Somerset House: HM The Queen
HM ventured out on Leap Day to open a new wing at Somerset House, and it's always appropriate to don feathers while opening a wing, no? (Har har.)
But really, honestly, I wasn't going to spend much time talking about this repeated topper until the style bloggers over at the Huffington Post called it "one of her signature fascinators." Fascinator? Oh, dear. It's a bit like the square/rectangle rule: all fascinators are hats, but not all hats are fascinators! Pull up a chair to the table, darlings, and let the hat blogger have the floor... 
PHOTO CREDITS: Eddie Mulholland - WPA Pool/Getty Images
Fascinating about the fascinator comment.
If HM had been wearing slacks, would HuffP have said she was wearing one of her favorite pairs of bermuda shorts?
Perhaps they assumed any random explosion of feathers = fascinator!
And, speaking of random explosions, MrFitzroy should hate nearly everything about this hat, but absolutely loves it! Perhaps it's the aigrette, perhaps it's the way it actually balances the clown details on the AK coatdress, but somehow it is wonderful.
This whole ensemble channels a late Queen Mary Vibe (pared down for the new millenium) and somehow, in toto, it works!
I have always loved this hat, but find the couple of purple feathers rather random. Anyhow, the misuse of words like "fascinator" (among many others) in the media drives me crazy! Every time I see something like this, I always say to myself that they should hire me as an editor haha.
I am sitting in the "I think this hat is ghastly" camp sad to say. The shape is okay, but the witch doctor feather thing plastered to the front of it looks like some desperate attempt at embellishment by a millner who had millner's block when creating this...hat.
I love this hat. It says something . . . oh . . . . maybe "exuberant" or something like "I am stepping out of my normal conservatism and into something "out of the ordinary."
Response primarily to Jake:
Actually, the purple features are not random, I'm afraid. Have you seen the dress that goes with this coat? Take a look at its inaugural wearing at Sarkozy's visit to Buckingham in March 2008. You can detect a smidgeon of the coat fabric on the dress, which is rather purple. (On one shot of HM getting out of the Rolls yesterday you can clearly see the purple dress below the bizarre tan-black coat
http://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/prince-philip-queen-elizabeth-ii-nicolas-sarkozy-and-his-news-photo/108387799
Can you imagine what this hat would look like if worn only with the dress?
Sometimes I wonder how HM's designers select coordinating coat and dress fabric — and then assume that the hat will tie them together. Actually, I rather like the hat and coat.
Don't know whether I like the hat, hard to tell from the angle and the lighting - but I *love* this photo. Eddie Mulholland has taken a cracker of a portrait on the hoof, as it were. And it's a suitably grand hat for a monarch in such a portrait.
I've aired my prevarications about the official jubilee portrait over on that thread ... I think this photo would serve much better as a signature jubilee portrait!
I can't decide if this looks like a winged propeller or a case of grouse crash landing into HM's hat. I'm not crazy about that huge button holding the whole contraption together, either. But the outfit is a nice mix of fabric and color and HM is just so adventurous in her fashion statements. The hat is definitely exuberant, as Arlene said.
And the Huff Post needs a crash course in millinery terms!
Ah yes, the button! With the coat on I think she gets away with it, otherwise it's just ghastly. I like the pointlessness of all the feathers and ribbons - just the sort of thing a monarch should wear.
Monitors can do funny things with colours. On my screen the coat fabric shows a distinctive mauve/lavender/purple pattern which makes the feather choice look more meant.
Also I like to look at the hat as part of an outfit. In the long shot of the Queen I think she looks marvellous. The rich textured fabric of the coat, the elegant black trim, her accessories and even the buttons on the coat matching the button on the hat. IMO absolutely spiffing.
LadyPrimose made a good point. In one photograph the coat actually does look mauve/lavender/purple. I'd always thought of this coat as a plain tan/beige with black trim. Photographs and computer monitors do not always agree.
I suspect HM's fabrics are a lot richer and more luxurious up close than they are in photographs, particularly those viewed on the computer.
(Maybe all those shoes and handbags really aren't just black patent ??? — too much to wish for.)
I adore this hat. HM wears it well and it really suits the total "look" of the ensemble she is wearing. I even love the feathers, perhaps because this hat has a lot going on and is the focal point of the ensemble.
Not that it matters, just add pearls and anything goes for HM. At her age most of us would be thinking "too hard" and she's thinking "out of the box', ringing more changes in style than we have seen in years.
Jubilee Year = Bring it ON!
I'd like to see the feathers, ribbons, button, etc. set on the right side of the hat to counter-balance the angle on the top, the brooch, and allow the asymetrical trim on the coat to lead the eye to it. It's too "head-on" in my view.
All about style points balancing things out.