Princess Beatrice Hat Costume: Scary Or Styling (PHOTO, VIDEO)

She shocked the world with her headwear at the Royal Wedding last spring, and now you can do the same -- or, at least the people at your Halloween party, and whichever creep is looking at your Facebook photos in the days that follow.

Princess Beatrice's forward facing, Philip Treacy-designed hat, which looked more like a quidditch goal at Hogwarts than appropriate accessory at Westminster Abbey, became a meme all its own, with snarky royal watchers taking to the web to ridicule its odd look (to be kind). So, of course, with the oncoming demand for pop culture-referencing, irony-laden Halloween costumes about to explode, you knew someone would copy the style.

Enter, Headline Costumes, who have not only put out their own, cheap version of the hat, but also this YouTube video to help convince on-the-fence customers of how cool they'll be if they wear it. As long as everyone is in on the joke, of course; otherwise, you'll just look crazy, without the context of a prim and proper wedding to justify it.

Maybe you'll get some sympathy from Philip Treacy himself, who said of the reaction to Beatrice's hat, "I felt hurt for [her]. She is only 22 and there was a little bit of bullying going on. I didn't give a f**k about 140,000 bloggers. In the future, we'll look back and think she looked wild."

PHOTO:

Comments

[Max Shaw]

02:44 PM on 10/11/2011

It looks like some ornate feminine symbol of fertility...Or Ovarian cancer awareness.

[butchcliff]

07:16 AM on 10/11/2011

Totally outragess hat. Donated $100k proceeds to childrens charity. She a fab royal.

[Dr Jimmy and Mr Jim]

11:21 PM on 10/10/2011

...if I see this picture of this woman in this hat at this website again, I'm going to scream.

ENOUGH. ENOUGH. ENOUGH.

[Mafdet]

07:02 PM on 10/10/2011

I usually don't champion the idle rich, but Beatrice here is a girl who clearly wants to be the Diva center stage. With all of the educational opportunities that there are in the world available to her, she studied drama. She did even though to become an actor, she would have to prevail over repressive tendencies that have been hardwired into her ancestors for centuries, and she would have to break with a family who equate actors with court jesters and buffoons. So if wearing more silly hats than the other people in her class who are wearing silly hats satisfies this eternally submerged need to be the butterfly emerging from the cocoon, can't we all pretend her gesture is deep and her hat the apex of style? At least until the royal family loosens up and lets the girl take a soap opera role?

[BobbyPeru2]

05:03 PM on 10/10/2011

BUT SHE IS THE ONLY ONE THAT CAN DO IT WITHOUT THE HAT.

[Mrsbean54]

10:10 AM on 10/10/2011

When hundreds of people are invited to fancy schmancy wedding a required to wear a hat, and you can't possibly be seen with the same hat as someone else, you're bound to see a few weird ones.

It's a really weird hat, but I enjoyed seeing her wear it and I hope she wears an even weirder one next time.

[MISCONDUCKT]

06:04 PM on 10/09/2011

ho hum....next

[LiberalLee]

01:05 PM on 10/09/2011

2 black eyes, some horse teeth and a toilet seat and cover on my head?
Noooo thanks!

[Marturia]

09:55 PM on 10/08/2011

I have a clown friend who makes hats like that. He usually just does the balloon animals.

[politicaljungle]

01:06 PM on 10/09/2011

I know that guy!! It's a franchise business.

[che guevara]

09:10 PM on 10/08/2011

maybe she decided wearing a silly hat might distract us from noticing her massive horse teeth......

[unique]

08:44 PM on 10/08/2011

The royals just continue to stoop lower and lower.

[Susan Shaffer]

08:10 PM on 10/08/2011

admittedly the hat was one of a kind. bea has lost weight and looks great. I think the dress was a letdown. It was far too matronly. If you are going to be avant guarde then go the whole hog.

[lindamom]

06:41 PM on 10/08/2011

No thanks to the hat...I have enough problems of my own lol.

[ethiopia1a]

07:54 PM on 10/08/2011

LOL so true.

[JTWallace]

04:17 PM on 10/08/2011

The age of hats should have gone out with men's hats. But, the British women are known for their silly hats.

[Seaglass]

01:16 AM on 10/10/2011

I adore hats. They'll never go out. One bad one can be forgiven.

[dblueII]

03:12 PM on 10/08/2011

I loved that hat. I loved it then and I love it now. As Americans, we do ourselves no favors by mocking the fabulous.

[LiberalLee]

01:06 PM on 10/09/2011

No one's stopping you from sticking a toilet seat on YOUR forehead.

[dblueII]

03:07 PM on 10/09/2011

Dam freackin right. But that is not a toilet seat, it is a fascinator, if you see a toilet seat, I'd hate to see the results of your Rorschach test, eyes of nute and such.I bet we'd find a lot of pretty unpleasant things. . But I would not be able to carry it off. I haven't got that aristocratic innocence.

One thing that I love even more than a Philip Tracy fascinator is how much it bugs you. Wonderful, I'm all giddy inside, as if I was wearing one right now.

BTW, nice pic. Fix up any poison apples lately? What would you have worn, a point hat?Have a nice day, Broomhilda, to the extent that you are capable.

OMG, I just read your micro bio. No really, I just read it! As an group of, shall we say, nonconformist. I would think that you'd be saluting the freak flag. I guess wickens are as tight as-sed as any one else....disappointing, ah well.