Let’s spend some time remembering the Philip Treacy hats worn at the wedding of Prince William and Kate Middleton. It was said that the milliner designed hats for at least 36 guests, so the field is deep.
Discovered by Isabella Blow in the late eighties, Treacy has been deemed the “world’s greatest living milliner” by Vogue, no less. He was born in a small town in County Galway in 1967. He has said he became fascinated with sewing by watching wedding guests enter and leave the Catholic Church in town. He attended the National College of Art and Design in Dublin and won a scholarship for a fashion course at the Royal College of Art. His real education was his early work, though. He designed Isabella Blow’s wedding bonnet and even lived and worked in her basement during his nascent design days. Alexander McQueen was also in residence there, and it’s easy to imagine the place was a hotbed of creativity.
In 1991 he began working with Lagerfeld at Chanel and opened his own store in London. His association with royalty came soon after, and he credits the patronage of the Queen with “single-handedly saving the British hat industry”. In addition to the 36 hats designed for Prince William and Kate Middleton’s wedding, he designed 20 hats for the wedding of Prince Harry and Meghan Markle, and so many more in between and since.
Let’s take another look at the hats worn on the wedding day in 2011.
The Duchess of Cornwall wore her signature oversize style, in a light woven fabric, handy for those behind her who could view the proceeding through the transparent material.
Princess Michael may have beaten the Duchess in brim circumference, but it’s the matching of the bow to the dress that I actually marvel over.
Looking at Zara Phillips deep charcoal and silver metallic hat, I marvel that it stayed affixed throughout the proceedings.
My favorite hat of the day was Lady Frederick Windsor’s modern chapeau with an asymmetrical brim. It helps of course to have such a beautiful face to accessorize it with!
Similar to Sophie Winkelman’s hat but more evenly distributed in the brim area, Queen Mathilde was also wearing a perfectly matched accessory for the event.
Princess Eugenie’s hat distribution went upward, rather than outward. Her percher supported both a contrasting bloom and a spray of feathers.
This one slipped your mind, right? I joke because I love. This has been compared to – well, several things – but it was actually an upright oversized bow. Treacy has described as a thoroughly modern design. To say it was greeted with surprise is an understatement, but Princess Beatrice, the designer, and the hat have had the last laugh. The Princess auctioned it off and donated the 80,000 pounds to charity.
Let’s talk hats in the comments. You don’t need to stick to Treacy designs, but we do ask you stick to hats. There will be time to talk outfits and general wedding reminisces next week.
