I am not obsessed with Her Majesty the Queen, nor do I have a hat fixation. I am posting yet one more picture of a spectacular hat (also worn in Kampala) because this one confirms that I was absolutely right when I suggested in a post a couple of weeks ago that many of the Queen’s hats are inspired by the esculent architectural fantasies created by a great chef at the beginning of the nineteenth century. It looks so much more like a patissier’s creation than a milliner’s that perhaps it really is made of spun sugar, though it is unlikely that jesters at the Court of St James (Gyles Brandreth, say) would be allowed to dance on it in the way that was permitted, so we are told, to those entertaining the royalty of Carême’s day.Friday, 7 December 2007
One more royal titfer
I am not obsessed with Her Majesty the Queen, nor do I have a hat fixation. I am posting yet one more picture of a spectacular hat (also worn in Kampala) because this one confirms that I was absolutely right when I suggested in a post a couple of weeks ago that many of the Queen’s hats are inspired by the esculent architectural fantasies created by a great chef at the beginning of the nineteenth century. It looks so much more like a patissier’s creation than a milliner’s that perhaps it really is made of spun sugar, though it is unlikely that jesters at the Court of St James (Gyles Brandreth, say) would be allowed to dance on it in the way that was permitted, so we are told, to those entertaining the royalty of Carême’s day.
2 comments:
I have speculated often on the role of hats in our history. After all, who is to say that if the Germans had eschewed their horned helmets, our famous explorers their piths and our guards their bearskins Europe's history might not have been completely different?
It is a question I think that needs answering...
Minerva
Indeed, Min. Glad to find someone else who realises the importance of what people put on their heads.
And isn't it funny that we get so many headgear ideas from the French? Bearskins from the Imperial Guard after Waterloo and Her Maj's hats from a French chef.
Love to you.
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