My visit to Ascot Ladies’ Day has renewed my love of hats – even though, quite blasphemously, I wasn’t wearing one on the day! (It was actually a floral headpiece, so there!). So when I spied a bunch of Whiteley hats on sale at John Lewis, I of course had to model a few in the interests of science. Whiteley has been made famous by the Duchess of Cambridge, of course, she of the many hats, and I have to say some of my favourite items of hers are either by Whiteley or Lock & Lock. Sadly, the latter is somewhat out of my price range – but trying on hats is free no matter where they’re from, right?

This looks to be a pink version of Kate’s famous swirl hat, which she has in brown, although this one is actually a slightly different shape. I LOVED this hat, and I plan to get the brown version as soon as it’s available (stalking it here).

A lot of people (including myself) get nervous about wearing hats with elastic, but if you match the elastic to your hair colour, it’s perfectly acceptable to have the band showing:

Or, if you want to wear your hair down, you can still do so with these hats – what I did was just put my hair up, place the hat, and then remove the band from my ponytail:

This side-view shows what’s happening with the band:

This hat I thought was rather unsuccessful…:

This one is very good for those that want to wear something a bit more subtle:

It’s a pretty versatile shape and colour, and I think was only about £40-45. Also, it sits on a comb, which some people are more comfortable with, although I really prefer headbands for my hats!

However, this one was my out-and-out favourite:

It looks very similar to the black one the Duchess of Cambridge has worn on a few occasions, but has a rounded top rather than a straight edge like hers (but I fully intend to make that one mine as well, so of course it wouldn’t do to have two the same style, would it?!).

As the hat was £42 in the sale (reduced from £85), I decided it would be rude not to buy it, and so I now have yet another hat to add to my collection of hats I have nowhere to wear. I am thinking of starting a hat club just to give people a reason to wear them… Who is in?!

Whiteley hats available in store and online from John Lewis and other retailers: see http://www.whiteley-hat.co.uk/ for more.