THE PRINCESS OF WALES MOVES TO MORE FORMAL ATTIRE

Magenta ladies hats and fascinators

The death of our beloved Queen Elizabeth 11 – the Simply Devine style icon – has elevated the Duchess of Cambridge to be our new Princess of Wales, following in the footsteps of the late Princess Diana.

We will surely miss the fabulously co-ordinated dressing of the late Queen Elizabeth, who always looked immaculate in her beautifully cut bright coats and matching headwear.  It is no accident that her clothing was always in bright rainbow colours so that she could be easily seen by those loyal crowds who had often queued for hours to catch a glimpse of her.

So, at Simply Devine, we hope that the new Princess of Wales will embrace her elevated position and continue to champion beautiful formal hats and fascinators to match and co-ordinate her coats and dresses.

While the media insists on calling her Kate Middleton, I believe when the time comes, she will be known by her more formal name of Catherine as and when William eventually takes the throne.

And style writers have already predicted a change in her dress code, with more formal dressing as befitting a Queen-in-waiting.

Beautiful in Blue. And we have a very similar hatinator in stock

They believe she will up her game to give a more polished appearance.  So out goes the nude wedges, and the headbands for more formal occasions. (“Hurrah” says Simply Devine owner Liz!)

With more than 18 years’ experience in dressing mothers of the bride or groom for formal appearances, Liz, the owner of Simply Devine, hates those nude shoes (“They look as if they’ve got bare feet” she says). 

And in one of our previous posts, we detailed how those fancy headbands will be the death of millinery. “Headbands and Alice bands are for little girls, not for grown women;” says Liz.  There are whole industries around millinery and hat making – from growing the natural leaves with which to make sinamay (the fabric used in most hats, fascinators and hatinators), to the feathers, pearls and decorations, not to mention the hours of creativity in designing and manufacturing beautiful headwear.

However, I do hope that we will still see her supporting some of the high street fashion houses – she is a fan of Zara and Reiss – in some of those more casual moments.

 Rest in Peace, your majesty, and thank you for passing on your mantle to the new Princess of Wales.

Sombre in grief. The new Princess of Wales wears pearl jewellery in honour of Her Majesty the Queen

It's been a very very busy hat year, and to celebrate we have once again been shortlisted for The Nation's Wedding Awards (to be held in Birmingham in November). We have been selected as a Finalist too for The English Wedding Awards in 2025!!! How hat exciting is that! We will be celebrating our 21st birthday in 2025, so hopefully we will have lots to celebrate! A great big thank you to all our hat customers all over the world, including all our local customers who obviously know where the Simply Devine Hat Shop is in Tadcaster. We have been very hat blessed for nearly 21 years!!!