Why Are the Hats Off for King Charles III’s Garden Party at the British Ambassador’s Residence?

However synonymous hats may be with British style, the “hats-not-encouraged” dress code for Monday’s garden party at the British ambassador’s residence in Washington, D.C. is kicking up debate.

Earlier this week the Washington Examiner’s Rob Crill highlighted the fashion guidance in an “X” post with what appeared to be the invitation to Monday’s afternoon event. Guests have been advised to wear lounge suits and day dresses for the gathering that is being held in honor of King Charles III and Queen Camilla.

Their four-day visit will include side trips to New York and Virginia, but the Beltway is the main event. On Tuesday, King Charles will become the second monarch to address a joint session of Congress. President Donald Trump and the first lady will host a state dinner at the White House on Tuesday night. The visit comes at a time when Trump and British Prime Minister Keir Starmer are clashing over the Iran war, the Digital Service Tax and the Falkland Islands.

But back to the hats-discouraged fashion recommendation. Whether that applies to Queen Camilla and FLOTUS, whose millinery has been praised and scrutinized depending on the occasion, remains to be seen.

Eric Javits, whose wide-brimmed inauguration day hat for Melania Trump sparked memes, said Friday that he didn’t know whether the first lady would wear it, but she has some in her closet. “That would be appropriate certainly for the first lady to wear one. But the other guests shouldn’t be forced to, if they’re not comfortable. It takes a lot of effort to find a hat,” he said.

Summer Anne Lee, author of “Presidential Fashion History,” said the dress code reads like “a form of diplomatic translation between British and American etiquette.” While daytime formality has long been more relaxed in Washington, D.C. than that in British royal palaces, “this guidance helps align sartorial expectations,” she said.

Hat designer Rachel Trevor-Morgan said she was particularly disappointed that hat wearing is being discouraged. Referencing how Britain is renowned for its millinery, she said, “In my experience, people love to have a reason to dress up and in the U.S, there are events and lunches that celebrate that most British of traditions.”

Highlighting how King Charles is “a huge supporter of the crafts,” she noted there is a millinery course at the Kings Foundation at Highgrove to protect “this wonderful skill.” Trevor-Morgan said, “His support is so valued but without the events where hats are worn, small businesses and with them, the very specialist knowledge will be lost.”

A representative from the Culture Concierge, which is led by Alexandra Messervy, speculated about how guests “would have much enjoyed the chance to wear a hat,” since “there is little enough opportunity to dress up nowadays.” But given the more relaxed dress codes, organizers at the White House “may have felt it a little intimidating and are trying to be more casual in their approach on this occasion,” she said. “It is also possible that they recognize that it is quite hard to buy or commission a formal hat in the U.S.”

In the U.K., formal invitations to a Buckingham Palace garden party always ensure that many beautiful hats are worn, with Jane Taylor, Philip Treacy, Frederick Fox and Philip Somerville being a few favorite designers over the years and more recently Rachel Trevor-Morgan, according to the Culture Concierge.

The global hats market size was $8.8 billion in 2023 and is expected to increase at a compound annual growth rate of 4.60 percent by 2030, according to Cognitive Market Research. But sports-related styles are a key part of that forecast.

The avant-garde Ukrainian hat designer Ruslan Baginskiy, whose lids have been sported by Madonna, Beyoncé Knowles-Carter, Bella Hadid, and other celebrities, said Friday that he has always been in favor of preserving meaningful traditions, “especially in this case, where millinery is such an integral part of British cultural heritage.”

He suggested that discussions like the current one about the “hats-not-encouraged” edict could have the reverse effect of what one might expect. “This instance could actually just revive interest around hats and the role they play in fashion and tradition,” Baginskiy said, adding that he hopes that will be the case.”

The milliner is hopeful that Queen Camilla and the Princess of Wales will one day wear the bespoke hats that he gave them via Nicolas Harrocks, the deputy head of the Mission at the British Embassy in Kyiv, as an act of cultural exchange and friendship. Recalling how he once gifted a custom hat to the late Queen Elizabeth II and received a letter of thanks on her behalf and on behalf of her son Charles (prior to his ascension) from Buckingham Palace, Baginskiy said that was “a very meaningful moment, not only for me and our brand, but also for Ukraine and Ukrainians.”

While the aforementioned Lee doesn’t see this dress code “as threatening the hat industry, it does remind us that hats now largely belong to particular cultural and ceremonial contexts, rather than to everyday formal dress,” she said. “The dress code has alerted attendees that they don’t need to wear a formal topper, especially if they don’t already own one.”

Regardless of the guests’ chosen attire, Monday’s garden party at the British ambassador’s residence will be familiar territory for King Charles, who stayed there with the late Princess Diana in 1985. And American presidents have been known to loosen up dress codes on occasion. In 1939, after Queen Elizabeth and King George VI enjoyed a state dinner and hobnobbed in Washington, D.C., President Franklin D. Roosevelt and his wife Eleanor welcomed them to his hilltop retreat in Hyde Park, N.Y., to unwind for a few days. That two-day stay included a picnic where hot dogs were served, which made for front-page news.