generation remembers the Queen mostly in her mature age, diverse hats were the essential part of her wardrobe throughout early childhood to youth. Her sister, Princess Margaret as well as the Queen Mother wore hats too, but only Elizabeth’s experiments with headgear became her signature style. The tastes of the Queen were quite provocative and unconventional. She was not afraid of experimenting with bold colors, extraordinary shapes, floral appliques, and even feathers. Even if someone criticized her style, Elizabeth always remained in the spotlight. Undoubtedly, she was a royal trendsetter. For instance, in 1944, the-then princess attended the wedding of Lieutenant Christopher Wake-Walker and Lady Anne Spencer, flaunting a headgear that was deliberately made to resemble an officer’s service cap. Not so long after the wedding, hat-makers started selling copies of the hat in the entire London. In 1946, Princess Elizabeth and her mother flaunted ostrich-feathered hats at London’s VE Day Parade, and then the price ostriches dramatically increased in different countries.
Besides being a trendsetter, she was also a fashion trends follower. In the fifties, Elizabeth II wore popular small hats, and in the seventies, she loved wearing turban, just like Barbra Streisand. Yet, when the hats were becoming less trendy, the Queen did not stop fulfilling her hat ideas with the help of the best British milliners. Even when hats were regarded an anti-trend, Her Majesty could not be out of fashion, as She was Fashion herself.
Of course, besides immense public admiration, criticism followed the Royal Lady wherever she went. Thus, her hats were often deliberately ironic, carrying a hidden political message or the Queen’s opinion on some global matters. For instance, she wore a hilarious “ushanka” to Slovakia in 2008, which could imply her closeness to the ordinary people and their traditions.
Yet, the most provocative and message-revealing headgear of the contemporary times was her blue-and-yellow hat, which imitated the colors of the EU flag, as well as the yellow star pattern. Her Majesty had worn it to open the British parliament before the start of Brexit negotiations. The question “Is the Queen wearing a hat in support of the European Union?” was everywhere in the news. Still, we never got the answer, only a memorable symbolic image.
Favorite Royal Hat-Makers
We will focus on two milliners, who created many trademark hats for the Queen Elizabeth II.
Freddy Fox
One of the Queen’s distinctive milliners was Freddy Fox. He designed his first hats for Elizabeth II in 1968. His work was surely to the Queen’s liking, as he was awarded with a royal warrant, which said “Milliner to HM The Queen”. Fox knew exactly what his royal customer liked. He once commented that Elizabeth II had to feel comfortable in the attire, as she was likely to wear every headgear all day. Of course, she also had to like her look in it. The hat designer remained devoted to his Queen and other royal family members for more than 35 years. He also made some impressive hats for Princess Diana and other younger royal representatives. Therefore, Mr. Fox popularized tiara hats, modernized versions of pillbox hats, and peculiar flying-saucer-shaped hats, which are loved to this day. Both Meghan Markle and Kate Middleton flaunt the latter ones in public quite often. His other famous clients outside the royal family were actress Joan Collins and Hillary Clinton.
There was one most photographed Queen’s hat – namely pink turban adorned by a cascade of 25 pink bell-shaped pompoms. And yes, Freddy Fox made it. This number of pompoms was used for a reason: they embodied 25 years of Elizabeth’s queenship.
Rachel Trevor-Morgan
The second milliner who was lucky and gifted enough to work for the Queen is Rachel Trevor-Morgan. Trevor-Morgan represents contemporary times of the royal hats’ fashion. She created her first hat for Her Highness in 2006, and then started collaborating with the elite design team, which included the Queen’s assistant and senior dresser Angela Kelly. Morgan tailored more than 60 hats for Elizabeth herself. In the United Kingdom, her name has been synonymous to an elite hat-maker for more than thirty years. Her masterpieces are often called artworks because Rachel manages to make each peace architecturally seamless and harmoniously colorful. No wonder her creations adorned the most stylish ladies of the realm at weddings, official political events, concerts, royal sporting events, among others.
Trevor-Morgan has a few assistants, who are also unique craftsmen. The artisans make those top-notch hats solely by hand. They stretch silk fabric and straw, following each customized order as precisely as possible. The hatters then pin various decorative overlays to the headgear. Rachel likes to delve into details of every single item, previously studying the outfit the hat should go perfectly well with. Lifelike flowers or other imitated natural patterns are also hand-made.
In contrast to other designers and artisans who prefer to keep “behind-the-scenes” process in secret, Rachel Trevor-Morgan disclosed that she closely cooperated with another regal dressmaker Stewart Parvin. He provided her with the required sketches of the queenly outfit. When studying the colors and patterns of the royal attire for a specific occasion, the matching hat magic begins. The distinguished royal designer mentioned that it was a great honor to create original hats for the Queen whose sense of style was one-of-a-kind.
Famous Types of Hats the Queen Elizabeth Wore for Different Occasions
The Halo Hat
It obtained such a “holy” name because it is made in a circular shape, and when placed on the head, it creates a resemblance of a halo. This attire can be curved both off the front and upward. The size can also vary. This type of hat is quite old, as it first appeared in the late nineteenth century. Royal representatives further popularized this headgear. There are several memorable halo hats Queen Elizabeth II wore. One was spotted in 1977 as part of one of her outfits for her Silver Jubilee. Also, Her Majesty wore the halo in the early 1990s.
The Tam O’Shanter Hat
Queen Elizabeth was proud of her Scottish roots; therefore, she wore tam o’shanter. Although it was named after the 18th-century poem by Robert Burns, the hat’s history is much older. It was already popular throughout Scotland in the 1500s. Named after the 1790 Robert Burns’ poem, it is a flat men’s hat, traditionally made of wool. At the beginning of the twentieth century, the tam o’shanter became an integral part of the military uniform in Scotland, as well as Australia and Canada. In 1920s, women began wearing this very type of bonnet in different corners of the world, and the royal family and Elizabeth II were not an exception.
The Pillbox Hat
One more distinctive military hat is pillbox, which came to us from ancient times. It was must-have uniform hat in the Roman Empire. Hence, its history encompasses the time of emperors as well as modern royals. The pillbox was “revived” as a fashion statement by the First Lady of the USA, Jackie Kennedy, in the 1960s. The Queen Elizabeth II was perpetuated in a photograph wearing a sky-blue pillbox hat when visiting a historical site of the 2,000-year-old terracotta army in Xian, China. This queenly moment occurred in 1986. She also wore pillbox hats in various shades and patterns, such as eclectic polkadot, for different occasions throughout her life.
The Toque Hat
The Queen wore the toque quite often. Her milliners made it in a range of colors. This headgear usually does not have a brim, or it has just a narrow one.
The Side-swept Cloche
In 1949, the then-Princess Elizabeth was photographed in a peculiar cloche hat when her husband, the Duke of Edinburgh, escorted her from London airport. It had a side-swept fringe applique, which made the attire unusual and recognizable.
The Fascinator Hat
Fascinators became immensely trendy in the 18th century throughout Europe. They were often seen in pop culture and fashion shows. Carrie Bradshaw of “The Sex and the City” looks inspiringly stylish in her fascinators. Royal representatives were often spotted wearing fascinators when attending the Ascot Races, as well as elite weddings and National Days.
The Homburg Hat
Initially, the Homburg emerged as a formal attire solely for men in the 1800s. Germany is considered to be its homeland. The first royal representative who adopted this hat style was King Edward VII. He appeared to be an influencer for many politicians, who started wearing homburg on a daily basis. The hat’s popularity only grew tremendously owing Al Pacino’s character in “The Godfather”. After royal women began wearing homburg, its shape slightly changed to adhere to the modern female fashion. One of the Queen’s most recognizable homburg hats was a purple one with a black clover-like decoration.
The Turban Hat
Turbans are considered to be one of the oldest hats, which were initially worn mostly for religious purposes. Spain is considered to be their homeland. The hats appeared to be so cozy for women in the 1920s that they started wearing them along with their outfits. A glittery turban hat was also an integral attire of the Roaring Twenties’ fashion. Turbans repeatedly came back as a fashion statement in the 1960s and the 1970s. A memorable photograph of Her Majesty in a yellow polka-dotted turban and a matching dress was made in 1975 when she visited Mexico back then.
The Bowler Hat
The bowler can be called an exquisitely British-style hat, as it is often associated with Sherlock Holmes and English detectives in general. It is also a trademark hat of Charlie Chaplin. Its other names are billycock, bob hat, derby, and bombín. It was designed by Edward and William Coke in the mid-1900s, and then masterfully made by Bowler brothers. The bob hat appeared to be very comfortable and durable in comparison with the top hats, so they quickly gained popularity in Victorian England. A few queens wore their own variations of bowlers. In 1982, Queen Elizabeth appeared in a bright red billycock on a trip to Tuvalu.
It is difficult to find those instances when Queen Elizabeth II did not wear anything in her hair. She could wear a crown or tiara to some official, specifically royal events, but most of all, she wore miscellaneous artfully styled headgear. Her Majesty totally deserves another informal title – the Queen of Hats.