Royal Ascot, the world’s most stylish event, opened this Platinum Jubilee Year to an excited and truly enthusiastic audience. Following three years of Covid restrictions this was an exceptional edition. The sun shone, and the ladies (and gentlemen) dressed to impress sporting a fanfare of exquisite millinery. Everyone was ready to meet up with friends and colleagues and enjoy a day of elite thoroughbred racing, followed by communal singing as the bandstand played out to the end.
Milliners had been nervous as spring approached, as orders were a little slow in coming. But this was soon to change, as the weather brightened, and ladies arrived with beautiful dresses for hats and headpieces for all five days! Colour was key, with either bright, confident and clashing outfits, or was soft and feminine in pinks and blues.
As it was… the weather was glorious throughout with sunshine and little wind to give ladies every opportunity to wear their most stylish attire.
The Press Office began their releases in March with the launch of their glossy Style-Guild for this season’s Royal Ascot. It was interesting to see that a few of the ‘rules’ laid down each year had been somehow ‘stretched’ to include shorter skirts, lower cut necklines and barer shoulders. At the beginning of May the Seventh Annual Royal Ascot Millinery Collective was announced to showcase the work of 12 exceptional British milliners.
Launched in both film and image format, Royal Ascot presented 12 separate ‘looks’ for this season’s Royal Enclosure. Styled to perfection by Sarah Kate Byrne with clothing from Fenwick of Bond Street the collective was stunning and certainly turned a lot of heads for its styling and beautiful presentation”.
The 12 milliners in this year’s collective were:- Edwina Ibbotson, Jessica Collins, Justine Bradley-Hill, Lisa Tan, Maggie Mowbray, Philip Treacy, Sarah Cant, Sarah Marshall for John Boyd Hats, Stephen Jones, Victoria Grant, Vivien Sheriff and William Chambers.
Fashion rules were certainly challenged and in some cases broken this year, not to the detriment of Royal Ascot but to the incredible design labels that pushed fashion forward in so many directions. From ‘Essex girl’ to retro; from ultra contemporary to eye-catching prints, in bold pinks and reds for high fashion to black for challenging fashion statements.
These are my first pic of dresses that stood out from the crowd.
Hat Shapes for 2022…….. there was an incredible selection, from vintage inspired, boaters, feathered, pillboxes, halos and large headbands, top hats, saucers, contemporary and new classics. Bold colours were confidently worn on large high shapes, oversized and overtrimmed.
Colour for 2022….. pink was probably the most popular, but white, red, black, with multi-coloured prints always fun to wear. Hats and outfits in red, white, and blue in honour of the Queen’s the Jubilee were great to see.
Fashion… was sleek and long. New this year were cut away midriffs, skirts both fitted or with full, with a mass of bows and sashes. Whilst sleeves were fully gathered or simply strapped.
There were so many ladies, and gents, looking just amazing ………. so what caught my eye ?
International visitors were many, from Australia, Dubai, Japan, and across Europe. Finally three top milliners from the USA Milliners Guild based in New York, whom I stopped in the crowd to take photos. Good hats!!
Looking forward to seeing you once again in 2023.
For further information go to www.RoyalAscot.com
