Queen Mary in an 880-Euro Suit in the Rain in Skive, While More Than a Hundred Winter Swimmers Wade Into the Fjord

On October 9, Queen Mary and King Frederik X went to Skive, in north-western Denmark. The town is celebrating 700 years since it received market-town status, and the royal couple were also due to open a new bathing spot on the fjord. The weather was typically Danish: the welcome on Posthustorvet square took place under umbrellas.

Mary chose an espresso-colored two-piece suit from the Italian brand Andiata - the Madie jacket and the Kity skirt, which together cost 880 euros. Under the jacket she wore a pale pink high-collared blouse, and on her head a brown hat by designer Katrine Cecilia Jakobsen - a piece she had worn before. The look was finished with leather gloves, dark heeled boots and a bracelet from Francesca Jewellery, made in collaboration with a foundation that funds ovarian cancer research.

Just three days earlier, at the opening of the Danish parliament, the queen wore a burgundy suit by Roland Mouret, with a vintage Dior brooch from 1964. The color changes, the message stays: a strong cut, without much talk.

The bathing spot, the rain and more than a hundred swimmers

The visit continued at the old town hall, and then the royal couple opened Fjordbadet - an 80-meter-long wooden bathing structure. More than a hundred winter swimmers went into the cold water of the fjord, to live music from local performers. The photos of the king and queen in coats and gloves, surrounded by people in swimsuits, are the most unusual of the whole day - and the most honest.

Brown is the color of autumn, and you'll hear that from every shop window and every ad. But Mary's real move isn't the color, it's the hat: she has worn it before and makes no effort to hide it. The industry that lives off us buying something new every season doesn't love that at all. How many of us would dare to wear the same piece to two weddings in a row?